Warring resolutions fail in the Senate

WASHINGTON—Republicans and Democrats in the Senate couldn’t agree on a resolution in response to the clearing of protesters from a park in front of the White House on Monday so that President Donald Trump could walk across the street to St. John’s Church. Senate Democrats on Tuesday put forward a resolution condemning the president’s actions. Republicans voted it down and proposed their own to denounce riots and police brutality, with Democrats rejecting it.

What did Trump do at St. John’s? A fire on Sunday night damaged the inside of the historic church after protests over the death of George Floyd turned violent. After delivering a statement about the protests in the White House Rose Garden on Monday, Trump walked through a cleared Lafayette Square and posed in front of the church holding up a Bible for photographers. On Tuesday, he and first lady Melania Trump, who is Catholic, laid a wreath at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, which led to further criticism of the president for staging another religious photo opportunity.

Dig deeper: Read Katie Gaultney’s report on how Christian leaders are responding to Floyd’s death and the resulting protests and violence.