Week In a Nutshell, 12/18/20

December 18, 2020 | Updated Jul 15 2021

Week In a Nutshell, 12/18/20

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) walks from his office to the Senate Chamber. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

By Jake Kaplan

Here are some of the legal news stories making headlines this week:

On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that, for the first time in U.S. history, the federal government carried out more executions than all individual states combined this year. In doing so, the Trump administration resumed federal executions after a 17-year pause — despite a significant decrease in the use of capital punishment in individual states.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, in 2020, the federal government executed ten people, while states that still employ capital punishment executed seven people.
Three more executions are scheduled before Inauguration Day, before President-elect Joe Biden, who supports eliminating the death penalty at the federal level, assumes office.
President Trump recently worked to expand federal execution methods to include firing squads and electrocution.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell finally acknowledged Joe Biden’s election victory after the Electoral College formalized the results Monday.

In a speech on the Senate floor, McConnell said, “Many millions of us had hoped the presidential election would yield a different result. But our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on January the 20th. The Electoral College has spoken. So today, I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden.”
Privately, McConnell is reportedly warning Senate Republicans against challenging the Electoral College results. Multiple House Republicans, led by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), have indicated that they will attempt to challenge the results during a pro forma session on the House floor. While the House members have no chance of succeeding, a single Senator joining their cause would force a vote — turning a session that is little more than a formality into a partisan spectacle.
In response to McConnell’s speech, President Trump tweeted, “Mitch, 75,000,000 VOTES, a record for a sitting President (by a lot). Too soon to give up. Republican Party must finally learn to fight. People are angry!”