As a House panel holds its first hearing outlining what took place during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Republicans are pointing the finger at Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The hearing will start at 8 p.m. Thursday, marking an unprecedented prime-time meeting televised on most major news outlets.

Republicans are accusing Pelosi of not working to bolster security at the Capitol complex ahead of the invasion of the building. The insurrection forced members of Congress, Vice President Mike Pence, staff, and media to relocate to a secure location. It also interrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election for several hours.

"If they really believed in getting to the truth, they would have kept Jim Banks and Jim Jordan on the committee to ask those questions and get the truth,” said Rep. Steve Scalise, the House minority whip.

However, part of their argument hinges on accusations that Pelosi waved off National Guard assistance before the insurrection. According to the Associated Press, Pelosi would have had little control over requesting National Guard assistance. The AP reported that the decision to request additional resources comes from the Capitol Police Board, which includes the House Sergeant at Arms, the Senate Sergeant at Arms and the Architect of the Capitol.

“On January 6th, the Speaker, a target of an assassination attempt that day, was no more in charge of Capitol security than Mitch McConnell was. This is a clear attempt to whitewash what happened on January 6th and divert blame,” Drew Hammill, a spokesperson for Pelosi told The Associated Press in an email.

The National Guard arrived at the Capitol hours after the insurrection started. Guard members stayed at the complex for several months.

There is also no evidence that Pelosi, nor McConnell, made any efforts to block additional security at the Capitol.

Republicans also criticized Pelosi for not permitting several Republicans from joining the committee. The panel includes two Republicans, including a former member of House GOP leadership. Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, the committee’s lone Republicans, both voted to impeach President Donald Trump.

While Republicans promised to issue a report of their own highlighting the security failures on Jan. 6, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy refused to say who he think won the 2020 presidential election.

McCarthy himself has become a target of the committee’s investigation. He has reportedly rejected a subpoena. Democrats are interested in McCarthy’s contact with the president around the time of the riot.

BEIJING (AP) — China said Monday it is extending threatening military exercises surrounding Taiwan that have disrupted shipping and air traffic and substantially raised concerns about the potential for conflict in a region crucial to global trade.

The announcement further increases uncertainty in the crisis that developed last week with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.

The exercises will include anti-submarine drills, apparently targeting U.S. support for Taiwan in the event of a potential Chinese invasion, according to social media posts from the eastern leadership of China's ruling Communist Party's military arm, the People's Liberation Army.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory and its leader, Xi Jinping, has focused on bringing the self-governing island democracy under the mainland's control, by force if necessary. The two sides split in 1949 after a civil war, but Beijing considers visits to Taiwan by foreign officials as recognizing its sovereignty.

Xi is seeking a third term as Communist Party leader later this year. His control over the armed forces and what he has defined as China's "core interests" — including Taiwan, territorial claims in the South China Sea and historic adversary Japan — are key to maintaining his nationalist credentials.

The military has said the exercises, involving missile strikes, warplanes and ship movements crossing the midline of the Taiwan Strait dividing the sides, are a response to Pelosi's visit.

China has ignored calls to calm the tensions, and there was no immediate indication of when it would end what amounts to a blockade.

On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China would "firmly safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, resolutely deter the U.S. from containing China with the Taiwan issue and resolutely shatter the Taiwan authorities' illusion of "relying on the U.S. for independence."

Asked in Dover, Delaware, on Monday about China's response to Pelosi's visit, U.S. President Joe Biden said: "I'm not worried, but I'm concerned they're moving as much as they are. But I don't think they're going to do anything more than they are."

China's slowing economic growth, which has reduced options among migrant workers as well as college graduates, has raised the specter of social unrest. The party has maintained its power through total control of the press and social media, along with suppression of political opponents, independent lawyers and activists working on issues from online free speech to LGBTQ rights.

China doesn't allow public opinion polls, and popular opinion is hard to judge. However, it generally skews in favor of the government and its efforts to restore China's former dominant role in the region that puts it in conflict with the United States and its allies, including Japan and Australia.

Taiwan's defense ministry said Sunday it detected a total of 66 aircraft and 14 warships conducting the naval and air exercises. The island has responded by putting its military on alert and deploying ships, planes and other assets to monitor Chinese aircraft, ships and drones that are "simulating attacks on the island of Taiwan and our ships at sea."

Meanwhile, Taiwan's official Central News Agency reported that Taiwan's army will conduct live-fire artillery drills in southern Pingtung county on Tuesday and Thursday, in response to the Chinese exercises.

The drills will include snipers, combat vehicles, armored vehicles as well as attack helicopters, said the report, which cited an anonymous source.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has called on the international community to "support democratic Taiwan" and "halt any escalation of the regional security situation." The Group of Seven industrialized nations has also criticized China's actions, prompting Beijing to cancel a meeting between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi.

China has cut off defense and climate talks with the U.S. and imposed sanctions on Pelosi in retaliation for her visit.

In Washington, Taiwanese de facto ambassador Bi-khim Hsiao said China had no reason to "be so furious" over Pelosi's visit, which follows a long tradition of American lawmakers visiting Taiwan.

"Well, you know, we have been living under the threat from China for decades," Hsiao told CBS News on Sunday. "If you have a kid being bullied at school, you don't say you don't go to school. You try to find a way to deal with the bully.

Colin Kahl, the U.S. under secretary of defense for policy, told reporters Monday that Beijing's reaction to Pelosi's visit was a "manufactured crisis," noting that the U.S. policy toward Taiwan and China remains unchanged and that Congress is an independent body of government.

"Clearly, the PRC is trying to coerce Taiwan, clearly they're trying to coerce the international community. And all I say is, we're not going to take the bait and it's not going to work," he said.

He said U.S. forces in the region would continue to operate, fly and sail wherever is permitted under international law, including the Taiwan Strait.

On a visit to Myanmar, whose Chinese-backed military government has been accused of murdering its opponents, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Washington was "taking the opportunity to build up its military deployment in the region, which deserves high vigilance and resolute boycott from all sides."

"China's firm stance" is aimed at "earnestly safeguarding peace across the Taiwan Strait and regional stability," Wang was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong called for a cooling of tensions. "Australia continues to urge restraint, Australia continues to urge deescalation, and this is not something that solely Australia is calling for, and the whole region is concerned about the current situation, the whole region is calling for stability to be restored," Wong told reporters in Canberra.

___

Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim in Dover, Delaware, and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON —

Video above: Nancy Pelosi speaks about attack on her husband

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to address her plans with colleagues on Thursday in the wake of Democrats narrowly losing control of the House to Republicans in the midterm elections.

Pelosi’s decision to either seek another term as the Democratic leader or to step aside has been widely anticipated. It would come after the party was able to halt an expected Republican wave in the House and Senate but also in the aftermath of a brutal attack on her husband, Paul, late last month in their San Francisco home.

“The Speaker plans to address her future plans tomorrow to her colleagues. Stay tuned,” Pelosi's spokesman Drew Hammill tweeted late Wednesday. He did not provide additional information about the time or location of the announcement.

The speaker “has been overwhelmed by calls from colleagues, friends and supporters,” Hammill said, and noted that she had spent Wednesday evening monitoring election returns in the final states where ballots were still being counted.

The California Democrat, who rose to become the nation’s first woman to wield the speaker’s gavel, is a pivotal figure in U.S. politics.

By announcing her decision, Pelosi could launch a domino effect in House Democratic leadership ahead of internal party elections next month as Democrats reorganize for their new role as the minority party in the new Congress.

Pelosi’s leadership team, with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Democratic Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, has long moved as a triumvirate. Hoyer and Clyburn are also making decisions about their futures.

All now in their 80s, the three House Democratic leaders have faced restless colleagues eager for them to step aside and allow a new generation to take charge.

Democrats Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Rep. Pete Aguilar of California have similarly moved as a trio at times, all working toward leadership roles themselves.

First elected to the House in 1987, Pelosi has long been ridiculed by Republicans as a San Francisco liberal while steadily rising as a skilled legislator and fundraising powerhouse. Her own Democratic colleagues have intermittently appreciated but also feared Pelosi’s powerful brand of leadership.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Footage of the attack on former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband will be released to the public after a judge on Wednesday denied prosecutors' request to keep it secret.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stephen M. Murphy ruled there was no reason to keep the footage secret, especially after prosecutors played it in open court during a preliminary hearing last month, according to Thomas R. Burke, a San Francisco-based lawyer who represented The Associated Press and a host of other news agencies in their attempt to access the evidence.

The San Francisco District Attorney's Office handed over the evidence to Murphy on Wednesday following a court hearing. Murphy asked the court clerk's office to distribute it to the media, which could happen as soon as Thursday.

Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi's husband, was asleep at the couple's San Francisco home on Oct. 28 when someone broke in and beat him with a hammer. Prosecutors have charged 42-year-old David DePape in connection with the attack.

During a preliminary hearing last month, prosecutors played portions of Paul Pelosi's 911 call plus footage from Capitol police surveillance cameras, body cameras worn by the two police officers who arrived at the house, and video from DePape's interview with police.

But when news organizations asked for copies of that evidence, the San Francisco District Attorney's Office refused to release it. The attack, which occurred just days before the 2022 midterm elections, prompted intense speculation from the public that fueled the spread of false information.

The district attorney's office argued releasing the footage publicly would only allow people to manipulate it in their quest to spread false information.

But the news agencies argued it was vital for prosecutors to publicly share their evidence that could debunk any false information swirling on the internet about the attack.

“You don't eliminate the public right of access just because of concerns about conspiracy theories,” Burke said.

The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office did not respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.

The news agencies who sought the release of the footage includes The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Press Democrat, CNN, Fox News, CBS, ABC, NBC and KQED, an NPR-member radio station in San Francisco.

DePape pleaded not guilty last month to six charges, including attempted murder. Police have said DePape told them there was “evil in Washington” and he wanted to harm Nancy Pelosi because she was second in line to the presidency. His case is pending.

Democrats lost their majority in the House of Representatives after the midterm elections. Republicans elected California Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy as the new speaker. Pelosi will remain in Congress, but she stepped down as Democratic leader. She was replaced by Hakeem Jeffries from New York.

WASHINGTON —

Deadline-driven, President Joe Biden brought two pivotal senators to his Delaware home Sunday for talks aimed at resolving the disputes that have stymied the Democrats' wide-ranging social safety net and environmental measure at the core of his domestic agenda.

Beyond the domestic timetable, Biden is pressing for progress so he can spotlight his administration's achievements to world leaders at overseas summits that get underway this week.

Related video above: Biden CNN town hall recap

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she expected an agreement on a framework by week's end, paving the way for a House vote on a separate $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill before next Sunday, when a series of transportation programs will lapse.

“That’s the plan,” she said.

The White House said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., came to Biden's home in Wilmington, where he was spending the weekend, for the session but did not immediately provide a statement detailing what was discussed.

Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., two of their party's most moderate members, have insisted on reducing the size of the enormous package and have pressed for other changes.

Pelosi said she was waiting for the Senate to wrap up talks and was expecting a plan to be introduced as early as Monday. Top Democrats are scrambling to have a framework so they can move to pass the infrastructure bill, which progressives in the House have held up as leverage to force an agreement on the bigger package of health care, education and environment initiatives.

“I think we’re pretty much there,” said Pelosi, stressing that a few “last decisions” need to be made. "It is less than what was projected to begin with, but it’s still bigger than anything we have ever done in terms of addressing the needs of America’s working families.”

Democrats initially planned that the measure would contain $3.5 trillion worth of spending and tax initiatives over 10 years. But demands by moderates led by Manchin and Sinema to contain costs mean its final price tag could well be less than $2 trillion.

Disputes remain over whether some priorities must be cut or excluded. These include plans to expand Medicare coverage, child care assistance and helping lower-income college students. Manchin, whose state has a major coal industry, has opposed proposals to penalize utilities that do not switch quickly to clean energy.

Pelosi said Democrats were still working to keep in provisions for four weeks of paid family leave but acknowledged that other proposals such as expanding Medicare to include dental coverage could prove harder to save because of cost. “Dental will take a little longer to implement,” she said.

Also expected to be trimmed is a clean energy proposal that was the centerpiece of Biden’s strategy for fighting climate change. Biden has set a goal of reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2030. But Manchin has made clear he opposes the initial clean energy proposal, which was to have the government impose penalties on electric utilities that fail to meet clean energy benchmarks and provide financial rewards to those that do.

Democrats were hoping Biden could cite major accomplishments when he attends a global conference in Scotland on climate change in early November after attending a summit of world leaders in Rome.

Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, said the expected cuts to the clean energy provisions in the spending bill were especially disappointing because “it weakens Joe Biden’s hands in Glasgow."

“If we’re going to get the rest of the world to take serious steps to remedy this problem, we’ve got to do it ourselves,” he said.

Pelosi insisted that Democrats had pieced together other policies in the spending bill that could reduce emissions. “We will have something that will meet the president’s goals,” she said.

The White House and congressional leaders have tried to push monthslong negotiations toward a conclusion by the end of October. Democrats’ aim is to produce an outline by then that would spell out the overall size of the measure and describe policy goals that leaders as well as progressives and moderates would endorse.

The wide-ranging measure carries many of Biden's top domestic priorities. Party leaders want to end internal battles, avert the risk that the effort could fail and focus voters' attention on the plan's popular programs for helping families with child care, health costs and other issues.

Democrats also want to make progress that could help Democrat Terry McAuliffe win a neck-and-neck Nov. 2 gubernatorial election in Virginia.

The hope is that an agreement between the party's two factions would create enough trust to let Democrats finally push through the House the separate $1 trillion package of highway and broadband projects.

That bipartisan measure was approved over the summer by the Senate. But it stalled after House progressives pulled their support due to disagreements on the bigger spending bill, causing Congress to miss an initial deadline in late September and to rush to approve stopgap money for lapsing transportation programs. Pelosi later set an Oct. 31 target for passage of the infrastructure bill, though lawmakers already have slipped past last Friday's goal set by Democratic leaders to reach agreement on the spending package.

With Republicans fully opposed to Biden’s spending plans, the president needs all Democrats in the 50-50 split Senate for passage and can only spare a few votes in the House.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, maintained that his caucus will not budge on supporting the infrastructure bill before Oct. 31 if there is no agreement on the broader package, which would be passed under so-called budget reconciliation rules.

“The president needs the reconciliation agreement to go to Glasgow,” said Khanna, D-Calif. “That’s what is going to deal with climate change, that’s what’s going to hit his goals of 50% reduction by 2030. I’m confident we will have an agreement.”

Pelosi spoke on CNN's “State of the Union," King appeared on NBC's “Meet the Press" and Khanna on “Fox News Sunday.”

___

AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro and Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Protesters dressed in salon gear took to the street outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home Thursday.

In video of the protest, some demonstrators are seen with curlers in their hair, plastic is draped over them and hair dryers hang from trees.

The rally came two days after video of Pelosi getting her hair cut inside a California salon surfaced.

California Governor Gavin Newsom lifted restrictions on hair salons serving customers indoors at the end of last month. However, the city of San Francisco still requires such services to only be provided outside.

Pelosi says the salon told her it would be OK to come inside, because they are only accommodating one person at a time.

She also claims the whole thing was a set-up, since the video was released to the media by the salon's owner, KGO reports.

A photo of Pelosi on the same visit shows her wearing a mask around her neck instead of on her face. She says that's because she had just had her hair washed.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Many parents know that the monthly child tax credit payments arrive on the 15th of the month.

It's a benefit that started in July and continues at least through December.

The child tax credit payments are meant to offset the cost of raising children.

The average benefit to parents is around $250 to $300 per month, per child, depending on the child’s age.

NOT PERMANENT

The future of the monthly payments is unclear.

Currently, they expire in December. Many Democrats in Congress want it to be included in the progressive spending package that is being negotiated in Congress, but nothing is certain.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who supports making the benefit permanent, has also made clear in recent days that if anything is going to pass the House and Senate, the original $3.5 trillion price tag will have to be cut.

That means funding for policy proposals like universal pre-K subsidized child care, paid family leave and the expanded child tax credit will either have to be reduced or eliminated.

No final decisions have been made.

Speaker Pelosi said this week she'd prefer to include more items in the legislation, but offer them for less time.

"Timing would be reduced in many cases to make the costs lower," Pelosi said.

INFLUENTIAL SENATOR

Of course, everything will need to go through Sen. Joe Manchin, the moderate Democrat from West Virginia whose support is needed to pass any spending legislation.

Manchin has already said he won’t vote for something that is too costly. He has encouraged other Democrats to pick one priority, not several.

Manchin has also suggested the child tax credit should require a parent to work in order to receive it.

Currently unemployed parents can benefit.

If the monthly child tax credit is cut out of the bill or reduced in scope at all, it could mean a spike in child poverty next year.

In June of this year, before the tax credit, 15.8% of children were living in poverty in the U.S., according to research done by Columbia University.

In July, after the first payment, it went down to 11.9%.

That’s 3 million fewer children living in poverty.

WASHINGTON —

It's one of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's favorite sayings, a guidepost for Democrats in trying times: "Our diversity is our strength. Our unity is our power."

But as Democrats try to usher President Joe Biden's expansive federal government overhaul into law, it's the party's diversity of progressive and conservative views that's pulling them apart.

And only by staying unified does their no-votes-to-spare majority have any hope of pushing his rebuilding agenda into law.

Biden will travel to Michigan on Tuesday to speak directly to the American people on his vision: It's time to tax big business and the wealthy and invest that money into child care, health care, education and tackling climate change — what he sees as some of the nation's most pressing priorities.

Together, Biden, Pelosi and other Democrats are entering a highly uncertain time, the messy throes of legislating, in what will now be a longer-haul pursuit that could stretch for weeks, if not months, of negotiations.

"Let me just tell you about negotiating: At the end, that's when you really have to weigh in," Pelosi said recently. "You cannot tire. You cannot concede."

"This," she added on a day when negotiations would stretch to midnight, "this is the fun part."

The product — or the colossal failure to reach a deal — will define not only the first year of Biden's presidency, but the legacy of Pelosi and a generation of lawmakers in Congress, with ramifications for next year's midterm elections. At stake is not only the scaled-back $3.5 trillion plan, but also the slimmer $1 trillion public works bill that is now stalled, intractably linked to the bigger bill.

As Democrats in Congress regroup, having blown Pelosi's self-imposed Friday deadline for passing legislation in the House amid bitter finger-pointing, they now face a new one, Oct. 31, to make gains on Biden's big plans. The $3.5 trillion package is being chiseled back to around $2 trillion and final approval of the Senate-passed $1 trillion public works bill is on hold, for now.

Attention remains squarely focused on two key holdouts, Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who along with a small band of conservative House Democrats are the linchpins to any deal.

Biden is expected to be in touch as the senators return Monday to Washington. Pelosi has been in conversations with both West Virginia's Manchin and Arizona's Sinema.

"The president wants both bills and he expects to get both bills," Biden adviser Cedric Richmond said on "Fox News Sunday." "We're going to continue to work on both."

The inability to win over Manchin and Sinema to support Biden's broader vision contributed to the collapse last week of a promised House vote on their preferred $1 trillion public works bill, which they had negotiated with Biden.

Tempers flared and accusations flew over who was to blame. Progressives lashed out at the two senators for holding up Biden's big agenda; the centrists blamed Pelosi for reneging on the promised vote; and progressives were both celebrated and scolded for playing hardball, withholding their votes on the public works bill to force a broader agreement.

Ultimately Biden arrived on Capitol Hill late Friday afternoon to deliver a tough-love message to all of them — telling centrists they would not get their vote on the bipartisan deal he helped broker until the progressives had a commitment on the broader package and warning progressives the big bill's price tag would likely come down to around $2 trillion.

In many ways, the weeks ahead are reminiscent of the last big legislative undertaking by Democrats pushing the Affordable Care Act toward the finish line during the Obama administration.

No one doubts Pelosi — and Biden — can do it again. But the fight ahead is certain to be politically painful.

With no support from Republicans who deride Biden's vision as socialist-style big government, Democrats must decide among themselves what size package can win over support in the 50-50 Senate and narrowly held House.

Paid for by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy, those individuals earning more than $400,000 a year, or $450,000 for couples, the measure, Biden insists, will carry an overall price tag of "zero."

Still, private discussions about trimming back various programs have now delved deeper into conversations over wholesale cuts that may need to be made. It's all on the table.

For example, will the push from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to expand Medicare to include dental, vision and other health care benefits survive? Or will those benefits have to be scrapped or reduced?

What about the new child care subsidies or COVID-19-related tax credits for families with children — will those be able to run for several years or have to be scaled back to just a few?

Will free community college be available to all, or only those of lower incomes, as Manchin proposes?

Can Biden's effort to tackle climate change be extended beyond the money already approved for electric vehicles and weather-resilient buildings in the public works bill?

"What we have said from the beginning is, it's never been about the price tag. It's about what we want to deliver," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, in a Sunday interview on CNN.

"The president said this to us, too. He said don't start with the number. Start with what you're for," she said.

Pelosi has been working the phones to win over Manchin and Sinema, who in many ways are outliers among Democrats in the House and Senate who lean more progressive.

The two senators' prominence has morphed beyond the beltway into popular culture — Sinema was lampooned on "Saturday Night Live" over the weekend, while a flotilla of kayak-activists recently swarmed Manchin's D.C. houseboat.

Pelosi and Sinema had a prickly relationship when the Arizonan first joined Congress, but they now share a common interest in tackling climate change.

Manchin and Pelosi have a warmer alliance, and she showered the senator with praise as someone with whom she shared values as Italian Americans and Roman Catholics. "We're friends," she said.

But Pelosi has made it clear she is prepared to fight to the finish for a bill she called the "culmination of my service in Congress."

At a private caucus meeting last week, when one lawmaker suggested she had gone back on her word to have the infrastructure vote, she said that was before some among them were joining with the senators to reject Biden's broader plan, according to a person who requested anonymity to recount her private remarks.

"Let's try to at least stick together," Pelosi implored the Democrats.

As some Americans begin receiving up to $600 in stimulus checks, the possibility of more direct payments is in limbo in the Senate Wednesday.

After the House on Monday night approved a standalone measure to increase direct payments from up to $600 per individual to $2,000, it then went to the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked efforts Tuesday for a fast-tracked vote on the measure. In response, Senator Bernie Sanders blocked a planned vote to override President Donald Trump’s veto of a national defense bill until there is a vote on the direct payments.

Later in the day, McConnell suggested tying together votes on two bills later in the week; one on the House-passed bill to increase larger direct payments and one on a measure that would allow the $2,000 payments only if a commission to study election fraud is established and parts of Section 230 are repealed.

In signing the $900 billion COVID relief package along with the larger government funding bill on Sunday night, President Trump said he wanted larger direct payments, as well as an investigation into unfounded claims of election fraud. Earlier this month he vetoed the national defense bill because it did not make changes to Section 230, which provides protections for internet platforms and technology companies.

On Tuesday morning, McConnell had said the Senate would start the process to address those priorities from the president.

Many Democrats oppose connecting the issues together, and would likely vote against the broader measure, according to the Washington Post.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi held her weekly press conference Wednesday morning, and called on McConnell to allow a vote on the increased payments. When asked if she would take up the measure again next week after new members of Congress are sworn in, she repeated her hope for getting it done this year.

“Let’s be hopeful it happens this week. The sooner it happens the sooner they go out," Pelosi said, referring to the $2,000 stimulus checks.

The Senate is scheduled to be back in session Wednesday afternoon. It’s unclear whether there will be any movement or discussion about the larger direct payments or any plans for a vote at this time.

If the larger direct payment amount is approved, the Treasury Department would send Americans the difference.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite a long night of frantic negotiations, Democrats are still struggling to reach a deal on President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion government overhaul.

Late-night votes have been called off, with action to resume Friday.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi had pushed the House into an evening session as the Democratic leaders worked to negotiate a scaled-back plan centrist holdouts would accept.

But it appeared no immediate deal was within reach after hours of top White House aides shuttling across the Capitol between the offices of Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.

Manchin held fast to his declaration that he was willing to meet the president less than halfway, and late-night votes were called off.

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 —

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House "will proceed" with bringing legislation to impeach President Donald Trump to the floor.

Pelosi made the announcement in letter late Sunday to colleagues.

THIS IS A BREAKING STORY. Earlier story follows:

With impeachment planning intensifying, two Republican senators want President Donald Trump to resign immediately as efforts mount to prevent Trump from ever again holding elective office in the wake of deadly riots at the Capitol.

House Democrats are expected to introduce articles of impeachment on Monday and vote as soon as Tuesday. The strategy would be to condemn the president's actions swiftly but delay an impeachment trial in the Senate for 100 days. That would allow President-elect Joe Biden to focus on other priorities as soon as he is inaugurated Jan. 20.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, the third-ranking House Democrat and a top Biden ally, laid out the ideas Sunday as the country came to grips with the siege at the Capitol by Trump loyalists trying to overturn the election results.

"Let's give President-elect Biden the 100 days he needs to get his agenda off and running," Clyburn said.

Pressure was mounting for Trump to leave office even before his term ended amid alarming concerns of more unrest ahead of the inauguration. The president whipped up the mob that stormed the Capitol, sent lawmakers into hiding and left five dead.

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania on Sunday joined Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska in calling for Trump to "resign and go away as soon as possible."

"I think the president has disqualified himself from ever, certainly, serving in office again," Toomey said. "I don't think he is electable in any way."

Murkowski, who has long voiced her exasperation with Trump's conduct in office, told the Anchorage Daily News on Friday that Trump simply "needs to get out."

A third Republican, Sen. Roy Blunt, of Missouri, did not go that far, but on Sunday he warned Trump to be "very careful" in his final days in office.

Corporate America began to tie its reaction to the Capitol riots by tying them to campaign contributions.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association's CEO and President Kim Keck said it will not contribute to those lawmakers — all Republicans — who supported challenges to Biden's Electoral College win. The group "will suspend contributions to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy," Kim said.

Citigroup did not single out lawmakers aligned with Trump's effort to overturn the election, but said it would be pausing all federal political donations for the first three months of the year. Citi's head of global government affairs, Candi Wolff, said in a Friday memo to employees, "We want you to be assured that we will not support candidates who do not respect the rule of law."

House leaders, furious after the insurrection, appear determined to act against Trump despite the short timeline.

Late Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., convened a conference call with her leadership team and sent a letter to her colleagues reiterating that Trump must be held accountable. She told her caucus, now scattered across the country on a two-week recess, to "be prepared to return to Washington this week" but did not say outright that there would be a vote on impeachment.

"It is absolutely essential that those who perpetrated the assault on our democracy be held accountable," Pelosi wrote. "There must be a recognition that this desecration was instigated by the President."

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said an impeachment trial could not begin under the current calendar before Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.

Clyburn said that Pelosi "will make the determination as when is the best time" to send articles of impeachment to the Senate if and when they are passed by the House.

Another idea being considered was to have a separate vote that would prevent Trump from ever holding office again. That could potentially only need a simple majority vote of 51 senators, unlike impeachment, in which two-thirds of the 100-member Senate must support a conviction.

The Senate was set to be split evenly at 50-50, but under Democratic control once Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and the two Democrats who won Georgia's Senate runoff elections last week are sworn in. Harris would be the Senate's tie-breaking vote.

House Democrats were considering two possible packages of votes: one on setting up a commission to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office and one on the impeachment charge of abuse of power.

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., who was part of the weekend leadership call, said he expected a "week of action" in the House.

While many have criticized Trump, Republicans have said that impeachment would be divisive in a time of unity.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said that instead of coming together, Democrats want to "talk about ridiculous things like 'Let's impeach a president'" with just days left in office.

Still, some Republicans might be supportive.

Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse said he would take a look at any articles that the House sent over. Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a frequent Trump critic, said he would "vote the right way" if the matter were put in front of him.

The Democratic effort to stamp Trump's presidential record — for the second time — with the indelible mark of impeachment had advanced rapidly since the riot.

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I, a leader of the House effort to draft impeachment articles accusing Trump of inciting insurrection, said Sunday that his group had 200-plus co-sponsors.

The articles, if passed by the House, could then be transmitted to the Senate for a trial, with senators acting as jurors to acquit or convict Trump. If convicted, Trump would be removed from office and succeeded by the vice president. It would be the first time a U.S. president had been impeached twice.

Potentially complicating Pelosi's decision about impeachment was what it meant for Biden and the beginning of his presidency. While reiterating that he had long viewed Trump as unfit for office, Biden on Friday sidestepped a question about impeachment, saying what Congress did "is for them to decide."

A violent and largely white mob of Trump supporters overpowered police, broke through security lines and windows and rampaged through the Capitol on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to scatter as they were finalizing Biden's victory over Trump in the Electoral College.

Toomey appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" and NBC's "Meet the Press." Clyburn was on "Fox News Sunday" and CNN. Kinzinger was on ABC's "This Week," Blunt was on CBS' "Face the Nation" and Rubio was on Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures."

___

Superville reported from Wilmington, Delaware. Associated Press writers Alexandra Jaffe, Lisa Mascaro and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump's fiery speech at a rally just before the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol is at the center of the impeachment charge against him, even as the falsehoods he spread for months about election fraud are still being championed by some Republicans.

A Capitol police officer died from injuries suffered in the riot, and police shot and killed a woman during the siege. Three other people died in what authorities said were medical emergencies.

Follow along below for updates: (all times eastern)

9 a.m.

The House has opened its proceedings Wednesday, poised to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time exactly a week after his supporters stormed the Capitol to protest his election defeat.

At least five Republicans have said they will join Democrats in voting to remove Trump from office. The article of impeachment charges the president with “incitement of insurrection.”

The House chaplain opened the session with a prayer for “seizing the scales of justice from the jaws of mob-ocracy.”

A vote is expected by the end of the day.

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8:15 a.m.

Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger is predicting more Republicans will join him in voting to impeach President Donald Trump.

The House is set to vote Wednesday afternoon on impeaching Trump for a second time, accusing him of rallying a violent mob of supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol last week. If that isn't an impeachable offense, Kinzinger said, “I don't know what is.”

Several other Republicans are backing impeachment, including No. 3 GOP leader Liz Cheney.

“This is one of these moments that transcends politics,” the Illinois lawmaker told “CBS This Morning” in an interview ahead of the vote.

Besides Kinzinger and Cheney, other Republicans backing impeachment are John Katko of New York, Fred Upton of Michigan and Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington.

Kinzinger wouldn’t say how many more GOP lawmakers might vote to impeach, but said, “there’ll be more than the five you’ve seen so far.”

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A Pennsylvania woman facing charges that she helped steal a laptop from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the attack on the U.S. Capitol will be released from jail, a federal judge decided Thursday.U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Carlson released Riley June Williams into the custody of her mother, with travel restrictions, and instructed her to appear Monday in federal court in Washington to continue her case. Williams, 22, of Harrisburg, is accused of theft, obstruction and trespassing, as well as violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.During the hearing, Carlson said the “gravity of these offenses is great, it cannot be overstated.” But, he noted Williams has no prior criminal record.The FBI says an unidentified former romantic partner of Williams tipped them off that she appeared in video from the Jan. 6 rioting and the tipster claimed she had hoped to sell the computer to Russian intelligence.Video from the riot shows a woman matching Williams' description exhorting invaders to go “upstairs, upstairs, upstairs” during the attack, which briefly disrupted certification of President Joe Biden's electoral victory.Williams' attorney, federal public defender Lori Ulrich, declined to comment on the case. Williams surrendered to face charges on Monday and has been locked up in the county jail in Harrisburg.In adding the theft-related charges on Tuesday, a Virginia-based FBI agent said Williams was recorded on closed-circuit cameras in the Capitol going into and coming out of Pelosi's office.The agent's affidavit said a cellphone video that was likely shot by Williams shows a man's gloved hand lifting an HP laptop from a table, and the caption read, “they got the laptop.”Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, has said a laptop used only for presentations was taken from a conference room.A federal prosecutor earlier this week argued that Williams should not be released on bail pending trial, claiming she might flee or try to obstruct justice.

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.

Two Senate committees are set to release new reports later this month on the security failures surrounding the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, but they are leaving out President Donald Trump’s role in inciting the riot.

The lack of answers is insulting to many who defended the Capitol that day, including two officers who are speaking out about their experiences during the attack.

United States Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell immigrated from the Dominican Republic to the U.S. at 12 years old in 1991 and deployed to Iraq in 2003. He joined the Capitol Police in 2008.

He is speaking publicly for the first time about Jan. 6, when he fought rioters trying to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election. He says those who breached the Capitol called him a "traitor."

"I served my country," Gonell said. "I went overseas to protect our homeland from foreign threats, but yet here I am battling them in our Capitol."

Gonell led members of the department’s civil disturbance unit. For hours, they battled the rioters attacking the Capitol.

"I got hurt. I would do it again if I have to, it's my job," Gonell said.

Gonell suffered a cut to his hand on Jan. 6. He also suffered a severe foot injury that later required surgery.

"They kept saying, 'Trump sent me. We won't listen to you. We are here to take over the Capitol, we're here to hang Mike Pence,'" Gonell said. "They thought we were there for them and we weren't, so they turned against us. It was very scary because I thought I was going to lose my life right there."

Some of the most horrific videos show Gonell steps from Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges, who got caught in a doorway.

"I could hear my fellow officers screaming, the agony in some of them," Gonell said. "All I could think was, 'we can't let these people in. There's going to be a slaughter inside.'"

While he fended off the attack outside, Officer Byron Evans locked down areas inside the Capitol and evacuated senators.

"I remember thinking, all that stuff like, 'Byron, this is the day. All those times you've given thought on what you would do, you're doing it,'" Evans said,

For hours, Evans and the senators watched the riot on TV from a secured location.

"I just remember the anger I felt when I saw those images — busting windows, climbing the walls and stuff like that, it was an audible gasp in the room," Evans said.

Around 6 p.m. that evening, the riot had calmed enough that Gonell could finally tell his wife he survived.

"I started texting my wife and I just said, 'I'm okay. See you whenever,'" Gonell said.

Congress resumed certifying the electoral college votes that night. Gonell arrived home around 3 a.m. the next morning but found little relief.

"When I came in, she wanted to hug me and I told her no because I was covered in pepper spray," Gonell said. "My hands were bleeding still, and I couldn't even sleep because I went and took a shower and instead of helping, that re-inflamed the chemicals."

Gonell said he later took a bath with milk in the hopes of washing out the pepper spray.

"That didn't help," he said.

Though they were still reeling from the worst attack the Capitol had seen in two centuries, Gonell, Evans and hundreds of other officers went back to work just hours later.

"I did give my wife a hug and started crying," Gonell said. "I didn't think I would be able to see them. I went to my son's bed and gave him a hug, he was asleep still, gave him a kiss. And I just started crying for 5-10 minutes. I just cried. She kept telling me it was going to be okay. I'm like, 'no, I've got to go back to work.;"

For him, the riot is hardly in the rearview. The failure of a bill to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the causes of the riot left him devastated and gave him a reason to speak out

"It hurts me that the country that I love, that I came in, that I have sacrificed so much for, doesn't care about us. They don't," Gonell said.

To date, more than 400 people have been charged in the riot.