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


Overview: Trump to speak in Texas, Biden team to push national security confirmations

When he leaves for Alamo, Texas, Tuesday morning, it will be President Trump's first time in public since last Wednesday -- the day his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol after he encouraged a crowd of thousands, at a rally beforehand, to put pressure on lawmakers affirming Biden's victory in Congress.

Apart from posting video on Twitter last Thursday, before the platform permanently suspended his account, the president has remained behind closed doors at the White House -- spending his final days in office out of the public eye -- but is expected to break his silence with afternoon remarks.

"President Trump is expected to travel to Alamo, Texas, on Tuesday to mark the completion of more than 400 miles of border wall -- a promise made, promise kept -- and his administration's efforts to reform our broken immigration system," White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere told reporters ahead of the visit.

The president is facing renewed calls from congressional Democrats to be removed from office in the wake of last week's riot, with the House poised to pass an impeachment resolution as early as Wednesday charging the president with incitement of insurrection -- and setting Trump up to be the first president in history to be impeached twice.

Trump, for the first time since the assault, spoke with Vice President Mike Pence at the urging of his advisers and allies in an Oval Office meeting Monday that lasted 90 minutes and was friendly in nature, according to White House officials briefed on the meeting. Pence is not expected to invoke the 25th Amendment as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called on him to do.

Biden, on Tuesday, will receive the President’s Daily Brief and meet with advisers, while his transition team and allies in Congress begin a push to confirm his national security nominees so they're in place next week, with priority on the confirmation of Department of Homeland Security Secretary-designate Alejandro Mayorkas.

Defense Secretary-designate Gen. Lloyd Austin, nominee for Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Secretary of State-designate Tony Blinken will also be part of the push ahead of their hearings on Capitol Hill.

Biden’s nominees may also need now to contend with an impeachment trial in the Senate. Biden suggested in remarks Monday the Senate look into splitting the its time in order to confirm his nominees, pass COVID-19 relief and deal with a presidential impeachment.

-ABC News' John Parkinson, Ben Gittleson and Molly Nagle