Pelosi elected to 4th term as House speaker
She’s the third speaker in the last 25 years to win with less than 218 votes.
President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in 17 days.
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House votes to override Trump's veto on the defense bill
The House on Monday overwhelmingly voted to override Trump's veto of the must-pass sweeping defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act.
The final vote was 322-87, receiving the two-thirds majority it required. There were 109 Republicans who voted to override the veto and 20 Democrats voted to sustain it.
The Senate is expected to hold its own veto override vote later this week.
If the Senate also overrides the president's veto, it will be the first time Congress has successfully rejected a presidential veto during Trump's presidency.
Shortly before the vote, GOP Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, urged his colleagues to vote for “the exact same bill” they did before, emphasizing that “not a comma has changed.”
“I would only ask that as members vote, they put the best interests of the country first,” Thornberry said. “There is no other consideration that should matter."
The bill initially cleared both chambers of Congress with veto-proof majorities earlier this month. Trump then officially vetoed the bill last week because it didn't include a repeal of Section 230, a law that shields internet companies from being liable for what is posted on their websites by them or third parties. The bill also included a provision that would rename military bases named after Confederates, which Trump opposed.
The $740 billion bill includes pay raises for America's soldiers, improvements in body armor for women, coronavirus relief, military housing improvements and boosted sexual harassment prevention and response measures, among other items. It has passed both chambers of Congress for 59 years straight with strong bipartisan support.
Some Republicans voted to sustain Trump’s veto despite supporting the bill earlier this month.
The defense bill must become law before noon Jan. 3, when the new session of Congress begins, or it will expire.
-ABC News' Mariam Khan
Schumer to try to pass House-approved $2,000 emergency checks in Senate
In a statement, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would try to get the House-approved bill to provide $2,000 emergency checks passed in the Senate on Tuesday.
"Following the strong bipartisan vote in the House, tomorrow I will move to pass the legislation in the Senate to quickly deliver Americans with $2,000 emergency checks. Every Senate Democrat is for this much-needed increase in emergency financial relief, which can be approved tomorrow if no Republican blocks it – there is no good reason for Senate Republicans to stand in the way," he said in the statement. "There's strong support for these $2,000 emergency checks from every corner of the country -- Leader McConnell ought to make sure Senate Republicans do not stand in the way of helping to meet the needs of American workers and families who are crying out for help."
Acting Secretary Miller pushes back on Biden's claim of DOD "obstruction"
Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller pushed back on Biden's claim earlier Monday about transition interference by the Department of Defense in a statement.
"The Department of Defense has conducted 164 interviews with over 400 officials, and provided over 5,000 pages of documents – far more than initially requested by Biden's transition team. DoD's efforts already surpass those of recent administrations with over three weeks to go and we continue to schedule additional meetings for the remainder of the transition and answer any and all requests for information in our purview. Our DoD political and career officials have been working with the utmost professionalism to support transition activities in a compressed time schedule and they will continue to do so in a transparent and collegial manner that upholds the finest traditions of the Department. The American people expect nothing less and that is what I remain committed to."
House passes bill to boost stimulus checks to $2,000, fate uncertain in Senate
The House narrowly passed a bill that would increase the amount of money Americans receive in a second round of pandemic relief stimulus payments to $2,000, up from $600.
The final vote tally was 275-134, receiving the two-thirds majority it required under the expedited vote. There were 44 Republicans who voted with Democrats.
Even though Trump supports the measure, a number of Republicans voted against the bill. Its fate remains uncertain in the Senate.
The House vote comes one day after Trump signed the $2.3 trillion spending and COVID-19 relief bill, which included $600 stimulus checks for Americans who make $75,000 or less. Trump initially threatened to hold up the bill last week and said it was a "disgrace." He spent the next several days calling on Congress to pass a bill that included $2,000 stimulus checks instead.
Democrats took up Trump's offer last week and attempted to pass a bill that would send Americans $2,000 checks via unanimous consent but that attempt failed over Republican objections. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed to bring the bill to the floor for a full recorded vote on Monday.
Even though the bill has now cleared the House, at this point it's unclear if the Republican-led Senate will bring the bill to the floor for a vote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made no promises in his statement Sunday when he commended the president for finally signing the COVID-19 relief bill into law.
Pelosi called on Trump to put more pressure on his party to back the payments.
"Every Republican vote against this bill is a vote to deny the financial hardship that families face and to deny the American people the relief they need," she said in a statement released Sunday.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday that he would try to pass the legislation in the Senate.
"No Democrats will object. Will Senate Republicans?" he tweeted.
-ABC News' Mariam Khan
Biden transition hammers DOD, OMB for lack of cooperation on transition
Biden’s transition held its weekly press briefing Wednesday, hammering home the same messaging the president-elect delivered himself earlier this week on transition delays.
The team took aim at the Department of Defense and Office of Management and Budget for their lack of cooperation in the transition and also previewed some of the “day one” policy actions Biden would take once in office.
Transition spokesperson Yohannes Abraham stressed that not working with career OMB officials is hindering and needlessly delaying the team's work on COVID-19.
“There are also health and economic repercussions to this obstruction. OMB is integral to our federal government efficiently and effectively addressing COVID,” Abraham said. “OMB leadership's refusal to fully cooperate impairs our ability to identify opportunities to maximize the relief going out to Americans during the pandemic.”
When pressed on specific types of obstruction the transition was facing, Abraham added that the DOD has not had a meeting with the transition in 11 days, following DOD’s announcement that meetings would cease over the holidays (the DOD said this was a mutual agreement, which the Biden team has denied). Abraham also said DOD held only three meetings with the Biden team after ascertainment and before the holiday break announcement.
Jen Psaki, Biden's pick for White House press secretary, also spoke of some of the policy actions Biden plans to take immediately when he takes office on Jan. 20.
She announced the Biden administration will issue a memo that halts so-called “midnight rules” from the Trump administration, citing a Department of Labor rule the Trump administration is expected to publish in January that would make it easier for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors to circumvent paying overtime, minimum-wage and other protections.
“In addition to the regulatory freeze memo, President-elect Biden has promised to rescind harmful Trump executive orders, and deliver on our promises and the promises he and Vice president-elect Harris made on the campaign trail, including by reinstating protections for dreamers, rejoining the Paris Climate Accord, or reversing President Trump's environmental rollbacks that have made our air and water dirtier and protecting and strengthening the Affordable Care Act to lower health care costs and expand access to care,” Psaki said.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle