DC: Year In Review

While 2021 ends with the Covid pandemic, fueled by the latest fast-spreading Omicron variant, again grabbing the bulk of the headlines, the year started with an uneasy optimism brought on by the initial distribution of vaccines and, for some, the promise of a new administration.

And then came January 6.

Thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump, urged on by the president's unrelenting but unfounded claims of a stolen election, marched from a rally at the Ellipse, where Trump told them to "fight like hell," to Capitol Hill where several hundred brutally assaulted police officers and then breached the Capitol itself.

Oklahoma Senator James Lankford was on the Senate floor, in the middle of a speech in which he was joining other Republicans in contesting the accuracy of the electoral college results, when the session was abruptly gaveled to a halt. A Senate page hurrying up to the lectern informed Sen. Lankford, "Protesters are in the building" and the chamber quickly emptied.

A more dramatic scene played out in the House chamber where Capitol police and a handful of members, including Oklahoma Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK2), were in a standoff with rioters who were attempting to force their way in. Just a few feet away, a rioter was shot and killed attempting to break into the Speaker's Lobby, which would have given the mob direct access to the chamber.

Five people, including one police officer, died as a direct result of the Capitol assault. Scores of other police officers were injured.

Once order was restored, horrified yet determined leaders called both the Senate and House back into session to complete their constitutional duty of certifying the election results. Sen. Lankford again took the floor, but was one of two Republican Senators who decided, in light of the day's events, not to oppose certification.

"Why in God’s name would someone think attacking law enforcement and occupying the United States Capitol is the best way to show that you’re right? Why would you do that?" Lankford said. "Rioters and thugs don’t run the Capitol. We’re the United States of America."

Lankford joined Sen. Jim Inhofe in voting to certify the electoral college results. Each Oklahoma House member, including Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK5) who had been sworn in just three days earlier, contested the results.

Exactly two weeks later, with the Capitol and surrounding grounds fenced off and under the watch of thousands of National Guardsmen and women, Delaware's Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States.

President Biden called for unity in his inauguration speech: "This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge...and unity is the path forward."