Impeachment article has 200 cosponsors: US rep.

The draft, citing "incitement of insurrection," could be introduced Monday.

President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in 11 days.


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House votes down objection to Arizona's election results

The House has rejected the challenge to Arizona's electoral votes, 121-303, with most Republicans supporting the challenge.

There were 121 Republicans, 57% of the conference, who voted in favor of the objection, including GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana.

On the other side, 220 Democrats voted against the objection, joined by 82 Republicans. Two Democrats and five Republicans did not vote.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House will soon move back into joint session with the Senate, where the certification of the electoral votes will continue alphabetically by state.

The next challenge expected is Georgia's votes, but it's unclear if House Republicans still have a senator to help them force debate and a vote.

-ABC News' Ben Siegel


Senate votes down objections to certifying Arizona electors

Hours after the Senate began debate counting the Electoral College votes, the full body voted 93-6 not to take up the objections to Arizona's Electoral College votes.

Senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Cindy Hyde-Smith, John Neely Kennedy, Roger Marshall and Tommy Tuberville all voted in favor.

Before the pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol Wednesday, 13 Republican senators said they would object to the state over baseless claims of fraud. Seven changed their position after the violent siege ended and Congress returned to the Senate chamber.

Several senators will continue speaking on the floor while the House wraps up their debate on the objection to Arizona's electoral results, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said.


White House deputy press secretary resigns over Capitol breach

White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews has resigned in response to what happened at the Capitol Wednesday.

Matthews said in a statement she was "honored" to serve the administration and "proud" of the policies it enacted, but added "our nation needs a peaceful transition of power."

"As someone who worked in the halls of Congress I was deeply disturbed by what I saw today. I'll be stepping down from my role, effective immediately," she said in her statement.

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson


Trump rebuffed efforts to call in National Guard, aides intervened for 'sake of the country'

Multiple sources tell ABC News President Trump rebuffed efforts for quite some time to call in the National Guard Wednesday afternoon as chaos escalated at the U.S. Capitol, and steps weren't made until a few White House officials intervened for "the sake of the country."

Sources tell ABC News the aides explained to Trump that if action was not taken other protesters could mobilize across the country and the situation would only grow more dire.

Sources say the president is fuming mad inside the White House, unclear what his next move or action could be. He is described by one strong source as "stewing."

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders and John Santucci


340 DC National Guardsmen to help DC police around Electoral College demonstrations

At District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser's request, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy has activated about 340 unarmed D.C. National Guardsmen to assist local law enforcement with the demonstrations taking place on Wednesday pegged to the Electoral College certification.

"We think it's helpful to have our D.C. Guardsmen, who are our Guard, that I have requested from the Secretary of the Army to assist MPD [Metropolitan Police Department] with traffic management," Bowser said Monday. "It absolutely frees up more officers."

The D.C. Guard is unique in that any call-ups have to be made by the Army secretary and not the jurisdiction’s top elected official -- as is the case with state governors. Additionally, more focus has been given to the call-ups since the controversial presence of D.C. Guardsmen and the use of D.C. Guard helicopters during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations last summer.

"They will be deployed to assist us with crowd management, as well as traffic control in our nation's capital that will allow for the police officers to focus on anyone who's intent on instigating agitating or participating in violence in our city," said D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee. He also labeled any possibility of violence surrounding the protests as "unacceptable" and repeated that carrying firearms is not allowed under D.C. law.

A senior defense official said Bowser put in the request for Guardsmen on Dec. 31 and that it was approved Monday morning. Beginning Tuesday through Thursday, the 340 personnel will help man 30 traffic control checkpoints around the northern side of the downtown area close to the National Mall.

"No one's going to be armed or body armor or anything like that," said the official. "What they need is traffic control."

-ABC News' Luis Martinez and Quinn Owen