Day 1113: "Show some spine."

1/ A federal appeals court rejected Trump’s claim that he’s immune from federal prosecution for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. “We cannot accept former President Trump’s claim that a President has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power — the recognition and implementation of election results,” the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit wrote. “Nor can we sanction his apparent contention that the Executive has carte blanche to violate the rights of individual citizens to vote and to have their votes count.” Trump has repeatedly argued that his actions before and during the Jan. 6 insurrection were part of his official duties as president and therefore he can’t be prosecuted for those crimes without first being impeached and convicted by Congress. Since the Senate acquitted Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection, Trump has claimed he’s now subject to “double jeopardy.” The D.C. Circuit panel, however, rejected the double jeopardy argument, writing that “the weight of historical authority indicates that the Framers intended for public officials to face ordinary criminal prosecution as well as impeachment.” The court concluded: “For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant. But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as President no longer protects him against this prosecution.” Trump has until Feb. 12 to ask the Supreme Court to overturn the decision or ask the appeals court’s entire judicial lineup to take up the issue. He faces four counts, including conspiring to defraud the U.S. and to obstruct an official proceeding. (NPR / New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / Wall Street Journal / NBC News / CBS News / ABC News / CNBC / CNN / Associated Press / Axios / Bloomberg)

2/ House Republicans now plan to vote on a standalone Israel aid bill after rejecting a bipartisan border deal they had previously demanded. It’s not clear, however, whether Speaker Mike Johnson has the two-thirds majority needed to pass the standalone bill to provide $17.6 billion in aid to Israel. Nevertheless, Biden called on congressional Republicans to “show some spine” and pass the $118 billion bipartisan package that paired strict border security measures with assistance to Israel a...