By LIBBY CATHEY, KENNEDEY BELL and LAUREN KING, ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in eight days.
Here is how the scene is unfolding. All times Eastern:
Jan 12, 1:34 pm
Dems scold Rep. Jim Jordan for continuing to question Biden’s win
In an ongoing House Rules Committee hearing about the resolution to call on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, Democrats are pushing back on GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio for continuing to suggest the 2020 election should be investigated for fraud.
When Committee Chair James McGovern, D-Mass., asked Jordan if he will concede that the election was not stolen, Jordan repeated Biden was the president-elect but wouldn’t say if, in his view, Biden won fairly.
“If we want to talk about healing, we have to talk about truth."
In extended back-and-forth, House Rules Committee Chair James McGovern presses GOP Rep. Jim Jordan to rebuke baseless election claims and state that "Joe Biden won fair and square." https://t.co/4AAqg0EWFR pic.twitter.com/8AYJi4XtIA
— ABC News (@ABC) January 12, 2021
“He won the election because the way the process works is the last chance to object is Jan. 6, and the objection didn’t prevail,” Jordan said.
“If we want to talk about healing, we have to talk about truth,” McGovern interjected in a contentious exchange. “And if we want to talk about healing, we have to deal with the issue of accountability.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who authored the resolution, at one point asked if there’s anything Trump could possibly do that would cause Jim Jordan to not defend him.
Rep. Jamie Raskin on Rep. Jim Jordan: "Is there anything the president can do that would cause Mr. Jordan not to defend him?" https://t.co/MDOYkMZRsA pic.twitter.com/DNk16ANf2S
— ABC News (@ABC) January 12, 2021
“Even after a mob of violent insurrectionists staged a gallows outside of the Congress and chanted, ‘Hang Mike Pence,’ even though they tried to force Mike Pence not to do his job, even after five people are dead, we continue to hear these lies and slurs about the 2020 presidential election,” Raskin said.
Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo, also directly asked Jordan, “Joe Biden won the election, yes or no?”
“Yes, he won. But there are serious problems with this election that deserve an investigation,” Jordan said, continuing to air his grievances until Perlmutter interrupted, “I asked you a yes or no question. Please! We’re trying to bring this nation back together. Jim, please!”
Jordan, a Trump loyalist, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump in a closed ceremony at the White House on Monday.
Jan 12, 12:29 pm
Democratic leaders call meetings amid security concerns
House leadership is currently meeting with the United States Capitol Police’s acting police chief and the new House Sergeant at Arms to discuss security concerns and threats related to Capitol Hill following the Jan. 6 riot, a top Democratic House aide tells ABC News.
The aide said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the meeting, which includes Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who chairs the House Administration Committee overseeing House security, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., among others in leadership.
Later Tuesday, there will be an all-senators briefing on inauguration security. The briefing will not occur in person.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer notified senators of the briefing, which will include representatives from the Secret Service, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, according to a Senate source.
Tuesday’s meetings come after Democratic offices distributed a memo to colleagues on how lawmakers can be reimbursed for purchasing bulletproof vests and hiring security.
Jan 12, 11:59 am
House Rules Committee debates resolution demanding Trump’s removal
The House Rules Committee began meeting at 11 a.m. Tuesday to take up the rules governing floor debate for a resolution pressing Vice President Mike Pence to use the 25th Amendment and force Trump out of office.
“It is absolutely critical for us to make clear that this was a dereliction of presidential duties,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., one of the resolution’s co-sponsors. “The president is not even minimally discharging the basic duties of his office.”
A vote on the resolution is expected around 7:30 p.m., according to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office.
Democrats will give Pence “24 hours after passage” to respond and mobilize the Cabinet to remove Trump, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a statement Monday, otherwise the House will move forward with an impeachment vote as early as Wednesday, setting up Trump to be the first president in U.S. history impeached twice.
The House Rules Committee is expected to take up rules governing floor debate for the impeachment resolution — which charges Trump with inciting an insurrection — later in the day.
Jan 12, 10:53 am
Trump departs White House in first public appearance since Capitol riot
The president appeared before the press for the first time since last Wednesday — the day his supporters stormed the Capitol following his remarks at a rally calling on them to march to the building — when he departed the White House for Alamo, Texas, on Tuesday morning. He took the opportunity to criticize efforts to remove him from office.
“On the impeachment, it’s really a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics. It’s ridiculous. It’s absolutely ridiculous. This impeachment is causing tremendous anger, and you’re doing it, and it’s really a terrible thing that they’re doing,” Trump said. “For Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to continue on this path, I think it’s causing tremendous danger to our country, and it’s causing tremendous anger.”
“I want no violence,” he told reporters.
Trump is expected to hold an event related to the souther border later this afternoon. Before addressing impeachment, he said the wall has made a “tremendous difference” in stopping illegal immigration.
Jan 12, 9:43 am
Overview: Trump to speak in Texas, Biden team to push national security confirmations
When he leaves for Alamo, Texas, Tuesday morning, it will be President Trump’s first time in public since last Wednesday — the day his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol after he encouraged a crowd of thousands, at a rally beforehand, to put pressure on lawmakers affirming Biden’s victory in Congress.
Apart from posting video on Twitter last Thursday, before the platform permanently suspended his account, the president has remained behind closed doors at the White House — spending his final days in office out of the public eye — but is expected to break his silence with afternoon remarks.
“President Trump is expected to travel to Alamo, Texas, on Tuesday to mark the completion of more than 400 miles of border wall — a promise made, promise kept — and his administration’s efforts to reform our broken immigration system,” White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere told reporters ahead of the visit.
The president is facing renewed calls from congressional Democrats to be removed from office in the wake of last week’s riot, with the House poised to pass an impeachment resolution as early as Wednesday charging the president with incitement of insurrection — and setting Trump up to be the first president in history to be impeached twice.
Trump, for the first time since the assault, spoke with Vice President Mike Pence at the urging of his advisers and allies in an Oval Office meeting Monday that lasted 90 minutes and was friendly in nature, according to White House officials briefed on the meeting. Pence is not expected to invoke the 25th Amendment as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called on him to do.
Biden, on Tuesday, will receive the President’s Daily Brief and meet with advisers, while his transition team and allies in Congress begin a push to confirm his national security nominees so they’re in place next week, with priority on the confirmation of Department of Homeland Security Secretary-designate Alejandro Mayorkas.
Defense Secretary-designate Gen. Lloyd Austin, nominee for Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Secretary of State-designate Tony Blinken will also be part of the push ahead of their hearings on Capitol Hill.
Biden’s nominees may also need now to contend with an impeachment trial in the Senate. Biden suggested in remarks Monday the Senate look into splitting the its time in order to confirm his nominees, pass COVID-19 relief and deal with a presidential impeachment.
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