Two House members resign; Election date set to fill Congress vacancy; Venezuela

Summary

Georgia Today Podcast Summary

Date: January 6, 2026
Host: Peter Biello (Georgia Public Broadcasting)

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Main Theme & Episode Overview

This episode covers major political transitions and controversies in Georgia, updates on the aftermath of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation from Congress, and in-depth analysis of the United States’ intervention in Venezuela following the removal of Nicolas Maduro. The episode also marks the five-year anniversary of the January 6th Capitol riots, with reflections from Georgia leaders. Rounding out the episode are updates on the Atlanta municipal inauguration, local agricultural aid, and sports news.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Anniversaries, Resignations, and Election News

• Five-Year Anniversary of January 6th Riots

  • Special hearings held by House Democrats included testimony from Georgians.
    • Jeff Duncan (former GA Lt. Governor) spoke about receiving death threats after standing up to Trump’s election fraud claims.

      “Within hours of the polls closing and Donald Trump started spreading lies, I stood up to him and make no mistake about it, it instantly put a target on my back then.” — Jeff Duncan [00:56]

  • U.S. Representative Hank Johnson recounted his experience during the riot (Sarah Kallis reporting) [01:06].

• Special Election for Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Congressional Seat

  • Election Date: March 10th, with a likely runoff in April [01:31].
  • Highly competitive: up to 19 Republicans, 2 Democrats, and 1 independent running.
  • All parties will appear on the March ballot; top two advance to runoff.

• State House Resignations

  • Karen Bennett (Stone Mountain Democrat): Resigned after being charged with lying to collect unemployment; pleaded not guilty [01:51].
  • Lynn Hefner (Augusta Democrat): Stepping down due to an inability to maintain residency after Hurricane Helene damaged her home.
  • Special elections will be called, it’s unclear if new members will be seated before session ends.

2. Atlanta City Government Inauguration

• Swearing-in of Mayor Andre Dickens, City Council President Marcy Collier Overstreet, and other officials held at Georgia State University [02:54].
• Notable attendees: Senator Raphael Warnock; former Atlanta mayors.
• Mayor Dickens’ remarks compared the city’s fight against inequality to the biblical battle between David and Goliath:

  “Atlanta’s five stones in this fight are affordable housing, investing in neighborhoods, opportunities for our youth, keeping residents and visitors safe, and all while prioritizing ethics, financial stewardship, and good government.” — Mayor Andre Dickens [03:19]

• First City Council meeting: January 20th.

3. Political and Ethics Developments

• Allegations against Brandon Phillips, former chief of staff for Congressman Mike Collins, regarding improper hiring of his girlfriend as an intern [03:45].
• The House Ethics Committee is extending its review; Phillips and Collins’ camp call the complaint politically motivated.

4. Economic Relief for Farmers

• USDA’s Farmer Bridge Assistance Program will provide one-time payments for 2025 crop year to offset high input costs [03:53].
• Local farmer Ben Boyd calls the relief a “band aid at best”:

  “You know, this doesn’t fix our problem. And our problem is input prices. And until we get these input prices...back in check, we’re going to really struggle.” — Ben Boyd [04:50]

• Payments due by late February; farmers expect continued challenges with market prices.

5. Hyundai’s Investment in Robotics

• Hyundai Motor Group to build AI-powered robots at the Bryan County plant in partnership with Boston Dynamics [05:19].
• Announced at CES 2026; robots will work alongside humans, performing hazardous tasks.

6. U.S. Toppling of Maduro in Venezuela: An Expert’s View

• Interview with Charles Shapiro (former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela) [06:23]
  • Key Issue: Maduro is gone, but his loyalists retain power.

    “The same people who were running it before Saturday morning, minus Nicolas Maduro.” — Charles Shapiro [06:37]

  • Venezuelans feel “betrayed,” calling the result “Madurismo without Maduro.” [06:44]
  • Ongoing repression: Journalists still arrested, regime apparatus intact [07:01].
  • Chavismo loyalty in military/police makes change difficult.

    “How do you get the sergeant in the army who has spent his whole career under the Chavez system...to switch his loyalty?” [07:47]

  • U.S. faces a dilemma: replacing loyalists could risk chaos (as in Iraq), but leaving them keeps the status quo [08:16].
  • Economic context: U.S. oil majors seek repayment for assets seized in 2007; impartial legal system needed for renewed investment [09:17].
  • Venezuela is less susceptible to ethnic/religious strife than Iraq, but social and political divides remain [10:56-12:23].

    “This is if you got rid of Hitler, but you left Himmler in charge. Right? This is the same system. Nothing has changed what’s going on here.” — Venezuelan contact, relayed by Shapiro [12:39]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It’s Madurismo without Maduro.” — Charles Shapiro on post-Maduro Venezuela [06:44]
• “You know this doesn’t fix our problem. And our problem is input prices.” — Ben Boyd on USDA relief package [04:50]
• “Atlanta’s five stones in this fight are affordable housing, investing in neighborhoods, opportunities for our youth, keeping residents and visitors safe, and all while prioritizing ethics, financial stewardship, and good government.” — Mayor Andre Dickens [03:19]
• “This is if you got rid of Hitler, but you left Himmler in charge.” — Charles Shapiro (quoting a Venezuelan contact), describing disillusionment in Venezuela [12:39]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• January 6th Anniversary, Georgia Testimonies: 00:22 – 01:31
• Marjorie Taylor Greene’s seat; House resignations: 01:31 – 02:54
• Atlanta inauguration, Dickens’ address: 02:54 – 03:45
• Collins ethics complaint: 03:45 – 03:53
• Farm relief program/Ben Boyd: 03:53 – 05:19
• Hyundai robot announcement: 05:19 – 06:20
• Venezuela: Interview with Charles Shapiro: 06:23 – 13:09
• Sports wrap-up: 13:57 – 15:43

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Overall Tone and Style

The tone is informative and serious, with an emphasis on clarity, accountability, and the challenges of both local and international politics. Throughout, the reporting blends authoritative analysis, direct quotes from newsmakers, and accessible explanations.

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For Listeners New to the Episode

This episode provides a comprehensive overview of political shifts within Georgia, key legal and ethical challenges facing current leaders, the legacy of U.S. interventions abroad, and major local updates. It contextualizes sharp local developments—resignations, elections, and judicial swearing-ins—within broader national and international issues, especially with the nuanced Venezuela discussion.

If you didn’t catch the episode, these highlights and timestamps can help you identify the segments most relevant to your interests—from Georgia’s political contests to the future of Venezuela and U.S. foreign policy.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to the Georgia Today Podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, two members of the Georgia State House have resigned. An election date has been set to fill the seat in Congress most recently occupied by Marjorie Taylor Greene. And Nicolas Maduro may be out as leader of Venezuela, but the rest of his government still controls the country.

[B]

This is if you got rid of Hitler, but you left Himmler in charge.

[A]

Today is Tuesday, January 6th. I'm Peter Biello and this is Georgia Today. Today marks the five year anniversary of the deadly riots at the U.S. capitol. Democrats in the U.S. house held a special hearing and heard testimony from Georgians. GPB Sarah Kalis reports.

[C]

Former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Jeff Duncan testified in front of a Democratic panel and said his family received death threats in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

[B]

So within hours of the polls closing and Donald Trump started spreading lies, I stood up to him and make no mistake about it, it's instantly put a target on my back then.

[C]

Republican Duncan famously clashed with President Donald Trump when Trump called into question the legitimacy of the 2020 election results. There is no evidence of mass voter fraud in 2020 in Georgia. U.S. representative from Georgia Hank Johnson also testified about his experience in the Capitol on January 6th. For GPB news, I'm Sarah Kallis.

[A]

Voters in Northwest Georgia will get their first crack at electing a successor to former Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on March 10th. Governor Brian Kemp set that date for a special election to fill her seat after she stepped down yesterday, ending a five year headline grabbing stint in office. The race to replace Greene is already a crowded one. As many as 19 Republicans are considering a run along with two Democrats and an independent. That means a runoff election in April is likely. Candidates of all political parties will appear on the March ballot and the top two vote getters will advance to the runoff. Two members of the State House have resigned ahead of next week's opening of the General Assembly. Stone Mountain Democrat Karen Bennett resigned on Thursday. Federal prosecutors have charged her with lying to collect unemployment benefits during the pandemic. She pleaded not guilty yesterday. Augusta Democrat Lynn Hefner said yesterday that she also is stepping down. Hefner said her house was heavily damaged in 2024 as Hurricane Helene and she doubted that she could maintain residency in her district. Governor Brian Kemp must now call special elections to replace Bennett and Hefner. It's unclear if their successors will be seated before the legislative session ends. The city of Atlanta held its official inauguration for municipal judges, city council members and the mayor yesterday. GPB's Amanda Andrews has More Newly elected.

[C]

Leaders were sworn in during a ceremony at Georgia State University that included Mayor Andre Dickens and City Council President Marcy Collier Overstreet. The event was attended by Senator Raphael Warnock, former Mayors Andrew Young, Shirley Franklin and Kaseem Reid. During his address, Dickens compared Atlanta's fight against inequality to the biblical battle between David and Goliath. He said, like David, armed with only stones and a sling, the city has what it needs to win.

[B]

Atlanta's five stones in this fight are affordable housing, investing in neighborhoods, opportunities for our youth, keeping residents and visitors safe and all while prioritizing ethics, financial stewardship and good government.

[C]

The new City Council will meet for the first time for a regular meeting on January 20th. For GPB news, I'm Amanda Andrews.

[A]

A congressional ethics watchdog says there is substantial reason to believe the former chief of staff for Georgia Congressman Mike Collins hired his girlfriend as an intern and that she didn't perform proper work. The former chief of staff, Brandon Phillips, now works for Collins. Senate campaign Collins is one of three Republicans aiming to unseat Democratic U.S. senator Jon Ossoff. The House Ethics Committee is extending its review of the complaint. Collins office calls the complaint a bogus attempt to derail his campaign. Collins rivals in the GOP primary are already criticizing him. Federal agriculture officials have announced how much farmers will get in one time economic aid for financial losses in the 2025 crop year. The U.S. department of Agriculture published a list of per acre payments differing by type of crop last week. The Farmer Bridge Assistance Program is aimed at shoring up American farmers until more long term support kicks in from the Trump administration's One Big Beautiful Bill act later this year. Ben Boyd grows peanuts and cotton, among other crops, in East George's Scriven County. He's grateful for the support, but this.

[B]

Is a band aid at best. You know this doesn't fix our problem. And our problem is input prices. And until we get these input prices, everything we buy back in check, we're going to really struggle.

[A]

He says he'll likely plant fewer peanuts this year because the price he's getting for them on the market dropped significantly in 2025. Bridge payments are expected to arrive in farmers bank accounts by the end of February. Hyundai Motor Group says it plans to build AI powered robots at its massive vehicle factory in southeast Georgia's Bryan County. The company unveiled a strategy to roll out what it's calling Next Generation Humanoids in partnership with its subsidiary Boston Dynamics yesterday. The announcement came at the 2026 Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas and included dog like robots dancing to K pop songs. Hyundai says the machines are intended to work alongside humans in manufacturing environments, performing hazardous and dangerous tasks. Since the United States government captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over the weekend, several key questions remain unanswered. What happens next to Venezuelans if the US Will indeed run the country as President Trump claims? We what will that require? With me now to discuss this is Charles Shapiro, who served as U.S. ambassador to Venezuela from 2002 to 2004. He's professor of practice in the Sam Nunn School of International Relations at Georgia Tech and is president emeritus of the World Affairs Council of Atlanta. Thank you so much for speaking with me.

[B]

Great. Delighted to do so.

[A]

So we're talking on Tuesday morning, January 6th, and from where things stand right now, though President Trump claims to have taken control of the country, members of the government who served alongside Maduro claim to be in control. So what can you tell us about who is running the country right now?

[B]

The same people who are running it before Saturday morning, minus Nicolas Maduro.

[A]

And do the Venezuelans you've spoken to feel a particular way about that?

[B]

They feel betrayed. They're saying, look, this is a dictatorship. You remove the dictator and then but leave all of the henchmen there. And that's essentially what's happened. It's Madurismo without Maduro.

[A]

To what extent is there a sense of stability in Venezuela right now?

[B]

Well, what's happened is the same police who are on the streets repressing people on Friday before the US Intervention are still on the streets today. So yesterday, seven journalists in Caracas were arrested.

[A]

So it seems like what you're saying is it's essentially more of the same. What is it going to take for the US to follow through on its promise to run the country? Is this going to require more military, military intervention, in your view?

[B]

Well, it requires insight into what President Trump and the cabinet are planning. It certainly appears they're putting stability over return to democracy. And it's really key. I mean, who, how do you get the police in the military to switch loyalty?

[A]

Right.

[B]

I mean, all the police and all the military who've been hired in the past 25 years are loyalists of first Hugo Chavez and now Nicolas Maduro. Okay, so how do you get the sergeant in the army who has spent his whole career under the Chavez system, Chavismo, to switch his loyalty to something that you and I would call democratic, impartial enforcement of the laws?

[A]

Sounds like your question is somewhat rhetorical. The answer is you Don't. Right. You have to replace those people somehow.

[B]

Well, you've got to work on it really hard. I mean, I think one of the things that we did in Iraq was we fired the army right away and fired the police right away, and then the country descended into chaos because there was no police and no army. So my guess is that's what they're trying to avoid. But what you've got is the 70% of the people who voted for the opposition and the stolen election of a year and a half ago or, you know, going like, what the heck's going on? This is the same. Nothing's changed.

[A]

President Trump has said that this action is at least in part about oil. And to put it mildly, US Companies have had a difficult time operating in Venezuela for the past couple decades. Assets have been seized, judgments have not been paid. There was corruption. What do you think it would take to make it easier for American companies to do business in Venezuela without needing the US Government to stay in Venezuela long term?

[B]

What it requires is a system of laws that are applied impartially. You know, both criminal laws, but also commercial laws. You know, commercial code. The two big oil majors, US oil majors, had their concessions seized in 2007 when the Hugo Chavez government nationalized the oil fields. And that meant the millions of dollars of equipment that they had invested in drilling equipment, wells, pumps, pipelines, refineries, ports. Loading all the stuff you would need to get oil out of the ground, move it 250 miles to the coast and put it on a ship, was seized by the government, and they got no compensation for it for him. So, as you can imagine, those companies are really upset. There's an international system for deciding commercial disputes called icsid. Icsid. And both companies went through, you know, this ICSID system and said, the government of Venezuela owns ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. This amount of money for the property they seized, and the government of Venezuela has not paid it.

[A]

Venezuela is not Iraq, of course, but what are the aspects of Venezuelan culture or government that could lead the US to get stuck there like it did in Iraq after toppling Saddam Hussein?

[B]

Well, first of all, you were right when you said Venezuela is not Iraq. It's not. You don't have different ethnic groups. You don't have religious. I mean, obviously they've got Protestants and Catholics, but you don't have huge battles with people trying to kill each other over religious issues. Like in Iraq, you don't have private militias. So now you do, because the government has militias that support them. Everybody speaks the same language. I mean, Latin America and the United States are both part of Western civilization and culture. You know, we read the same books, we go to the same sorts of churches. I mean, so it's a lot easier in Latin America than it is in the Middle east, where you run into all kinds of issues which we have a hard time deciphering, understanding, and working with, you know, but people have strong feelings in Venezuela, just like they do in the United States over politics, you know, so you can see all kinds of things that can go wrong. I mean, the people that didn't vote for the opposition feel very strongly about Maduro and love him and love Chavismo. And those people tend to be the poorest elements of society and the people who have benefited from the social spending of the Chavez and Maduro governments.

[A]

So what I'm hearing you say is that because Venezuela is more united by language than Iraq was, less divided by religious differences than Iraq was when US Invaded, it's possible that at the very least, it will not descend into the kind of civil war like we saw in Iraq after the invasion.

[B]

Oh, absolutely possible, not guaranteed. And that's the key. I mean, I've got Venezuelan friends, you know, that I'm texting back and forth with. Some of them are in Venezuela, some of them are outside of Venezuela, you know, going, what the heck? This is the same. This is if you got rid of Hitler, but you left Himmler in charge. Right? This is the same system. Nothing has changed what's going on here. Right. So you've got that huge disappointment.

[A]

Well, thank you so much for speaking to me about this very complicated issue. Charles Shapiro was U.S. ambassador to Venezuela from 2002 to 2004. He's a professor of practice at the Sam Nunn School of International Relations at Georgia Tech and is President emeritus of the World Affairs Council of Atlanta. Thank you so much for speaking with me. We appreciate your time.

[B]

Thanks, Peter. I appreciate it.

[D]

How does AI even work? Where does creativity come from? What's the secret to living longer? TED Radio Hour explores the biggest questions we with some of the world's greatest thinkers. They will surprise, challenge, and even change. You listen to NPR's Ted Radio Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

[A]

In Georgia sports, the head football coach at Gainesville High School is stepping down, fresh off an appearance in the state championships. In his four years at Gainesville, Josh Niblett led the red elephants to a 459 overall record and and two state championships, most recently in December when they lost to Thomas County Central. The school said today that he plans to pursue an opportunity in college football at the University of Georgia. Two standout Bulldogs have declared for the NFL Draft. Linebacker C.J. allen and wide receiver Zachariah Branch both announced their decisions on social media yesterday. Both are viewed as first round picks and the Atlanta Hawks fell to the Toronto raptors last night. 118, 100 last although the Hawks struggled overall in shooting, Onyeka Nkongwu nabbed a 17.12 rebound double double. They next face the New Orleans Pelicans at home tomorrow. And that's it for Georgia Today. Thank you so much for tuning in. We've got a lot of news coming your way this winter and spring as the legislative session is just about to begin. We're going to have a lot of reporting on laws in the making and we won't want you to miss any of it. So make sure you subscribe to this podcast. Follow us on social media. We're PBNews and make sure you check gpb.org news for the latest headlines. Now, if you have feedback for us or maybe there's something you'd like us to cover, you can let us know by email. The address is georgia todaypb.org we love hearing from you. Your messages go to the entire Georgia Today team. Again, that's Georgia Today and gpb. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening to Georgia Today. We will see you tomorrow.

[D]

How does AI even work? Where does creativity come from? What's the secret to living longer? TED Radio Hour explores the biggest questions with some of the world's greatest thinkers. They will surprise, challenge, and even change you. Listen to NPR's TED Radio Hour wherever you get your podcasts.