MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Last year when rioters broke into the U.S. Capitol building and members of Congress were whisked away to a safe location, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar — a key lawmaker during election certification — said she shared a goal with Sen. Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri: That against all odds, they would complete their work.  At 3:30 a.m. the next morning,… Read more »

The group of lawmakers who were trapped in the House gallery on Jan. 6, who call themselves the gallery group, have partnered with World Central Kitchen to give lunches to workers at the Capitol including Capitol police.   Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips told CNN said 800 Capitol police and Capitol staff were invited to… Read more »

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy’s slim new Leica camera was in the shop Thursday, but that didn’t keep him from taking photos. He pulled out his trusty, and slightly bulkier, Nikon to make sure he got his shot.   “This old Nikon is what I call ‘my briefcase camera’ — I always have it in there. If you look at it close, it’s banged… Read more »

Representative Dean Phillips describes the day that ‘changed him’ after a pro-Tump mob overran police and reached the doors of the House chamber It was a visceral cry at the moment of maximum peril for American democracy. A furious mob had overrun police and was nearly at the door of the House of Representatives. Inside the chamber, Republican Paul Gosar was launching a spurious… Read more »

Hanging in the corner of Senator Amy Klobuchar’s capitol hill office is one of the official Electoral College roll call forms certifying Joe Biden as the next president of the United States. Klobuchar, who was in charge of the Electoral College for the Democrats in the Senate that day, signed the form around 4 a.m. on January 7th after a whirlwind day and night that shook democracy… Read more »

The date Jan. 6 will always mark a sad and regrettable milestone in American history. It's been one year since an armed mob attacked the U.S. Capitol, intent on disrupting the certification of the 2020 presidential election. The insurrection resulted in the deaths of five people, injury to 138 officers who fought hours to repel the invaders, more than 700 arrests, and millions of… Read more »

WASHINGTON — A few months after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, a sound jolted Rep. Sara Jacobs back to one of the most terrifying moments in her life: the echoing thud of the doors to the cavernous House chamber slamming shut. The Democrat from San Diego knew it was just a drill, but the moment nevertheless transported her back to the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, when she found herself… Read more »

WASHINGTON – Minnesota's congressional delegation is deeply split over the insurrection one year after a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Democratic members see Jan. 6 as an attack on democracy. But in a stark contrast to a year ago when they denounced the violence, their Republican counterparts unanimously declined to discuss the deadly siege. "There are some in… Read more »

Dean Phillips remembers when he first learned about the gas masks tucked under every seat inside the chambers of the United States Capitol building. During orientation for all new members of Congress in 2019, the congressman from Minnesota was told the masks were an extraordinary safety precaution put in place after the attacks on 9/11. Like the cushions that double as life preservers… Read more »

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is facing pushback from some members of her own party for defending the practice of members of Congress trading stocks while in office. When asked about a Business Insider report finding that dozens of lawmakers and staff had violated a law to prevent insider trading, Pelosi last week said that they should all abide by disclosure laws but maintained: “We… Read more »