With help from Melanie Zanona and Eleanor Mueller There are no magical spells or clicking fast forward through the pains of repairing what has been shattered. A burst of angry rioters exploded into the Capitol on Wednesday, shaking the foundations of an institution that has served as a beacon of democracy since 1789 and leaving a philosophical cleanup for the days and months ahead. THE CLEANUP: Now members of Congress, who are literally picking up the pieces, are deciding whether they should let the Trump administration end organically or risk further damage by waiting out two more weeks in office. The fallout has been swift: Top security officials on Capitol Hill have already lost their jobs. A police officer has died. And so far, two Cabinet secretaries — Elaine Chao and Betsy DeVos — have resigned in the wake of the deadly riots that were inspired by their former boss. IMPEACHABLE OR IMPOSSIBLE? Democrats are fighting with fire and fury to remove President Donald Trump from office. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was initially reluctant to impeach Trump in 2019, is wasting little of what time remains in his term. "Yesterday the president of the United States incited an armed insurrection against America.," said Pelosi, whose own office was among those invaded by rioters on Wednesday. "While there's only 13 days left, any day can be a horror show for America." The Queen's Gambit: Although she originally called on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, Business Insider's Tom LoBianco reports that Pence opposes the idea. So Pelosi must now decide her next move. And fast. Which way is the wind blowing?: Democrats say they are ready to act -- and they have not dismissed the idea of canceling next week's planned recess and bringing the House back into session. Currently, there are TWO -- read 'em dos -- dueling impeachment resolutions. One resolution introduced by Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and one impeachment resolution introduced by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). One Democratic source tells your Huddle host that the Cicilline/Raskin/Lieu bill is moving forward "over" Omar's, noting how "Judiciary staff attorneys worked with those members to craft the articles last night." ONE WAY, OR ANOTHER: Democrats could either create a commission to begin the process of removing Trump through the 25th Amendment, or scramble to make Trump the first sitting president impeached for the second time in just one term. Sarah, Melanie, Heather and Kyle with the latest. BUT, BUT, BUT … Few Republicans support Democrats' drastic measures against Trump. The buzzer is about to blow anyway, many of them point out, though many Republicans I've talked to are mortified that Trump enabled his supporters through his incendiary rhetoric. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) did call on Trump to be immediately removed from office for the safety of the nation. And Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) — the former NRCC chair — said he's not opposed to the 25 Amendment being invoked. But at this point, it's highly unlikely that enough, if any, Senate Republicans would be on board with an 11th-hour impeachment push. Some have even warned it could backfire and cause even more violence, while other GOP lawmakers are urging senior officials to stick around so there's "strong leadership" in the White House, per WaPo's Seung Min Kim and Felicia Sonmez. AUTOPSY: Party leaders are beginning to peel back what went wrong and set their sights on who is to blame after a colossal collapse of security on Wednesday. Was it systemic failures that could've been avoided, or little fires that blew up into a giant engulfing flame of disaster? WHO IS BEING BLAMED?: - POLICE: Three big names are already forming the first wave of departures. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund will resign effective Jan. 16, days before Biden's inauguration. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger resigned at the request of McConnell, effective Thursday. And House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving is resigning, according to Pelosi. As the "big four" -- Pelosi, McConnell, Schumer and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy -- were huddled together in a secure location during the riot, they scrambled to get more police on the scene by making phone calls to the secretary of Defense, the attorney general, the Army secretary, and "many other officials," according to Schumer. The lowdown from Burgess and Heather: http://politi.co/3omrWOy Party leaders have been careful not to criticize Capitol police at large -- who lost one of their own Thursday night -- instead focusing specifically on those who oversee security at the Capitol complex. But that hasn't stopped your Huddle host hearing frustrations from readers who are confused why just 52 people have been arrested after (a thousand or more?) rioters rushed into the Capitol and after now five fatalities, including one who was shot by police. The New Yorker's Masha Gessen points out this stunning observation: "The Capitol Police made more arrests on each of the first three days of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in September, 2018, than they did Wednesday. The protesters at those hearings—most of them women, many self-identified survivors of sexual assault." What went wrong: There appear to be two theories emerging: 1) Capitol police were not adequately preparedfor the possibility of large-scale violence. And 2) leaders failed to have a plan to fight off intruders. For those who lived it and those who watched it unfold, the after-action report cannot come soon enough. We all deserve answers. Related reads: Experts cite multiple breakdowns in Capitol Police response, the Post's Carol Leonig reports | Capitol Police Rejected Offers of Federal Help to Quell Mob, by the AP - TRUMP: Roughly three hours after blood began spilling onto the Capitol's marble floors, aides frantically urged the president to condemn the rioters … As NYT's Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman put it: he did so "only belatedly, reluctantly and halfheartedly." - PARTY LEADERS: Critics are blasting Republicans who supported Trump in challenging the certification of Biden's election, for choosing to proceed with the anti-certification protest even after rioters stormed the Capitol. Five GOP senators ultimately objected -- Sens. Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Roger Marshall, John Kennedy, and Cindy Hyde-Smith -- to the election certification of Arizona and Pennsylvania's electoral votes, an itsy bitsy teeny weeny faction of the Republicans in the Senate. Unlike the upper chamber, a majority of the House GOP chose to join the anti-objection process, with 121 members signing on. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a Biden ally who has strong relationships across the aisle, is even calling on Hawley and Cruz to resign: http://politi.co/38mnXvV … And the editorial boards for two newspapers in Missouri also called on Hawley to step down (h/t CNN's Rebecca Buck): https://bit.ly/3oryonB. RELATED READS: Rep. Gary Palmer: 'I hold the president responsible for sending those people to the Capitol', by Yellow Hammer News' Sean Ross: https://bit.ly/3971W3k | Police failures spur resignations and complaints of double standard by many NYT reporters: http://nyti.ms/3nkXkM4 | House committees want 'immediate' briefing on FBI efforts to bring perpetrators to justice: https://bit.ly/3972KFo. | 
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