Image source, Getty Images

Two members of Congress have tested positive for coronavirus after the pro-Trump siege on the Capitol last week.

Bonnie Watson Coleman, 75, and Pramila Jayapal, 55, both Democrats, tested positive after being forced to lockdown in a small room with many others as pro-Trump supporters broke into the building.

Some of their Republican colleagues refused to wear masks when sheltering, Jayapal said, calling such behaviour “selfish idiocy”.

"Only hours after President Trump incited a deadly assault on our Capitol, our country, and our democracy, many Republicans still refused to take the bare minimum Covid-19 precaution and simply wear a damn mask in a crowded room during a pandemic - creating a superspreader event on top of a domestic terrorist attack," she said in a statement.

She also linked to a video , externalof Delaware Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester pleading with a group of Republicans to put on the masks she was offering them during the riot, as they refuse.

“I’m not trying to get political here,” a Republican Representative from Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, says in the clip as he appears to turn down the offer.

Joe Tidy
Cyber reporter

If you ever needed proof of the power of "Big Tech" then the downfall of Parler on Monday morning is a good place to start.

I, like many others, logged on to the controversial social network to see what would happen after 11:59 Pacific Time in the US.

This was the deadline Amazon had given the app to find a new host service before it booted the platform offline for allegedly containing violent content.

It was being seen as a significant moment in ongoing efforts by US tech giants to "deplatform" Donald Trump and some of his extreme supporters after the US Capitol Hill riot last week.

The clock struck 12:00 though and nothing happened. I and millions of other users were still able to search and post just as usual.

But then, like dominos, users around the world starting reporting problems. For me, at about 12:10, everything stopped working. No content found, a message read.

Image source, Getty

With a flick of a switch then, Parler, a fast-growing app seen by some as a free-speech alternative to Twitter, was no more. For now.

Parler can, and probably will be able to, find a new host provider but losing Amazon Web Services (AWS) - the largest website hosting provider in the world - means other major providers are likely to turn away their business too.

You can read more here.

Image source, Reuters

President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence have met for the first time since last week's assault on the Capitol, according to media reports.

The riot happened as Pence was presiding over certification of the November election result. Pence, as we know, was criticised by Trump by refusing his call to not certify the result.

An unnamed senior official said the two men had a "good conversation" at the White House on Monday evening following days of silence.

According to Reuters news agency, they discussed the riots and "reiterated that those who broke the law and stormed the Capitol last week do not represent the America First movement". They also discussed the administration's achievements over the past four years, the source added.

A former White House official told CBS News that Pence was "discouraged, disheartened, hurt and stunned".

As we've been reporting, the vice-president is under pressure from Democrats to invoke constitutional powers to remove Trump from office immediately. But he hasn't indicated he's willing to do so.

Prof Bruce Ackerman from Yale law school has said he believes President Trump will pardon himself before leaving office. But he told the BBC that would not mean he would not face charges.

"The president can only pardon people for their offences against federal law," Prof Ackerman said. "There is every reason to believe however that President Trump will be charged with a large number of criminal offences especially under the law of the state of New York," he added.

President Trump is facing numerous investigations, including New York State inquiries into whether he misled tax authorities, banks or business partners. He has repeatedly dismissed the probe calling it a "witch hunt".

Several Capitol Police officers have been suspended and others are being investigated over suspected involvement in last week's riot in Washington, the force's acting chief says.

In a statement, Yogananda Pittman said her department was "actively reviewing video and other open source materials" and had already suspended a number of officers. Disciplinary action could include dismissal, she added.

At least ten other members of the force are under investigation over the violence, US media report. According to one unnamed congressional aide quoted by the Washington Post, one of the inquiries focuses on messages allegedly posted by officers in support of the rally., external

Footage taken during the attack on the Capitol appeared to show a police officer posing for a selfie with a protester.

It's going to be a busy two weeks for watchers of US politics. These are the big news days to look out for, starting today:

• Tuesday: The House of Representatives will vote on a resolution calling on Vice-President Pence and the cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to declare the president unfit for office and remove him immediately. The resolution is likely to pass as Democrats hold a majority, but Pence has shown no sign he is planning to act
• Wednesday: Democrats say a vote on impeachment will be held in the House. As they have a majority, Trump is likely to become the first president to be impeached twice. (He was first impeached in December 2019 over charges of breaking the law by asking Ukraine to investigate his rival in the presidential election.) A single article of impeachment - a formal charge - is expected to be sent to the Senate, where a trial will be held but the timeline is not known
• 20 January: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in as president and vice-president

Image source, Getty Images

US politics is awash with corporate money. Big companies often make donations to the Republican and Democratic parties in support of their business interests.

But last week’s invasion of the Capitol has forced a growing number of businesses to reconsider their contributions.

Some companies have paused all political donations, including tech firms Facebook, Microsoft and Google.

Others have suspended contributions to specific politicians. Property rental company Airbnb, chemical giant Dow and General Electric have all pledged to withhold support from politicians who voted against the certification of the presidential election results.

Fundraising activity is currently at a post-election lull in Washington, giving businesses and trade groups time to figure out their approach.

Many will not want to be associated with politicians implicated in the storming of the Capitol.

Image source, Reuters

President Trump hasn't been seen in public since he appeared at a rally on Wednesday encouraging supporters to march on the Capitol.

He is expected to finally appear in public later on Tuesday, when he'll travel to Texas to visit a completed stretch of the border wall with Mexico, one of his administration's signature projects.

The city he'll visit, Alamo, is full of symbolism. It's named after the San Antonio mission where Texan fighters fought against Mexican forces for 13 days in 1836. The fighters were anihilated but became a symbol of resistance for Texans, who defeated the Mexican army about a month later.

Trump is expected to deliver remarks highlighting his accomplishments in building the wall. And, following an unusually quiet period after his Twitter account was banned, we're hoping to hear what the president has to say about the Democrats' moves in the House to remove him from power.

Image source, Reuters

Concerns about security in Washington DC and across the US are intensifying after last week’s assault on the Capitol building.

The FBI has warned of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington in the days leading up to President-elect Biden’s inauguration on 20 January.

An internal FBI bulletin says one group is calling for the "storming" of state, local and federal courthouses around the country if Trump is removed from office early and on inauguration day if he is not.

A huge security operation is being put into place to deal with any trouble.

Federal authorities have ordered the Secret Service to lock down large parts of downtown Washington on Wednesday, six days earlier than originally planned.

This will involve up to 10,000 National Guard troops, with 5,000 more on stand-by, alongside other federal law enforcement personnel.

Meanwhile, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called for more security after what she described as an "unprecedented terrorist attack" at the Capitol last week.

Need a primer on the 25th Amendment ahead of today's vote?

In short, it allows the vice-president to become acting president when a president is unable to continue his duties, if for example, he or she becomes incapacitated due to a physical or mental illness.

The part of the amendment being discussed is section four, which allows the vice-president and a majority of the cabinet to declare President Trump unable to perform his duties.

They would need to sign a letter to the speaker of the House of Representatives and the presiding officer of the Senate declaring the president is unfit to govern or incapable "of discharging the powers and duties of his office". At this point, Vice-President Mike Pence would automatically take over.

The president would be given the chance to offer a written response, and if he contests the finding, then it falls on Congress to decide. Any vote in the Senate and House of Representatives ordering the president's removal requires a two-thirds majority.

Read more here

Image source, Reuters

First, let's bring you up to speed on what has been happening in the past 24 hours.

• The Democrats filed one article of impeachment against President Trump in the House of Representatives, accusing him of “incitement of insurrection” for his role in encouraging rioters to invade Congress
• The Democrats said they will move forward with a vote on the impeachment on Wednesday unless Vice-President Pence invokes constitutional powers to remove Trump from office
• There is no sign Pence is prepared to do so, so the impeachment vote is expected to go ahead
• Trump and Pence met for the first time since the riot, but no further details have been released
• Trump also had a phone call with the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy. According to CBS and Politico, McCarthy told fellow Republicans that Trump had accepted some responsibility for last week's violence
• Acting Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf abruptly announced he was stepping down, citing “recent events” as his reason
• President-elect Biden pledged to hold accountable those "who engaged in sedition", as he received his second dose of a coronavirus vaccine

Image source, Reuters

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the US.

Tuesday is expected to be another day of high political drama after last week’s deadly storming of the US Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump.

We’ll be bringing you the latest from Washington DC, where moves are under way to force President Trump from office just days before he is due to step down.

These are the key events to be aware of today:

• The House of Representatives will vote on a non-binding resolution calling on Vice-President Mike Pence and the cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to declare the president unfit for office and remove him immediately.
• The resolution is likely to pass as Democrats hold a majority, but Pence has shown no sign he is planning to act
• After the vote, the Democrats said they will give Pence 24 hours to remove Trump from office before they move toward impeachment
• Meanwhile, Trump is scheduled to make his first public appearance since the riot, as he travels to Texas to visit a stretch of the border wall with Mexico to highlight his administration's work