Rob Portman

Donald Trump, impeached twice and soon to be gone from the White House, will likely always have his corps of MAGA hat-wearing fans who believe he can do no wrong, that he is the be-all and end-all of their world. But there are signs that Trump's grip on Republican voters who are less fanatical in their devotion to him is starting to slip.

A week ago, in the aftermath of a violent, destructive and deadly rampage of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters – a rampage that could have been much worse – we were inundated by tweets and press releases from Republicans in the Ohio congressional delegation decrying what had happened in their workplace, the very center of American democracy.

But barely a word about who inspired a frenzied mob of thugs to scale the walls and cause chaos in the halls of Congress – the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

It seems like forever since Democrat Tim Ryan of Trumbull County was first elected to the U.S. House in 2002, and ever since politics reporters around the state (me included) have written more than our fair share of stories and tweets speculating about Ryan's political future.

The wrath of Donald Trump is something fearsome to behold.

Especially when one of his fellow Republicans tries to burst the bubble of the fictional scenario inside his head that tells him he somehow won re-election and will be sworn into office for a second term on Jan. 20.

Wrath so awesome it can make grown Republican officeholders quake in fear and scramble to reassure him that Joe Biden is not the president-elect.

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman has enrolled in a COVID-19 vaccine trial that's being developed by Janssen and Johnson & Johnson.

Portman said he enrolled in the trial because this is how he can play a small role in supporting the country's response to the pandemic.

In February 2016, nine months before the presidential election that produced the Trump presidency, President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland, a respected federal appeals court judge, to replace a conservative justice of the Supreme Court, Antonin Scalia, who died suddenly that month.

The story in The Atlantic quoting anonymous sources saying President Donald Trump referred to American soldiers who lost their lives in service as "suckers" and "losers" is still getting widespread reaction. But Ohio's Republican U.S. Senator is casting doubt on whether Trump said what's been confirmed by several news outlets.

As protests continue across Ohio and the country, the state's Republican U.S. Senator says President Trump could be doing more to help those demonstrations from spiraling into violence.

President Trump delivered his third State of the Union address Tuesday night, touting a strong economy, job creation and his immigration policies, but made no mention of the impeachment trial that is expected to come to a close today.

Let's say you have been called to jury duty in your county courthouse and you dutifully attend each day until you are assigned to a jury pool in a criminal case.

Ohio Senator Rob Portman told reporters Tuesday as much as one-third of materials in recycling bins are going into landfills. "This is unacceptable and I think most of my constituents would be shocked to hear that." He has introduced legislation to educate people on what can be recycled and how our country can do it more cost effectively.

If you are a member of Congress and the president from your own party stands up and says "there's nobody more honorable" than you, you might be tempted to be puffed up a bit.

Unless, of course, that president is Donald Trump, the man who is the very definition of the term loose cannon.

Senator Rob Portman, recently back from a fact-finding mission to Asia where he wore an Otto Warmbier t-shirt at the Korean border, says the U.S. doesn't owe North Korea anything. The Washington Post reports North Korea made the U.S. promise it would foot a $2 million hospital bill before it allowed the Wyoming High School graduate to return home. That bill remains unpaid.