U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper sat down recently with Tennessee Lookout to reflect on his 32 years in Congress. Cooper decided not to run for reelection in 2022 after his Nashville district was divided into multiple districts. Known as “the conscience of the House,” Cooper now warns that today’s politics have “strayed so far from that that we’re in danger of ending up in the ditch.” He also spoke about his concerns that a lack of tolerance from Tennessee’s elected leaders could set the state back economically. He urged his party to regain a winning edge in the state by showing respect for all voters and all viewpoints. For his part, though, Cooper says his political days are done. He is ready to teach again and finish a book. Read the full piece about his career.

On the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, the Tennessean looks at the 26 Tennesseans who have been charged in connection with the event. Most face trespassing charges, but some have been accused of serious assaults, including on law enforcement officers. Others have already been adjudicated and received punishment in the form of fines, jail time and probation. See the full list. At a White House ceremony marking the day, President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal to 12 individuals who "demonstrated courage and selflessness" in the events surrounding the attack, Reuters reports.

The U.S. House failed to elect a Speaker today after no candidate received a majority vote on three ballots, The Hill reports. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-California, who was elected House Minority Leader in 2019, failed to secure the 218 votes needed to win on all three ballots. The failed votes were expected by much of the conference following internal opposition of McCarthy from a small group of GOP members. The House adjourned following the third vote. It marks the first time in a century that the House has gone to multiple ballots for Speaker. In 1923, the Speaker election took nine ballots over three days.

Much of the U.S. Capitol will reopen for visitors on Tuesday after nearly three years of restrictions prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Hill reports. The House office buildings will reopen to the public and visitors will no longer require a staff escort. The public will also be able to access House galleries with a pass obtained from a member’s office. The Capitol Visitor Center is expected to fully reopen in March.

The U.S. Senate confirmed all six of President Biden’s nominees to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Board of Directors on Wednesday, as lawmakers sought to finalize a flurry of legislation and appointments before the holidays. WPLN reports that the TVA Board is supposed to have nine, president-appointed members at all times. But, for nearly two years, the board has been short-staffed with only members appointed by former President Trump. That’s even though three of these new members were first nominated by Biden in April 2021. The Board acts as the federal utility’s main check on power, unlike private utilities that answer to a state public utility commission.

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper last week announced that a bill to name a Nashville post office after late state Sen. Thelma Harper had cleared the House and Senate and was headed to President Joe Biden’s desk. Harper was a Nashville Democrat who became the first African-American woman elected to the state Senate. She died in April 2021 at the age of 80. According to the White House, Biden signed off on the bill today and the U.S. post office at 2245 Rosa L Parks Blvd. has been renamed as the Thelma Harper Post Office Building.  

U.S. lawmakers have cut a proposal that would have made the federal judiciary's PACER online court records system free. The omission is a setback for advocates of the Open Courts Act, who had been pushing to get the stalled, bipartisan legislation attached to the omnibus spending measure. The funding bill does boosts overall spending on the judiciary by nearly 6% to $8.461 billion in fiscal year 2023. Reuters looks at what could be next for the proposal.

Lawmakers are making a last-ditch effort to pass legislation by the end of the year to reduce the sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine offenses. The Hill reports that Senate Democrats are expressing optimism about the chances of passing something as part of a larger funding package. Currently, an individual can be sentenced to at least five years for possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine and 10 years for possession of five kilograms, while individuals can be sentenced to five years for possession of 28 grams of crack cocaine and 10 years for 280 grams. This 18-to-1 ratio has been law since Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act, which reduced the disparity from 100-to-1. Lawmakers are now seeking to reduce the gap to 2.5-to-1. In related news, on Friday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland instructed federal prosecutors to end disparities in sentencing when charging offenses, Reuters reports.

The U.S. House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol approved four criminal and two ethics referrals today, The Hill reports. The criminal referrals ask the Department of Justice to charge former president Donald Trump with inciting an insurrection, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement and obstruction of an official proceeding. The committee also today recommended an ethics inquiry into Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other top allies of former President Trump for their refusal to cooperate in its probe.

The U.S. Congress yesterday gave final approval to a defense authorization bill that would allow U.S. Supreme Court justices and federal judges to shield their personal information from being viewed online. The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, named for the son of a federal judge who was fatally shot in 2020, was added to the must-pass bill and now heads to President Joe Biden for his signature, Reuters reports. ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross applauded the move saying that threats against judges have skyrocketed in recent years.