Inflation at home, with no ceiling reached.  Gas prices at record levels. Infant formula in short supply. Interest rates and mortgages up.  Mass shootings and mass funerals across the country. War in Ukraine abroad, with no end in sight.  Russia grinds eastern Ukraine into the dust. No peace talks.

Just when you think it cannot get more tense in Washington, think again.  June will see the biggest earthquakes in Washington since Trump’s forces attacked the Capitol in January 2021.

The capital will indeed become Tension City.

Gun control

“Do something!” is shouted at the President on the road and at Members of Congress when they go home to see their constituents.  The horrific massacres in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas have finally prompted the first serious talks in years among key Senators on gun legislation. The rampage continues:  six people were killed in Tennessee and Pennsylvania over the weekend. 

•  The key proposals under negotiation are very modest, reflecting how hard it is to pass gun control legislation given the immense pressures wielded by the National Rifle Association.  If there is an agreement, it will likely only cover changes to the background check system, additional funding for mental health and school security, and encouragement for states to establish “red flag” laws.
• What is not on the table would be a national law to raise the age to 21 for purchase of assault weapons. Expert analysis has shown that raising the age limit, more background checks, requirements for safe storage of guns and banning high-capacity magazines could have limited what happened in 25 shootings that killed over 400 people in the past several years.

What is at stake, beyond the specifics of any legislation, is whether Congress can act – can do something, anything, sensible – in the face of these horrific tragedies that have shaken the country from coast to coast. 

Abortion rights

Just a month ago was the stunning leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion to reverse the landmark case of Roe v Wade, removing any constitutional protection for a woman’s right to obtain abortion services.  

• In its wake, demonstrations flooded the steps of the Supreme Court building and state capitals across the country.  
• Several state legislatures moved to enact more restrictions on abortion, including Oklahoma, which has now passed a total ban on abortion from the moment of conception, except to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest.  Other states said they would open their borders to women needing abortion services.  Canada said it would welcome women from the United States seeking abortions.
• The Senate refused to pass legislation that would override any Supreme Court decision and protect for all women in the United States access to abortion services.

The final Supreme Court ruling will be issued this month.  Everyone will see if it mirrors the leaked opinion or if there is some retreat from the severe decree.  Whatever the Court says will trigger further attempts in Congress and state legislatures to legislate on abortion.  

The January 6 Committee goes public

This Thursday night in Washington (Friday morning here), the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol will hold an unprecedented prime time public hearing on what the Committee has found about the plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election.  

• There will be wall-to-wall cable and network TV coverage. Advance previews lead to words like “explosive” and “blockbuster.” Rep. Lynn Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, when asked if she believed the attack on the Capitol was a conspiracy said: “I do. It is extremely broad. It’s extremely well-organized. It’s really chilling.” And she added:

“You know, we are not in a situation where former President Trump has expressed any sense of remorse about what happened. We are in fact in a situation where he continues to use even more extreme language, frankly, than the language that caused the attack. And so, people must pay attention. People must watch, and they must understand how easily our democratic system can unravel if we don’t defend it.”

• America’s democracy and what former President Trump tried to do to undercut it will be under the television lights.

All these tensions will ripple through the political system and the campaigns for the midterm elections in Congress that will decide which party will control Congress next year.  

Who will win or lose from the bitter divisions over guns, abortion and the future of America’s democracy?  

President Biden and the White House, and both parties in Congress know that the future of their policies, programs and agendas hinges on how these issues play out from June to November – in Tension City and across the country.