Giuliani says he won’t be on Trump impeachment defense team

Trump was impeached by the House for a second time last week.

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

The House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump last Wednesday on an article for "incitement of insurrection" for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol -- making him the only president to be impeached twice.


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Republican senator says House responded 'appropriately' by impeaching Trump

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said in a statement Thursday she believes that the House responded to Trump's actions "appropriately" by impeaching him but does not say how she will vote.

"On the day of the riots, President Trump’s words incited violence, which led to the injury and deaths of Americans – including a Capitol Police officer – the desecration of the Capitol, and briefly interfered with the government’s ability to ensure a peaceful transfer of power. Such unlawful actions cannot go without consequence and the House has responded swiftly, and I believe, appropriately, with impeachment," she said in a statement.

Murkowski said she intends to hear arguments in the Senate before deciding whether she will vote to convict.

"I will follow the oath I made when sworn as a U.S. Senator. I will listen carefully and consider the arguments of both sides, and will then announce how I will vote," Murkowski said.

It's also unclear how Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will vote in the Senate trial, telling Republican colleagues in a memo Wednesday he hasn't "made a final decision" on whether to vote to convict Trump.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin


1st confirmation hearing for Biden Cabinet pick Friday

Five key Senate panels have now confirmed that they will hold confirmation hearings for Biden's top national security officials before Inauguration Day -- although it remains unlikely most of his picks will be confirmed by day one.

Avril Haines will have her hearing Friday to be Director of National Intelligence, while four others will have theirs on Tuesday -- Tony Blinken for secretary of state, Janet Yellen for Treasury secretary, Lloyd Austin for Defense secretary, and Alejandro Mayorkas for Homeland Security secretary.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hasn't scheduled a hearing yet for Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Biden's pick for U.N. ambassador and a member of his Cabinet, despite her being announced in November. Bill Burns, Biden's pick to be CIA director, also doesn't have a hearing scheduled yet, but Biden only announced his intention to nominate Burns Monday.

It's unclear how long after a confirmation hearing any of these Cabinet picks can be confirmed, especially with an impeachment trial -- but they'll require a committee vote and then a full Senate vote. It's likely most won't be confirmed and in position on Inauguration Day.

Biden's team has escalated pressure this week to confirm his national security Cabinet as soon as possible.

In contrast, on Trump's Inauguration Day, the Senate confirmed both John Kelly as Department of Homeland Security secretary and Jim Mattis as Department of Defense secretary, and 11 more Trump nominees already had their confirmation hearings. President Barack Obama had seven Cabinet chiefs confirmed on Inauguration Day, while six more had confirmation hearings by then and his Defense Secretary Bob Gates stayed on from the Bush administration, according to the U.S. Senate website.

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan and Molly Nagle


Trump issues short statement about how he's worked to 'rebuild our military'

The White House press office has issued a statement from the president touting his military accomplishments as his time as commander-in-chief is set to expire in six days.

"United States military troops in Afghanistan are at a 19-year low. Likewise, Iraq and Syria are also at the lowest point in many years. I will always be committed to stopping the endless wars. It has been a great honor to rebuild our military and support our brave men and women in uniform. $2.5 trillion invested, including in beautiful new equipment—all made in the U.S.A.," the statement read.

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson


Jill Biden re-launching 'Joining Forces' initiative to support military families

Incoming first lady Jill Biden on Thursday announced the re-launch of "Joining Forces," which originated in 2011 during the Obama administration and was a "a nationwide initiative calling all Americans to rally around service members, veterans, and their families and support them through wellness, education, and employment opportunities," that also had the involvement of then-first lady Michelle Obama.

"We'll continue to listen and work with you, making sure that your experiences and expertise are the north star of this effort. And that starts today. That's the promise that I made to you on the campaign trail. That we would relaunch Joining Forces and get to work on day one," Biden said during a virtual event announcing the initiative's relaunch.

The announcement comes after Biden pledged several times on the campaign trail that she would focus her work as first lady on the priorities that defined her work when her husband was vice president for eight years, including her advocacy for military families.

During Biden's remarks she talked about her excitement to work again on Joining Forces while noting her ties to the military through the deployment of her son Beau and her father who was in the Navy during World War II.

"I'm grateful and excited, and most of all, ready to get to work with all of you. And as many of you may know, or maybe you don't, but my father was a Navy signalman in World War II," Biden said. "And my son Beau served for a year in Iraq as a member of the Delaware National Guard. Now, toward the end of the campaign, I had the chance to go back to Hammonton, New Jersey, where I was born, to see the memorial that bears my father's name in our hometown Park."

The future first lady noted that Rory Brosius, a close adviser to the Biden's and is a military spouse, will be joining the White House as a special assistant to the president and executive director of Joining Forces, adding, "No one is more passionate about this work than Rory."

-ABC News' Beatrice Peterson and John Verhovek


Incoming White House chief of staff gives overview of Biden's first 10 days

Incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain gave an overview of the first 10 days of the Biden-Harris administration in a memo to senior staff Saturday shared with reporters.

"President-elect Biden is assuming the presidency in a moment of profound crisis for our nation. We face four overlapping and compounding crises: the COVID-19 crisis, the resulting economic crisis, the climate crisis, and a racial equity crisis. All of these crises demand urgent action," Klain wrote. "In his first 10 days in office, President-elect Biden will take decisive action to address these four crises, prevent other urgent and irreversible harms, and restore America’s place in the world."

The schedule is not comprehensive, Klain noted, but includes:

Jan. 20: Biden plans to ask the Department of Education to extend the pause on student loan payments and interest for Americans with federal student loans, rejoin the Paris Agreement, reverse the "Muslim Ban" (one of Trump's earliest executive orders upon taking office) and issue a mask mandate for federal property and inter-state travel. He will also "take action to extend nationwide restrictions on evictions and foreclosures and provide more than 25 million Americans greater stability."

Jan. 21: Biden plans to sign several executive actions "to move aggressively to change the course of the COVID-19 crisis and safely re-open schools and businesses, including by taking action to mitigate spread through expanding testing, protecting workers, and establishing clear public health standards."

Jan. 22: The president-elect will direct his Cabinet agencies "to take immediate action to deliver economic relief to working families" impacted by the pandemic.

Jan. 25-Feb. 1: Among other executive actions, memoranda and Cabinet directives, Biden plans to sign additional executive actions to address the climate crisis, as well as take steps to "strengthen Buy American provisions," reform the criminal justice system, expand health care access and "start the difficult but critical work of reuniting families separated at the border."

"Full achievement of the Biden-Harris Administration’s policy objectives requires not just the executive actions the president-elect has promised to take, but also robust Congressional action," Klain wrote.

-ABC News' John Verhovek