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BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN

THE TOP

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If you wanted a picture of the partisan ugliness that is the modern-day House of Representatives, let us tell you about last night.

Less than a week after a deadly attack on the Capitol by an angry mob of Trump supporters, Speaker Nancy Pelosi instituted a host of new rules: Members would have to go through metal detectors to get on the House floor, police would search their bags and they would be forced to wear masks or risk a fine.

House Republicans sort of freaked out. When the House voted Tuesday night, several groups of GOP lawmakers shoved past the Capitol Police manning the magnetometers outside the House doors, refusing to acknowledge they were even there, as witnessed by Punchbowl and Matt Fuller of HuffPo. Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) bristled at some cops, “You are creating a problem you do not understand the ramifications of!” Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said, “It’s my constitutional right” and “They can’t stop me,” according to Manu Raju of CNN. Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona was succinct: “This is crap.”

Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) yelled at House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), calling the new procedures alternately “horseshit” and “bullshit,” as witnessed by Punchbowl and Emily Cochrane of the New York Times. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) — the No. 2 House Republican — said Democrats were trying to “impede the ability for members to come and vote.” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) complained, “So now we have TSA at the Capitol?” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who has bragged about carrying a gun to the Capitol, had a brief standoff when she refused to let police officers look in her bag. She got on the floor anyway.

At one point, Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) grew angry when new GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn (N.C.), who uses a wheelchair, wasn’t patted down by Capitol Police but was instead checked by a hand-held wand. “I didn’t want to be patted down like a criminal,” Cawthorn added. “I had no problem being wanded. But I don’t want to be handled and patted down just because I’m in a wheelchair.”

Not every Republican was terrible — in fact, many complied with the new procedures. But enough of them refused to ensure some unpleasant scenes. In a way, these Republicans have a point: Something like this would’ve been unfathomable even just a few short years ago. Screening members of Congress for weapons? Searching their bags? Now try to imagine doing it to senators.

Rep. Peter Meijer (Mich.), a newly elected Republican from Grand Rapids, apologized to the police afterward. “I am sorry some of my colleagues are being assholes.”

REMOVING TRUMP

Impeachment on deck today

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The House will vote to charge President Donald Trump with incitement of insurrection, the first step of removing him from office with one week left in his presidency. Here’s the impeachment resolution, if you want to read it. 

On Tuesday evening, the chamber voted to force VP Mike Pence to use the 25th Amendment to remove Trump. It passed, but Pence has flatly rejected using this method.

But the historic second Trump impeachment push will get the support of a faction of Republicans fed up with the president after four years of chaos and controversy. We’ve mentioned Rep. John Katko, an upstate New York Republican who is a frequent target of Democrats, and Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, No. 3 in the leadership. (Conservatives are already calling on her to step down from her leadership role.) Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) says he’ll vote for impeachment, as will veteran GOP Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington State.

To give a bit of context here, it doesn’t get more institutional Republican than this crew. Upton was elected in 1986 and was once the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Cheney, of course, has a father who was the vice president and old-school Republican. And Kinzinger is an Air Force pilot first elected in the gigantic class of 2010 who represents an exurban Chicago district that he routinely wins by double digits.

We are keeping our eyes open for the following lawmakers as possible ‘“Yes” vote: Reps. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, John Curtis of Utah, Steve Stivers of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Don Bacon of Nebraska. Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report threw out some other names, as well.

A lot of Republicans are rejecting this push because they say Democrats are moving too swiftly with these charges. 

What’s this all mean? Impeachment is going to pass the House quite easily, likely with a decent enough Republican vote.

We haven’t heard a peep from the president. No lobbying. No interviews. He doesn’t have Twitter, so he can’t lash out there. 

PUNCH LIST: The Dem impeachment managers 

Reps. Jamie Raskin (Md.), Dianna DeGette (Colo.), David Cicilline (R.I.), Joaquin Castro (Texas), Eric Swalwell (Calif.), Ted Lieu (Calif.), Stacey Plaskett (V.I.), Joe Neguse (Colo.) and Madeline Dean (Pa.).

FROM THE LEADERSHIP

Ds will send articles quickly

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) spoke with us and some other reporters Tuesday night about impeachment. He said definitively that the House would send the Senate the impeachment articles immediately after they pass, which will trigger a trial in the early days of the Biden presidency. This could potentially slow the confirmation of Biden’s Cabinet. Here’s Hoyer: 

“The timing was thrust upon us by the actions of the president United States. The fact that he is leaving should not divert us from holding accountable behavior which many of us believe is treasonous behavior and criminal behavior.”

HOW DID THEY KNOW WHERE TO GO?

Dem says rioters got guided tours

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) is a graduate of Annapolis and a prominent member of the “national security Democrats." In other words, people take her seriously. 

Check out what she during a virtual town hall, via the Bergen Record:

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, during a live webcast Tuesday evening, said she witnessed some members of Congress leading people through the Capitol on Jan. 5 in what she termed a "reconnaissance for the next day" when insurrectionists took part in a deadly siege on the legislative branch.

We’ve heard various versions of this from lawmakers –– that Republicans had some of the insurrectionists in their offices and on tours leading up to the riot. Of course, the Capitol has lots of video cameras, so if law enforcement wants to find out whether this is true, it shouldn’t be too hard.

CLIP FILE

NYT: “Pentagon to Arm National Guard Troops Deploying to Capitol for Inauguration,” by Helene Cooper and Adam Goldman … 

… “Pence Reached His Limit With Trump. It Wasn’t Pretty,” by Peter Baker, Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni: “Mr. Trump was enraged that Mr. Pence was refusing to try to overturn the election. In a series of meetings, the president had pressed relentlessly, alternately cajoling and browbeating him. Finally, just before Mr. Pence headed to the Capitol to oversee the electoral vote count last Wednesday, Mr. Trump called the vice president’s residence to push one last time.

“‘You can either go down in history as a patriot,’ Mr. Trump told him, according to two people briefed on the conversation, ‘or you can go down in history as a pussy.’” … 

… “YouTube Suspends Trump’s Channel for at Least Seven Days,” by Daisuke Wakabayashi in Oakland, Calif.

WaPo: “Secret Service launches massive security operation to protect Biden inauguration,” by Carol Leonnig, Karoun Demirjian, Justin Jouvenal and Nick Miroff …

… “Before riot, Trump said ‘we got to get rid’ of Rep. Liz Cheney. Now she supports impeaching him,” by Michael Kranish

POLITICO: “Mike Pence is done with Trump’s ‘bulls–t,’” by Gabby Orr

Axios: “Scoop: House freshmen at war after Capitol siege,” by Alayna Treene

WSJ: “Coronavirus Vaccine Doses That Were Held Back Now Being Released,” by Stephanie Armour, Jared S. Hopkins and Peter Loftus

LAT: “Supreme Court joins with Trump on restricting abortion pills, despite coronavirus,” by David Savage

MOMENTS

Joe Biden will receive the president’s daily brief and meet with transition advisers. 
The House will come in at 9 a.m.

INSIDE THE HOUSE

Problem Solvers or Causers?

Lawmakers are circulating a letter — led by Problem Solvers co-chairs Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.Y.) — calling on President Donald Trump “to clearly reaffirm your commitment to a peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden on January 20th.”

Two of the signers voted to challenge the election results last week. Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.) objected to Pennsylvania’s results, and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) objected to Arizona and Pennsylvania’s results. This is why a lot of Democrats complain that the Problem Solvers Caucus gives Republicans improper bipartisan cover.

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