After President Joseph Biden’s inauguration and the attack on the Capitol on January 6, the Republican Party has undergone a struggle to chart the future of the party. Will it still be the party of Trump and his zealous base or will more traditionally mainstream Republicans take the party’s helm? Will Trump’s appeal fade? Daily news unfolds showing a chess game for control between groups led by GOP Senate stalwart Mitch McConnell and more radical members of his party in the House and the Senate aligned with former President Trump. Each move is met by a countermove as the story unfolds. All of this political drama is playing out against the backdrop of upcoming 2022 elections which have at least six GOP Senators at risk, says Philip Elliott, Washington correspondent for TIME and author of TIME’s weekday newsletter D.C. Brief. Also, according to Elliott, people are already lining up to be the GOP presidential candidates in 2024. This adds to the jockeying for position and appeals to certain elements of the Republican base. Threats of primary battles, a possible third party launched Trump, and further party disruptions paint a vary blurry landscape of the GOP’s future, Elliott says. He also notes that Democrats are not totally unified either and that President Joseph R. Biden’s early months are going to be clouded by Congressional disarray. You can read Elliott’s daily newsletter at https://time.com/tag/the-dc-brief/