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Good Tuesday morning. It's Election Day in America (and the 2020 cycle is almost, finally over). We're also excited to welcome <a href="https://twitter.com/OKnox?s=20">Olivier Knox</a> to the Post's newsletter team -- he'll be taking over as anchor of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/powerpost/the-daily-202/">The Daily 202</a> at the end of January (<a href="http://wapo.st/daily202">sign up </a>here). Thanks for waking up with us. See ya when we've got some results from Georgia.

‘BAD NIGHT’ IN GEORGIA FOR GOP?: National and Georgia Republicans are growing increasingly frustrated with President Trump's baseless tirades against Georgia's presidential election results, fearing the president's attacks may cost them control of the Senate.&nbsp;

They're concerned Trump's relentless and baseless broadsides on the voting system — and tomorrow's electoral college challenge further dividing GOPers — will deter Republicans from trusting the system enough to vote in today's two Georgia Senate runoffs.&nbsp;

Dueling appearances: Trump didn't help matters by holding a rally last night in Georgia in which he repeated his assertions he won the state, and said he hopes Vice President Pence will somehow aid the electoral college challenge when he presides over it. Biden also campaigned yesterday in the Peach State.&nbsp;

Control of the Senate in Washington depends on the Georgia outcome.&nbsp;

“Trump's been generally unhelpful throughout this whole process,” a GOP Senate aide told Power Up. “He’s managed to split the party at every turn since November and that division could result in lower turnout on our side,” the aide added, referring to Trump's last-minute demand for<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/02/pelosi-mcconnell-vandalism/?itid=lk_inline_manual_6&itid=lk_inline_manual_11"> $2,000 stimulus checks</a> followed by<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/congress-override-trump-first-time/2021/01/01/eaca9c96-4c51-11eb-a9d9-1e3ec4a928b9_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_6&itid=lk_inline_manual_11"> his veto </a>of a $740 billion defense bill.

“Republicans should be prepared for a bad night,” the aide added.&nbsp;

“Without the Trump factor — and all the [expletive] he's done, then we'd probably win by three or five points,” a GOP strategist working on the runoff races in Georgia told us. “With the Trump factor, if we lose by one or two points, I won't be shocked.”

“Not only is Trump depressing turnout on the right but he's reminding independent voters, ‘Crap, maybe we do need Democrats in the Senate as Republicans are going along with these absurd efforts to find <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-raffensperger-call-georgia-vote/2021/01/03/d45acb92-4dc4-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_14">11,780 votes</a>,'" the GOP strategist added, referring to Trump's urging of Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) during a weekend phone call.

Jabin Botsford

Turnout means what?: Early reports from Georgia show robust early voting and absentee turnout, which favored Democrats in the presidential race where Georgia went blue for the first time since 1992. Public and private polling, according to GOP sources, has shown tight races between Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue and their Democratic challengers, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.&nbsp;

Historians and political scientists predict Tuesday's double-barreled runoff election is unlikely to result in a split outcome. “The last time there was a split decision in one of these ‘double-barrel’ Senate elections was 1966,” according to <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/georgia-will-now-have-two-senate-elections-in-2020/">FiveThirtyEight's Nathaniel Rakich</a>.&nbsp;

The big questions remain just how much Trump's attacks on the state's presidential results – including <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/five-myths/five-myths-about-voting-machines/2020/12/24/ac2e02a2-453f-11eb-b0e4-0f182923a025_story.html">unfounded charges</a> of voting machine fraud – will depress GOP turnout; and if Georgia really has gone blue.

“Will it ultimately cause some Republicans to sit out the election or will it give moderate Republicans some pause about Perdue and Loeffler, who are basically taking Trump's side with this?” Alan Abramowitz, a political scientist at Emory University told Power Up.&nbsp;

“We can look at what happened in November and say that was just a rejection of Trump … but if Democrats win these two Senate seats, the blue tsunami has hit,” Charles Bullock, a professor of political science at the University of Georgia, told us.&nbsp;

Trump's behavior certainly isn't hurting Democrats: Abramowitz noted over 110,000 voters who did not cast ballots in November's general election voted early or absentee in the Georgia runoffs so far — a number that skews toward Democrats.&nbsp;

Split screen: Biden returned to Atlanta in his closing pitch for a Senate majority that could give Democrats a narrow trifecta of power as he begins his administration, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/georgia-senate-trump/2021/01/04/bc38c454-4eb1-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html">our colleagues write</a>.

“The power is literally in your hands," Biden told the crowd. “By electing Jon and the reverend, you can break the gridlock that has gripped Washington.”

On the road: Trump made a final lap through Dalton, Georgia on Monday evening in a last-ditch attempt to inspire voters who did not vote early to turn out on Election Day and erase Democrats's early voting advantage.&nbsp;

While Trump pleaded with the crowd to turn out for Loeffler and Perdue, he spent a majority of the rally veering off-script, propagating disinformation and false claims of voter fraud. The first words Trump uttered: “There’s no way we lost Georgia. That was a rigged election.” The outgoing president also lobbed not-so-veiled threats toward fellow Republicans for not parroting &nbsp;his unsubstantiated claims.&nbsp;

“Trump went on to bash [Georgia's Gov. Brian] Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, claim they were not real Republicans, and promise to campaign against both men when they stand for reelection in 2022,” our <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-sabotage-republicans/2021/01/04/df5d301e-4eb1-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_35">colleagues Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey and Seung Min Kim report.&nbsp;</a>

“The president also falsely said he had won reelection ‘in a landslide’ and suggested that he expects Vice President Pence to make it so when he fulfills his constitutional duty to preside over Wednesday’s joint session of Congress, even though the vice president does not have the power to overturn the results.”

“I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you,” Trump told the applauding Georgia crowd. “Of course, if he doesn’t come through, I won’t like him quite as much.”

Trump obliquely acknowledged displeasure from Republicans who condemned his hour-long conversation with Raffensperger, including Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).&nbsp;

“If they win, I'll get no credit. And if they lose, they're gonna blame Trump, these people,” he told the crowd.

Earlier in the day, Gabriel Sterling, a GOP official in Raffensperger's office, urged Georgians to turn out and vote on Tuesday, despite Trump's unhelpful comments.&nbsp;

“Given the nature of the President's statements and people with aligned with him … we are specifically asking you and telling you, please turn out and vote tomorrow,” Georgia's voting systems manager told reporters during a news conference. “The secretary wants me to make clear that everybody’s vote is going to count and everybody’s vote did count,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/04/joe-biden-trump-transition-live-updates/?itid=lk_inline_manual_45">Sterling said.&nbsp;</a>

Georgia election officials, meanwhile, are preparing for “the biggest runoff we've ever seen,” Joe Sorenson, the communications director of the Gwinnett County government, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/04/joe-biden-trump-transition-live-updates/#link-Y3A55QW6LZAARLO6SEGLQSK7ZE">told our colleague Reis Thebault.&nbsp;</a>

“Officials in Fulton, Gwinnett and DeKalb counties — three of the four largest in the state — told The Washington Post that more than 900,000 people in their counties have voted early, between absentee ballots and in-person locations. They said they hope to finish counting all but the last of the mailed ballots by late Tuesday,” according to Reis.

Trump's rhetoric is bound to have longer lasting consequences than today's result. If his party loses both races in a previously deep red state and control of the Senate, it will “not be a quick and painless process” to uniting a fractured Republican Party in a post-Trump world, a GOP source working on the runoffs told us.&nbsp;

The biggest challenge for the Republican Party will be bridging “the information crisis,” the source told us. "[Trump] was right about 1 thing: it's not social media, its Trump media. There’s an ecosystem out there peddling crack.”

WHERE SENATORS STAND: After the publication of Trump's call to Raffensberger, Georgia's Loeffler is the only senator to have added her name to efforts to oppose certifying Biden's victory in tomorrow's joint session of Congress, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2021/politics/congress-electoral-college-count-tracker/">per our colleagues' tracker</a>.

About Wednesday: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/04/us/politics/pence-trump.html">The New York Times's Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni </a>report that Trump has “directly pressed Mr. Pence to find an alternative to certifying Mr. Biden’s win, such as preventing him from having 270 electoral votes and letting the election be thrown to the House to decide.”&nbsp;

“Members of the vice president’s circle expect that Mr. Pence will follow the rules while on the Senate floor and play his ceremonial role as scripted, aides said. But after that, he will have to compensate by showing his fealty to Mr. Trump.”

“A tentative final foreign trip by Mr. Pence to visit Israel, Bahrain and Belgium was scrapped, while more events to talk up Mr. Trump’s legacy at home are being considered, according to a person familiar with the plans. Aides would not say whether Mr. Pence would attend Mr. Biden’s inauguration.”

Shot: The president himself is “trying to mobilize a show of strength that could intimidate lawmakers who certify the result, exhorting his supporters to travel to Washington for mass protests Wednesday. He is planning to speak to the crowd on the Ellipse around midday Wednesday, two officials familiar with the planning said,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-sabotage-republicans/2021/01/04/df5d301e-4eb1-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html">according to our colleagues.&nbsp;</a>

Chaser: “Still, Trump is not entirely blind to reality. He has asked several advisers in recent weeks for advice on what he should do instead of attending President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, according to two people who have spoken to him.”

Here is where thing stand:

D.C. MOBILIZES NATIONAL GUARD: “The District has mobilized the National Guard and will have every city police officer on duty [today] and Wednesday to handle protests of the November presidential election, which Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said may include people looking to instigate violence,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-national-guard-protests-bowser/2021/01/04/220ced16-4e8d-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html">Julie Zauzmer, Marissa J. Lang and Dan Lamothe report</a>.

Bowser is asking residents to avoid downtown area today and tomorrow: Trump is encouraging his supporters to attend rallies and may make an appearance during a demonstration at the Ellipse, just outside of the White House. The rally is timed to occur just as a joint session of Congress occurs.

The Pentagon raised questions about the size and scope of the guard's deployment: The 300 members of the District's National Guard will be unarmed and will help enforce street closures and other crowd management. “The military also has not approved the use of its helicopters, which were deployed over protesters in June in an apparent show of force, prompting a military investigation whose results still have not been released.”

A Proud Boys leader was arrested in connection with a previous demonstration: “Enrique Tarrio, was arrested by D.C. police on a warrant charging him with burning a Black Lives Matter banner taken from a historic Black church during a demonstration last month, officials said,”<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/proud-boys-enrique-tarrio-arrest/2021/01/04/8642a76a-4edf-11eb-b96e-0e54447b23a1_story.html"> Peter Hermann and Martin Weil report</a>.&nbsp;

The Proud Boys, a male-chauvinist organization with ties to white nationalism, is planning to participate in rallies supporting Trump's efforts to overturn the election.

Tarrio was taken into custody as he entered the city: “Police said he also was charged with two felony counts of possession of high-capacity ammunition feeding devices, which is a legal term for a magazine that allows guns to hold additional bullets. The devices were found during the arrest, police said.”

FDA STICKS BY VACCINE REGIMEN: “The U.S. government’s top infectious-disease doctor, a leading drug regulator and the Health and Human Services secretary are dismissing suggestions that the second shot of authorized coronavirus vaccines could be delayed to make more doses available faster to more people,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/04/covid-vaccine-one-shot/">Carolyn Y. Johnson reports</a>.

How we got here: “In recent days, some public health experts have debated whether it is worth taking a scientific gamble by altering the two-dose regimen that proved highly effective in trials to maximize the number of people partially protected with at least one shot as the pandemic surges.”

Key quote: The Food and Drug Administration said it would be “premature” and “not rooted solidly in the available evidence” to change the way the two authorized vaccines are administered.

Meanwhile, another grim record: “More than 128,000 people across the United States are currently hospitalized with covid-19 on Monday, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. That number is a record and represents an increase of 2,800 patients in a single day,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/05/coronavirus-covid-live-updates-us/">Antonia Noori Farzan reports</a>.

BRITAIN LOCKS DOWN: “ Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a third national lockdown for England amid a surging coronavirus outbreak driven by a U.K. variant that appears to be more contagious and may have greater implications for children,” Karla Adam, Jennifer Hassan and Ben Guarino report from London.

Johnson said the new variant is 50 to 70 percent more transmissible: “The government had been facing growing calls to impose further restrictions as coronavirus cases continue to skyrocket. On Monday, Britain recorded 58,784 new daily cases, the highest figure recorded here during the pandemic.”

What it means: “Everyone in England will be asked to stay at home except in special circumstances. Schools and universities will close for in-class learning with immediate effect.”

The variant is so new that we're still learning about it: “It has spread to dozens of countries and has been detected in four U.S. states, may have had a disproportionate effect on people under 20 in Britain, according to a new report that has not gone through scientific peer-review."

More details on the study: “When the study authors evaluated patients by age, they found a slightly higher proportion of variant vs. non-variant cases in people younger than 20. The researchers’ observations cannot explain why. The difference they detected may have been circumstantial.”

EPA finalizes rule to limit science behind public health safeguards: “EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the rule ‘will prioritize transparency’ … Many of the nation’s leading researchers and academic organizations, however, argue that the criteria will actually restrict the EPA from using some of the most consequential research on human subjects because it often includes confidential medical records and other proprietary data that cannot be released due to privacy concerns,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/01/04/epa-scientific-transparency/">Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis report</a>.

A beautiful tribute to a life lost too soon:

Harvard University, BA IN Government

Jacqueline Alemany is a Congressional Investigations reporter for The Washington Post. Previously, she was the author of The Early 202, The Post's flagship early morning newsletter featuring news critical to the nation’s many power centers. Alemany is also an on-air contributor to NBC News and MSNBC.