U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has led a congressional delegation to Kyiv to meet with Ukraine's president before heading to Poland for talks with officials there on Sunday.

Pelosi, a California Democrat who is second in line to the presidency after the vice president, is the most senior American lawmaker to visit Ukraine since Russia's war began more than two months ago. Her visit to Kyiv on Saturday marks a major show of continuing support for the country's struggle against Moscow.

“Our delegation traveled to Kyiv to send an unmistakable and resounding message to the entire world: America stands firmly with Ukraine,” Pelosi said in a statement released Sunday.

Footage released by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office showed Pelosi and other U.S. legislators in Kyiv. In video later released by Pelosi’s office, the speaker and Zelenskyy both thanked each other for their support in the war.

“We’ll win and we’ll win together,” Zelenskyy said.

Pelosi added: “We are here until victory is won.”

The full congressional delegation included Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Adam Schiff, of California who chairs the House Intelligence Committee; Jim McGovern of Massachusetts who chairs the House Rules Committee; Jason Crow of Colorado; Barbara Lee of California; and Bill Keating of Massachusetts.

“You all are welcome,” Zelenskyy told the delegation.

Pelosi told Zelenskyy: “We believe that we are visiting you to say thank you for your fight for freedom."

“We are on a frontier of freedom and your fight is a fight for everyone. Our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done,” Pelosi added.

The visit wasn't previously announced.

The delegation continued its trip in southeast Poland, and Pelosi said they would later visit the capital, Warsaw, to meet with President Andrzej Duda and other senior officials. Poland has received more than 3 million refugees from Ukraine since Russia launched its war on Feb. 24.

“We look forward to thanking our Polish allies for their dedication and humanitarian efforts,” she said.

In a news conference in Poland, Pelosi said she and others in the delegation applauded the courage of the Ukrainian people. She added that the delegation brought Zelenskyy “a message of appreciation from the American people for his leadership.”

Schiff said the U.S. lawmakers had a three-hour meeting with Zelenskyy and his administration, talking about sanctions, weapons and aid assistance. Schiff promised that intelligence sharing would continue between Ukraine and the U.S.

“This is a struggle of freedom against tyranny,” Schiff said. “And in that struggle, Ukraine is on the front lines.”

McGovern said Russia's war had repercussions far beyond Ukraine, saying it was exacerbating a food crisis that would be disastrous for poor people across the globe.

“Putin’s brutal war is no longer only a war against the people of Ukraine,” McGovern said. “It’s also a war against the world’s most vulnerable.”

He added that Ukraine is a “breadbasket of the world.”

“I don’t think that Putin cares if he starves the world,” McGovern said.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's flight to Taiwan, which bolstered American support for the island nation but angered China, was the single most heavily tracked flight in the history of the online flight tracking site Flightradar24.The website, which uses a network of receivers to track planes' location and speed, said Wednesday that more than 708,000 people across the globe were tracking the flight when it landed in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei. And more than 2.9 million people tracked at least a portion of the flight amid uncertainty about whether Pelosi would follow through on her pledge to visit the island nation, whose independence is not recognized by China.Though the stop in Taiwan was not part of Pelosi's official schedule for her tour of Asia, a Taiwanese and U.S. official confirmed to CNN on Monday that she would be making the stop off. The decision came amid warnings from Biden administration officials, who raised concerns about how China would respond.Pelosi, whose visit to Taiwan was the first of its kind in 25 years, said she intended the trip to make it "unequivocally clear" that the United States would "not abandon" the democratically governed island. She was greeted by Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-wen, in a televised meeting. She thanked Pelosi for visiting and praised her commitment to democracy and bestowed on her Taiwan's highest civilian honor.Beijing warned that Pelosi's trip would have a "severe impact on the political foundation of China-U.S. relations" and responded with a series of military exercises that began on Tuesday.Pelosi traveled from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, to Taipei aboard a Boeing C-40C jet (a military version of the Boeing 737 jetliner) operated by the US Air Force, according to the flight tracker. The flight flew under the call sign "SPAR19."Flightradar24, which started as a passion project by two aviation enthusiasts, said in a blog post that traffic on its website became so intense that it nearly brought down the tracker, and it was forced to limit access to the site for non-subscribers by implementing a waiting room feature."An unprecedented, sustained interest in this particular flight led to extremely heavy load on Flightradar24 infrastructure. Our teams immediately began efforts to maintain the stability of our services. Unfortunately, due to the volume of users, it was necessary to deploy our waiting room functionality, which meters access to Flightradar24 for non-subscribers."Shortly after Pelosi's flight landed, the company was able to restore normal access for all users.

WASHINGTON —

There are two searing scenes of Nancy Pelosi confronting the violent extremism that spilled into the open late in her storied political career. In one, she's uncharacteristically shaken in a TV interview as she recounts the brutal attack on her husband.

In the other, the House speaker rips open a package of beef jerky with her teeth during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, while on the phone with Mike Pence, instructing the Republican vice president how to stay safe from the mob that came for them both. "Don’t let anybody know where you are,” she said.

That Pelosi, composed and in command at a time of chaos, tart but proper at every turn, is the one whom lawmakers have obeyed, tangled with, respected and feared for two decades.

She is the most powerful woman in American politics and one of the most consequential legislative leaders. Now, at 82, in the face of political loss and personal trauma, she is closing her era.

Pelosi announced Thursday she would not seek a Democratic leadership position in the Congress that convenes in January, when Republicans take control. Pelosi will remain in Congress.

“Never would I have thought that I would go from homemaker to House speaker,” she allowed. On her future, she told reporters: "I like to dance, I like to sing. There’s a life out there, right?”

Polarizing and combative, Pelosi nevertheless forged compromises with Republicans on historic legislation, on health care, roads, student debt relief, climate change and more.

Even former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich, a self-described “partisan conservative who thinks that most of her positions are insane,” said Pelosi had a “remarkable” run.

“Totally dominant,” Gingrich said of her. “She’s clearly one of the strongest speakers in history. She has shown enormous perseverance and discipline."

Bono, who worked with Pelosi over the years on combating AIDS, said in a statement to the AP after a performance Thursday night in Scotland: “When the story of the end of AIDS is written, Nancy Pelosi’s name will stand out in boldface.”

“I am honored to have learned so much from her grit and grace, and to call her a friend,” he added.

Many fellow Democrats, at one point or another, earned her look of icy disapproval, not just the other side.

“Politics is tough,” she said in 2015, “but intraparty? Oh, brother.”

Pelosi prevailed — for nearly 20 years as House Democratic leader including nearly eight as speaker in two stints — with hard-nosed sentiments like these:

“Whoever votes against the speaker will pay a price.” — to Democrats who resisted her push for a select committee on climate change early in her speakership.

“Nobody’s walking out of here saying anything, if they want to keep an intact neck.” — to negotiators trying to work out a 2007 House-Senate compromise to restrain pork, according to the notes of John A. Lawrence, her then-chief of staff and author of a new insider book on her speakership, “Arc of Power."

Sometimes, she could snap her lawmakers into line without a word.

A flick of her hand silenced Democrats who cheered when the House first passed articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, for Pelosi was a stickler for decorum. But not always.

She ripped her copy of Trump's 2020 State of the Union speech, on the dais behind him, on camera. The theatrical protest raised questions about whether Pelosi, in that moment, had become what she despised in Trump.

“He has shredded the truth in his speech, shredded the Constitution in his conduct — I shredded the address,” she said crisply. “Thank you all very much.”

Republicans pilloried her as “Darth Nancy” back in 2006 and the villainization got uglier, complete with gun imagery, as the years passed.

“She was, she is, the personification of the San Francisco liberal,” Lawrence said. “It was made to order for them."

But "there was a viciousness. The fact that she fit that bill so perfectly — a smart, attractive, effective woman ... they knew they could caricature and stigmatize things about her, her appearance and style, in a way that was a very effective dog whistle of misogyny.”

She would never publicly attribute the attacks to the fact she's a woman, Lawrence said. “She would say, ‘They did it because I’m effective.'" Then “pretend to flick dust” off her immaculate jacket.

“Darth Nancy” was a quaint, faraway insult by the time the pro-Trump mob came looking for her that Jan. 6. Their sign at the Capitol said, “Pelosi is Satan.”

Rifling through her desk, they found a pair of boxing gloves. Pink ones.

Pelosi honed the art of aiming high, then disappointing one faction of her party or another without losing core support. Rare is the major achievement that was as far left as the party's left wing wanted.

But many are the achievements. She settled for an “Obamacare” bill, for example, that did not give everyone the option of government health insurance, but did, over time, expand access to health care.

She crushed toes along the way.

“Her instincts are to find a path and if you happen to be standing in the hole, she’s going to treat you like a running back," said political scientist Cal Jillson at Southern Methodist University. "If she can go through you, fine. If not, you’re headed to the medicine tent.”

Pelosi faced none of the questions about sharpness that dog Biden, 80 on Sunday. She still races around Congress, in high heels, at a pace people half her age can find hard to match.

But concern had grown in the ranks about the crowd of older Democratic leaders still in charge.

Leon Panetta, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, said Pelosi “probably could have spent more time building a stronger bench in terms of leadership in the House and trying to make sure that others could follow in her path.”

Her fundraising prowess was one key to success.

“This is why the Democrats had more money than God," said Republican Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan. "She was magic, and I don’t think she lost a vote.”

AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

Congress is ending a chaotic session, a two-year political firestorm that started with the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history, was riven by impeachment and a pandemic, and now closes with a rare rebuff by Republicans of President Donald Trump.

In the few days remaining, GOP senators are ignoring Trump's demand to increase COVID-19 aid checks to $2,000 and are poised to override his veto of a major defense bill, asserting traditional Republican spending and security priorities in defiance of a president who has marched the party in a different direction.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a top Trump ally, tried to bridge the divide Thursday, saying Congress could try again to approve Trump's push for bigger COVID aid checks in the new session, which opens Sunday.

“I am with President Trump on this," Graham said on Fox News.

“Our economy is really hurting here,” he said. "There’s no way to get a vote by Jan. 3. The new Congress begins noon Jan. 3. So the new Congress, you could get a vote.’’

As the Senate grinds through the New Year's holiday, the one-two rebuke of Trump's demands punctuates the president’s final days and deepens the divide between the Republican Party's new wing of Trump-styled populists and what had been mainstay conservative views.

The stalemate is expected to drag into the weekend.

An exasperated Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said this week, “After all the insanity that Senate Republicans have tolerated from President Trump — his attacks on the rule of law, an independent judiciary, the conduct that led to his impeachment — is this where Senate Republicans are going to draw the line — $2,000 checks to the American people?”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has shown little interest in Trump's push to bolster the $600 relief checks just approved in a sweeping year-end package, declaring Congress has provided enough pandemic aid, for now, as he blocked repeated Democratic attempts to force a vote.

Opening the Senate on Thursday, McConnell called the House-passed bill matching Trump's $2,000 request “socialism for rich people” who don't need the federal help. He prefers a more targeted approach.

The refusal to act on the checks, along with the veto Friday or Saturday of the defense bill, could very well be among McConnell's final acts as majority leader as two GOP senators in Georgia are in the fights of their political lives in runoff elections next week that will determine which party controls the Senate.

Trump made an early return Thursday to the White House from his private club in Florida.

Trump and President-elect Joe Biden are separately poised to campaign in Georgia ahead of Tuesday's election as GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler face Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

It's a dizzying end to a session of Congress that resembles few others for the sheer number of crises and political standoffs as Trump's presidency defined and changed the legislative branch.

Congress opened in 2019 with the federal government shutdown over Trump's demands for money to build the border wall with Mexico. Nancy Pelosi regained the speaker's gavel after Democrats swept to the House majority in the midterm election.

Related video: Pelosi slams McConnell for halting stimulus checks

The Democratic-led House went on to impeach the president over his request to the Ukrainian president to “do us a favor” against Biden ahead of the presidential election. The Republican-led Senate acquitted the president in 2020 of the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

When the pandemic struck, Congress rallied with unusual speed and agreement to pass a $2 trillion relief package, the largest federal intervention of its kind in U.S. history.

The COVID-19 crisis also shuttered the Capitol and altered the workings of Congress. The House changed its rules to allow proxy voting, a first, so lawmakers could avoid the health risks of travel to Washington. The Senate ultimately halted its traditional daily lunches.

The usually bustling halls of Congress became eerily silent most days. Many members tested positive for the virus.

The Congress had few other notable legislative accomplishes, and could not agree on how to respond to the racial injustice reckoning that erupted after the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement.

Instead, the Senate was primarily focused on filling the courts with Trump's conservative judicial nominees, including confirming his third Supreme Court justice, Amy Coney Barrett.

As the session appeared to be winding down, Trump stunned Washington days before Christmas by delaying his signature on the latest $2 trillion-plus COVID relief and year-end funding package over his fresh demands for additional aid.

Trump’s push for $2,000 checks gained sudden momentum when dozens of House Republicans joined Democrats in approving the measure Monday. But the effort fizzled in the GOP-led Senate.

Democrats embraced Trump's demand, a rare alliance with the Republican president, but his own party split between those few joining his push for more aid and others objecting to more spending they said was not targeted to those who need it most.

Liberal senators, led by Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who support the relief boost are blocking action on the defense bill until a vote is taken on Trump’s demand.

McConnell offered an alternative aid bill, linking the $2,000 checks with Trump's other priorities, including a complicated repeal of protections for tech companies like Facebook or Twitter and the establishment of a bipartisan commission to review the 2020 presidential election.

But the GOP leader has scheduled no votes on his measure and it would be unlikely to have enough support in Congress to pass.

For now, the smaller $600 checks are being sent to households. Americans earning up to $75,000 qualify for the payments, which are phased out at higher income levels, and there’s an additional $600 payment per dependent child.

The outgoing president has been berating Republican leaders for the standoff, but he appears more focused on gathering GOP support for his extraordinary Electoral College challenge of Biden's victory when the vote is tallied in a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6.

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri is among those leading Trump’s challenge to the Electoral College result, but he was rebuked Thursday by GOP Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who warned colleagues off what he called a “dangerous ploy” that could damage trust in elections.

The challenge is not expected to change the election outcome, with Biden set to be inaugurated Jan. 20. But it will be among the first votes tallied in the new Congress.

WASHINGTON —

Nancy Pelosi was narrowly reelected Sunday as speaker, giving her the reins of Democrats' slender House majority as President-elect Joe Biden sets a challenging course of producing legislation to tackle the pandemic, revive the economy and address other party priorities.

The California Democrat, who has led her party in the House since 2003 and is the only woman to be speaker, had been widely expected to retain her post. Pelosi received 216 votes to 209 for Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who again will be the chamber's minority leader.

To gain her victory, Pelosi had to overcome some Democratic grumbling about her longevity, a slim 222-211 edge over Republicans after November's elections, and a handful of absences because of the coronavirus. There were two vacancies in the 435-member House, and whatever happens Democrats will have the smallest House majority in two decades.

The new Congress convened Sunday, just two days after lawmakers ended their contentious previous session and with COVID-19 guidelines requiring testing and face coverings for House members. There was widespread mask-wearing and far fewer lawmakers and guests in the chamber than usual, an unimaginable tableau when the last Congress commenced two years ago, before the pandemic struck.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., formally nominated Pelosi for the job, calling her "a notorious negotiator and a legendary legislator for such a time as this."

Jeffries, a member of House leadership who's expected to contend for the speakership whenever Pelosi steps aside, said that as Pelosi prepares to work with Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, "Brighter days are ahead in the United States of America. This is the day of great renewal in the House of Representatives."

To be reelected, Pelosi needed a majority of votes cast for specific candidates and could afford to lose only a handful of Democratic votes. House rules give her a bit of wiggle room because lawmakers who are absent or who vote "present" are not counted in the total number of those voting.

Sunday's vote was expected to last perhaps three hours as lawmakers voted in groups of around 72 each to minimize exposure to the virus.

With every vote at a premium, workers had constructed an enclosure in a balcony overlooking the House chamber so lawmakers exposed to or testing positive for the coronavirus could more safely vote. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, voted from there.

Two Democrats who tested positive for the virus last month and say they have recovered voted for Pelosi from the House floor: Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore and Washington state Rep. Rick Larsen.

In a positive sign for Pelosi, newly elected progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., voted for her. "Our country needs stability right now, and it's really important for the Democratic Party to come together," Bowman told a reporter.

Pelosi won plaudits from many Democrats for two years of leading their opposition to President Donald Trump, largely keeping her party's moderates and progressives united on their joint goal of defeating him and raising mountains of campaign funds. No Democrat has stepped forward to challenge her, underscoring the perception that she would be all but impossible to topple.

But Pelosi is 80 years old, and ambitious younger members continue chafing at the longtime hold she and other older top leaders have had on their jobs. Democrats were also angry and divided after an Election Day that many expected would to mean added House seats for the party but instead saw a dozen incumbents lose, without defeating a single GOP representative.

Pelosi recently suggested anew that these would be her final two years as speaker, referencing a statement she made two years ago in which she said she would step aside after this period.

The speaker's election was coming 17 days before Biden is inaugurated. Yet rather than a fresh start for him and Pelosi, there were issues and undercurrents that will be carrying over from Trump's tempestuous administration.

Though Congress enacted — and Trump finally signed — a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package late last month, Biden and many Democrats say they consider that measure a down payment. They say more aid is needed to bolster efforts to vaccinate the public, curb the virus and restore jobs and businesses lost to the pandemic.

Many Democrats, with the unlikely support of Trump, wanted to boost that bill's $600 per person direct payments to $2,000 but were blocked by Republicans. Democrats want additional money to help state and local governments struggling to maintain services and avoid layoffs.

Biden's priorities also include efforts on health care and the environment.

Guiding such legislation through the House will be a challenge for Pelosi because her party's narrow majority means just a handful of defectors could be fatal.

In addition, cooperation with Republicans could be made more difficult as many in the GOP are continuing to demonstrate fealty to the divisive Trump, backing his unfounded claims that his reelection loss was tainted by fraud. Congress will meet Wednesday to officially affirm Biden's clear Electoral College victory over Trump. Many House and Senate Republicans say they will contest the validity of some of those votes, but their efforts that are certain to fail.

There was no widespread fraud in the election, which a range of election officials across the country, as well as Trump's former attorney general, William Barr, have confirmed. Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia, key battleground states crucial to Biden's victory, have also vouched for the integrity of the elections in their states. Nearly all the legal challenges from Trump and his allies have been dismissed by judges, including two tossed by the Supreme Court, which includes three Trump-nominated justices.

Meanwhile, it's not clear which party will control the Senate, which Republicans will hold unless Democrats win both Senate runoff elections in Georgia on Tuesday.

In the House, one race in New York is still being decided and there is a vacancy in Louisiana after GOP Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, 41, died after contracting COVID-19.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter Sunday that the House is taking actions early this week that seek to remove President Donald Trump from office.

Monday morning, Pelosi says Majority Leader Hoyer will request unanimous consent to bring up the Raskin resolution, which calls on Vice President Mike Pence to convene and mobilize the Cabinet to activate the 25th Amendment to declare Trump incapable of executing the duties of his office. Afterwards, Pelosi says Pence would immediately exercise powers as acting president.

If they don’t get unanimous consent, the House leadership plans to bring the legislation to the floor on Tuesday for a vote.

Pelosi added that the House is calling on Pence to respond within 24 hours.

Next, Pelosi says the House will “proceed” with bringing impeachment legislation to the flood.

Trump has less than two weeks left in office before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in to take his place, but many Democrats and a growing number of Republicans say they want him out before then. Those lawmakers believe Trump played a large role in the assault on the U.S. Captiol on Wednesday, when Congress gathered for a joint session to confirm Biden's Electoral College victory.

At least five people died after the riots at the Capitol, including a police officer who suffered injuries from the pro-Trump protesters.

“In protecting our Constitution and our Democracy, we will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat to both,” wrote Pelosi to her colleagues. “As the days go by, the horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified and so is the immediate need for action.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tapped nine of her most trusted allies in the House to argue the case for President Donald Trump’s impeachment.

The impeachment managers include the following representatives:

• Jamie Raskin
• Diana DeGette
• David Cicilline
• Joaquin Castro
• Eric Swalwell
• Ted Lieu
• Stacey Plaskett
• Madeleine Dean
• Joe Neguse

All of the Democrats are lawyers and many of them have deep experience investigating the president.

DeGette of Colorado said plan to present a serious case and “finish the job” that the House started.

When Pelosi named the managers, she said it was their “constitutional and patriotic duty” to present the case for Trump’s impeachment and removal.

“It is their constitutional and patriotic duty to present the case for the President’s impeachment and removal,” wrote Pelosi. “They will do so guided by their great love of country, determination to protect our democracy and loyalty to our oath to the Constitution. Our Managers will honor their duty to defend democracy For The People with great solemnity, prayerfulness and urgency.”

The manages face the arduous task of convincing skeptical Senate Republicans to convict Trump.

A single article of impeachment for “incitement of insurrection” was approved by the House on Wednesday, one week after a violent mob of Trump supporters invaded the Capitol. Lawmakers were counting the votes that cemented Trump’s election defeat at the time.

Wednesday’s vote made Trump the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice. Still, the case for conviction will be tough. An impeached president has never been convicted by the U.S. Senate.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday named a second Republican critic of Donald Trump, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, to a special committee investigating the Capitol riot and pledged that the Democratic-majority panel will "get to the truth."

Kinzinger said he "humbly accepted" the appointment even as his party's leadership is boycotting the inquiry.

With the committee set to hold its first meeting, hearing from police officers who battled the rioters, Pelosi said it was imperative to learn what happened on Jan. 6, when insurrectionists disrupted the congressional certification of Joe Biden's presidential victory, and why the violent siege took place. That mission, she said, must be pursued in a bipartisan manner to ensure "such an attack can never happen again."

Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, will bring "great patriotism to the committee's mission: to find the facts and protect our Democracy," she said in a statement. 

He joins Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, as the two committee's Republicans, both selected by the leader of the opposition party. Kinzinger and Cheney were among the 10 House Republicans to vote for Trump's second impeachment. They were the only two Republicans who voted last month to form the special committee.

"For months, lies and conspiracy theories have been spread, threatening our self-governance," Kinzinger said in a statement. "For months, I have said that the American people deserve transparency and truth on how and why thousands showed up to attack our democracy."

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has said the GOP will not participate after Pelosi, D-Calif., refused to accept two of the members he picked.

McCarthy, R-Calif., has said the committee was a "sham process" and withdrew his five members when Pelosi rejected two of them, Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio. Both voted on Jan. 6 against certifying Biden's election victory over Trump and both are outspoken allies of the former president.

In a statement Sunday, McCarthy said Pelosi's decision to reject his picks and appoint members "who share her preconceived narrative will not yield a serious investigation" and is intended "to satisfy her political objectives."

Kinzinger and Cheney have faulted Trump as a factor in spurring the insurrection with his persistently false claims that the 2020 election was "stolen" due to voting fraud.

In recent weeks, Kinzinger has suggested he would be open to serving on the committee, despite threats from McCarthy that Republicans who accept a spot could be stripped of their regular committee assignments as retaliation for participating. 

"It's clear that Pelosi only wants members on this committee who will stick to her talking points and stick to her narrative. That's why she's picked the group that she's already picked," Banks said on "Fox News Sunday." He said that "anyone that she asks to be on this committee, from this point moving forward, will be stuck to her -- her narrative, to her point of view. There won't be another side."

The House voted in May to create an independent investigation that would have been evenly split between the parties, but Senate Republicans blocked that approach. Pelosi said the new panel was being created only because a bipartisan commission was no longer an option. 

Currently Cheney sits on the committee along with seven Democrats — ensuring they have a quorum to proceed, whether other Republicans participate or not. 

Pelosi expressed confidence that the committee's work will be seen as bipartisan and credible even with McCarthy's effort to boycott the panel. 

"We have to, again, ignore the antics of those who do not want to find the truth," she said. "We will find the truth. That truth will have the confidence of the American people because it will be done patriotically and not in a partisan way."

Seven people died during and after the rioting, including a woman who was shot by police as she tried to break into the House chamber and three other Trump supporters who suffered medical emergencies. Two police officers died by suicide in the days that followed, and a third officer, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, collapsed and later died after engaging with the protesters. A medical examiner determined he died of natural causes.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has threatened a Republican boycott of a Democratic-led investigation into the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to appoint two allies of former President Donald Trump to the committee.

On Wednesday, Pelosi said she would not allow Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, to join the select committee. McCarthy had proposed that Jordan, Banks, and Republican Reps. Rodney Davis, Kelly Armstrong and Troy Nehls join the Democrat-majority committee.

However, Pelosi on Wednesday said that she would not seat Banks or Jordan.

"With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members, I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee," Pelosi's statement read. "The unprecedented nature of January 6th demands this unprecedented decision."

Both Jordan and Banks voted against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election in the hours after the riots.

Pelosi added that she would appoint Davis, Armstrong and Nehls to the committee, per McCarthy's request. She also asked that McCarthy propose two other Republican members to replace Banks and Jordan.

However, in a statement Wednesday, McCarthy said that if Pelosi refuses to seat Jordan and Banks, Republicans will not participate in the hearings.

"Speaker Nancy Pelosi has taken the unprecedented step of denying the minority party's picks for the Select Committee on January 6. This represents an egregious abuse of power and will irreparably damage this institution," McCarthy wrote in a statement. "Unless Speaker Pelosi reverses course and seats all five Republican nominees, Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts."

All five members who McCarthy put forward for the commission voted against impeaching former President Donald Trump for his role in the riot.

House Democrats voted to move forward with an investigation into the Jan. 6 riot in June, weeks after Republicans in the Senate blocked an effort to launch a bipartisan congressional investigation into the deadly riots.

WASHINGTON —

Unfazed by Republican threats of a boycott, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared Thursday that a congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection will take on its "deadly serious" work whether Republicans participate or not.

The Republicans' House leader, Kevin McCarthy, called the committee a "sham process" and suggested that GOP lawmakers who take part could face consequences. McCarthy said Pelosi's rejection of two of the Republicans he had attempted to appoint was an "egregious abuse of power."

The escalating tension between the two parties — before the investigation has even started — is emblematic of the raw partisan anger that has only worsened on Capitol Hill since former President Donald Trump's supporters laid siege to the Capitol and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden's victory. With most Republicans still loyal to Trump, and many downplaying the severity of the violent attack, there is little bipartisan unity to be found.

McCarthy said Wednesday that he would withdraw the names of all five Republicans he had appointed after Pelosi rejected two of them, Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio. Pelosi made clear on Thursday that she won't relent, and Democrats mulled filling the empty seats themselves.

"It is my responsibility as the speaker of the House to make sure we get to the truth of this, and we will not let their antics stand in the way of that," Pelosi said of the Republicans.

It is unclear, for now, whether Pelosi will try to appoint more members to the select panel, as she has the authority to do under committee rules. She left open that possibility, saying that there are other members who would like to participate. But she said she hadn't decided whether to appoint Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of only two Republicans who voted in support of creating the panel last month.

The other, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, has already been appointed by Pelosi to sit on the committee along with seven Democrats — ensuring they have a quorum to proceed, whether other Republicans participate or not.

Cheney praised Kinzinger, saying he would be a "tremendous addition" to the panel. Several Democrats on the panel also seemed to support the idea, with Chairman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi saying the military veteran is "the kind of person we'd want to have."

Banks and Jordan are outspoken allies of Trump, who has continued to spread lies about massive fraud in the election and has defended his supporters who broke into the Capitol. The rioters fought past police and sent lawmakers inside running for their lives.

The House voted in May to create an independent investigation that would have been evenly split between the parties, but Senate Republicans blocked that approach in a vote last month. Pelosi said the new panel was being created only because a bipartisan commission was no longer an option.

Asked Thursday if Cheney — and potentially Kinzinger — could be stripped of their regular committee assignments as retaliation for participating, McCarthy said "the conference will look at it." Cheney accepted the assignment from Pelosi earlier this month despite similar threats from McCarthy.

Pelosi accepted McCarthy's three other picks — Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, North Dakota Rep. Kelly Armstrong and Texas Rep. Troy Nehls. But McCarthy said that all five or none would participate.

Like Jordan and Banks, Nehls voted to overturn Biden's victory. Armstrong and Davis voted to certify the election.

Banks recently traveled with Trump to the U.S.-Mexico border and visited him at his New Jersey golf course. In a statement after McCarthy chose him for the panel, he sharply criticized the Democrats who had set it up.

"Make no mistake, Nancy Pelosi created this committee solely to malign conservatives and to justify the left's authoritarian agenda," Banks said.

Democrats whom Pelosi appointed to the committee earlier this month were angry over that statement, and concerned over Banks' two recent visits with Trump, according to a senior Democratic aide familiar with the private deliberations who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss them.

Jordan, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, was one of Trump's most vocal defenders during his two impeachments and last month likened the new investigation to "impeachment three." Trump was impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate both times.

The panel is also considering hiring former Rep. Denver Riggleman of Virginia, a Republican who has criticized Trump's lies about election fraud, as an outside adviser, according to a person familiar with the committee's work who was granted anonymity to discuss the private talks.

Cheney told reporters she agrees with Pelosi's decision to reject the two Republicans named by McCarthy.

"At every opportunity, the minority leader has attempted to prevent the American people from understanding what happened — to block this investigation," Cheney said.

The panel will hold its first hearing next week, with at least four police officers who battled rioters testifying about their experiences. Members of the committee met Thursday afternoon to prepare.

Thompson said the hearing would allow the law enforcement officers to tell their stories and "set the tone" for the investigation's launch.

Seven people died during and after the rioting, including a woman who was shot by police as she tried to break into the House chamber and three other Trump supporters who suffered medical emergencies. Two police officers died by suicide in the days that followed, and a third officer, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, collapsed and later died after engaging with the protesters. A medical examiner determined he died of natural causes.

The Justice Department is dismissing a case against a New York man charged in connection to the Jan. 6 deadly attack on the Capitol.

It's the first time the agency is dropping a charge related to the January 6 riot.

The man was charged after the FBI says it received an anonymous tip showing the man at the Capitol. It's unclear why prosecutors moved to drop the case.

In the motion seeking dismissal, prosecutors wrote "the government and defense counsel have discussed the merits of the case, and upon reflection of the facts currently known to the government, the government believes that dismissal without prejudice at this time serves the interests of justice.”

More than 400 people have been charged so far in connection with the violent attack at the U.S. Capitol Building.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is ruling out a presidential commission to review what happened on Jan. 6.

Instead, she laid out other options for investigating the attack, including having the House look into it.

Remember, last week Senate Republicans blocked an independent commission that would review the attack.

Simon Kaufman and Alex Livingston on Newsy.com contributed to this report.

DENVER, Colo. — A man accused of entering House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was arrested in Denver this week, according to court records.

An arrest affidavit obtained by KMGH says a family member identified Hunter Palm as one of the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 as Congress was certifying the Electoral College vote count for the 2020 presidential election.

The relative sent a letter to the FBI that said Palm had called them from Washington, D.C. to say he had entered the Capitol building and he eventually entered a conference room with a long table with several chairs, where he sat to rest, according to the affidavit.

In the letter, the relative wrote that Palm then attempted to leave the Capitol building by climbing out of a broken window to avoid a flow of people entering through the doors.

On Feb. 6, the affidavit says FBI agents interviewed Palm and he admitted to entering the Capitol building.

Palm also provided agents with the cell phone he claimed he had at the Capitol, as well as a flash drive that contained videos Palm had recorded of the riot, the affidavit says. He also brought the clothes he was wearing on that day to the FBI interview, along with a flag that had the words “TRUMP” and “Keep America Great” written on it.

When reviewing the videos provided by Palm, law enforcement officers say they found one that showed the suspect approaching the Capitol, yelling “Stop the steal” and eventually “We’re in the Capitol building.” He also reportedly joined in on a chant, saying “Whose house? Our House.”

Based on images provided by Palm, he and others entered a door marked “office of the speaker.” The affidavit says people in the crowd were shouting things like “Nancy,” “Where are you?” and “We’re gonna kill her.”

Palm proceeded to walk around the office, approach a laptop and say “Who’s good at hacking?” before sitting down at the head of a conference table, putting his feet up and saying, “I think I like my new dining room. I pay for it,” according to the document.

Palm is being charged with obstruction of Congress, knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

The Denver Post reports he appeared in federal court in Denver on Wednesday and was released on bond.