I'm not going to be all dramatic about this. We know what damn day it is. Let's just get through it.


Already in Washington, DC, the chaos brews.




Donald Trump will formally take the reins of the presidency around 8:45 am, Portland time. He's already gone to church and met with the Obamas at the White House. This is actually about to happen (okay, I'll be a touch dramatic about it).

Update, 8:55 am: Uh-oh.


Trump takes office, of course, with enormous questions hanging in the air. The biggest is what's going to come of potentially explosive "intercepted communications and financial transactions" that intelligence officials are examining while looking into Trump's ties to Russia. "The continuing counterintelligence investigation means that Mr. Trump will take the oath of office on Friday with his associates under investigation and after the intelligence agencies concluded that the Russian government had worked to help elect him. As president, Mr. Trump will oversee those agencies and have the authority to redirect or stop at least some of these efforts."

Also: When's the new president going to hire a national security staff? He's holding onto dozens of President Obama's for the time being.

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In Portland, the protesting began yesterday. Doug Brown tagged along during a student protest of Trump's nominee for education secretary, Betsy DeVos. There is literally no way this wasn't the highlight:


And of course, everyone's wondering what will happen this afternoon, when a series of demonstrations and a possibly rowdy march are planned downtown. On Wednesday, Mayor Ted Wheeler and Police Chief Mike Marshman laid out part of their strategy for responding to the the actions.

TriMet's cultivating a will-they-or-won't-they air, announcing yesterday that it would cancel downtown service because of the protest, then reversing itself after getting an earful from City Hall. Still, don't count on hitching a bus this afternoon. TriMet's latest statement says: "Those who take TriMet into work or school in downtown Portland Friday morning, are encouraged to head home early."

In Salem, the legislature's budget writers unveiled a doomsday scenario yesterday: What the state's funding picture might look like if a $1.8 billion funding hole doesn't get some major attention. Oregon has more money coming in than in it's last two-year budget, but it's not enough to keep pace with the state's rising costs. So legislators have a difficult puzzle ahead of them—how to find enough cuts and new money to avoid a bloodbath.

Meanwhile, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is formally objecting to a confirmation vote on Trump's nominee for CIA director. That might mean the vote has to be pushed back until Monday. "Wyden is concerned about Pompeo's views expressed in a January 3, 2016, Wall Street Journal op-ed that should resume the collection of metadata to protect against terrorism."

A rainy inauguration day, clearly.

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Last word goes to this man: