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.


0

House passes 25th Amendment resolution, Pence said he won't act

The House voted 223-205, on H.Res. 21, which calls on Vice President Mike Pence to exercise his power under the 25th Amendment to convene the Cabinet and remove President Donald Trump from office.

"He is not protecting and defending the democracy itself, the process of electing the president. He is not respecting the peaceful transfer of power," Rep. Jamie Raskin D-Md. said of Trump during the hearing Tuesday night. "He is not taking care that the laws are faithfully executed. He is not protecting the republic against mob insurrection, invasion and hostility."

One Republican, Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, voted in favor of the symbolic measure.

It is a nonbinding resolution that carries no force of the law.

Pence already Tuesday said he will not invoke the 25th Amendment.

"Last week I did not yield to pressure to exert power beyond my constitutional authority to determine the outcome of the election, and I will not now yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a time so serious in the life of our Nation," Pence said in a letter Tuesday.

Democrats are expected to vote in an article of impeachment against Trump Wednesday. At least four Republicans have said they will vote to impeach Trump.

ABC News' Mariam Khan


House debating resolution on 25th Amendment

The House is now debating the merits of the resolution that calls on Vice President Mike Pence and members of the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment.

Given Pence's announcement earlier that he is not going to do so, this debate and vote are considered to be largely symbolic.

Members will be debating for one hour, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. The final vote on the resolution is expected to begin by 10:30 p.m.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., kicked off the debate. Raskin authored the 25th Amendment resolution.

During a procedural vote ahead of the debate, the House voted to authorize fines against lawmakers who don't wear masks on the House floor: $500 for a first offense, $2,500 for the next. It gets taken out of their paychecks.


Rep. Torres tells ABC News about coping with trauma and wanting justice

Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., told ABC's "Nightline" that 12 of the representatives who were locked down during the Capitol siege Wednesday are in a group chat to "to help each other heal."

"We've been working with each other through this process of healing ourselves," said Torres. "It's incredible that we survived."

Torres, who immigrated to the U.S. from Guatemala when she was 5 years old, said that Trump's decision to visit the border wall in El Paso, Texas, rather than address the Capitol riots or ongoing pandemic, was personally hurtful.

"The president of the United States chooses to close out his four-year term by continuing to incite racism, promote racism and incite violence against Americans like myself," she said.

On Wednesday, Torres made an emotional plea on the House floor to Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office.

"It is not about my life. It is not about his life. Members of Congress come and go. So will presidents and vice presidents. But our Constitution is to stand in," she told ABC News after her passionate speech. "Our democracy is worth it, (it) is worth upholding. And this is the moment where courage under fire means something."


Some Republicans angry about metal detectors at entrance to House floor

As the House begins voting Tuesday evening, some Republican members are furious about the installation of metal detectors, accusing Democrats of trying to score political points and diverting Capitol Police resources.

When Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., the top Republican on the Committee on House Administration, complained to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer in front of reporters, Hoyer said, "Rodney, we're all going through magnetometers."

Davis shot back, "I just went through one. You know the threat on the interior side of the building. You're taking valuable resources completely away from where it needs to be, and you did it without any consultation with the minority."

"Don't touch me," Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., said to a Capitol Police officer.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., a conservative whose insistence on carrying a gun around Capitol Hill has alarmed Democrats -- and some members of her own party -- refused to allow Capitol Police officers to search her bag. After a couple of minutes she was allowed into the chamber, but it's not clear if she was searched, according to pool reporters on the scene.

-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel


Up to 15,000 National Guardsmen could be at Biden's inauguration

The number of National Guard troops deployed around next week's inauguration could rise from at least 10,000 to 15,000, the National Guard’s top general said Monday.

"Support requests from the Secret Service, Capitol Police and Park Police have been authorized to provide up to 15,000 Guard members to meet current and future support requirements," Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, told reporters on a phone briefing. "They are troops that have been requested to support security, logistics liaison and communication missions."

Hokanson said that there are currently 6,200 Guardsmen in the District, and there would be 10,000 in place by Saturday.

The National Guard has always participated in inaugurations, and there were 9,000 members on hand last year, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, the number had been reduced to 5,000 for 2021. Last week's insurrection at the Capitol changed those plans, and Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman additionally made clear that the Guardsmen will be remaining in Washington after Inauguration Day.

"We're not looking at Jan. 20 as the last day and people will pack up and go home at the conclusion of all the events," he said. "There will be some elements that will remain for a brief period to ensure safety and security in the days following the inauguration as well."

Hokanson, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, said no decision has been made yet about whether to arm the Guardsmen but characterized that possibility as an "ongoing discussion."

"Obviously, we're very concerned that we want our individuals to be have the right to self defense," he said.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez