Now we're hearing from Democrat Steny Hoyer, the House Majority Leader. He says he disagrees with Republican Tom Cole's lack of urgency.

"There are consequences to actions, and the actions of the President of the United States demand urgent, clear action by the Congress," Hoyer says.

He brings up the remarks from Congresswoman Liz Cheney.

"Representative Cheney from Wyoming, a conservative Republican, said this: 'The president of the US summoned the mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack.'"

Hoyer adds that Cheney is not "some irresponsible new member", she is the daughter of the former vice-president, Dick Cheney.

"She knows of what she speaks," he says. "She characterised it as the biggest betrayal of any president of the United States in our history."

He asks: "If these actions are not worthy of impeachment, then what is an impeachable offence?"

Image source, Reuters

Republican Congressman Tom Cole says "we desperately need" to move forward on a "path to support healing".

"Instead, the House is moving forward erratically with a truncated process...that will give members no time to contemplate the serious course of action before us."

Cole says the riot was the "darkest day" of his service as a representative, but that now that the president has conceded and Joe Biden's victory has been certified, a hasty impeachment will not help the nation move forward.

He adds that Democrats are doing so knowing that the Senate will not consider these charges until after Trump's term ends.

"I can think of nothing that will cause further division more than the path the majority is now taking. Rather than looking ahead to a new administration, the majority is seeking to settle scores with the old one."

Image source, EPA

The House is back from its brief recess. We're now hearing the clerk read out the rules of the upcoming proceedings.

After this, we'll enter our first period of debate - not on the impeachment itself, but on the rule.

"We are debating this historic measure at an actual crime scene and we wouldn't be here if it weren't for the president of the United States," says Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern.

He accuses Trump of "stoking the anger of a violent mob", and says "it's a miracle more people didn't die".

"I never ever will forget what I saw when I looked into the eyes of those attackers right in the speaker's lobby. I saw evil."

In the wake of the Capitol attack, the US Army has sent out a message to its community - including soldiers, civilian employees and their family members.

Penned by US Army Chief of Staff Gen James McConville, Army secretary Ryan McCarthy, and Sgt Major of the Army Michael Grinston, the letter asks members to uphold US Army values during this time.

"We defend the rights of every American and we protect the roles of our institutions of democracy. We remind all soldiers and civilians to uphold the Army's apolitical standards," the letter begins.

"The nation expects all members of the US Army to follow the law and do the right things the right way, whether we are in or out of uniform.

"To maintain the sacred trust of the American People it is important that all those who represent the Army, in any capacity, remain models of professionalism, character and integrity."

The House of Representatives has opened its session, and Democrats are getting ready to impeach President Trump over last week's deadly attack on Congress.

The Democrats have a majority in the House, so the vote later on Wednesday on whether to impeach Mr Trump for the second time is expected to pass.

Here's what we can expect as the day progresses...

There'll be an hour of debate on the rule of the session, split between the two parties. Then, lawmakers will vote on the rule.

We'll then move into two hours of debate on the impeachment article itself.

The final vote on impeachment should last around an hour. We're expecting that to begin around 1600EST/2100GMT.

They have just gone into a short recess. But there's lots to come, so stay tuned.

Image source, EPA

Members of the US National Guard were seen early this morning sleeping on the floors of the Capitol. Thousands have been deployed to protect the building, and the members inside, who will be voting on whether to impeach Trump for a second time.

The proceedings are about to begin. You will be able to watch the live stream from the top of this page shortly.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

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Image source, Getty Images

In lieu of a traditional inaugural ball, Biden plans to hold a celebrity TV special on the night that he officially becomes president, according to the latest from Politico, external.

The 90-minute programme is to be hosted by actor Tom Hanks and will feature singers Demi Lovato, Justin Timberlake and Jon Bon Jovi.

The primetime event will be shown on all US networks besides Fox, the newspaper reports.

On Monday, the Biden transition team announced that the inauguration theme would be "America united", and that Biden would be joined by former presidents in laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on the day.

His inauguration, swearing him in as the 46th US president, will take place two weeks to the day after a violent mob stormed the US Capitol.

Today's impeachment vote in the House of Representatives was triggered by the deadly attack on Congress, carried out by Donald Trump's supporters.

Our North America correspondent Aleem Maqbool looks back at last Tuesday's events, and asks what it means for US democracy.

It's a long watch, but worth it.

Metal detectors have been installed at the entrances to the House of Representatives for the first time following last week's violence.

Detectors have long been in place at visitor and staff entrances to the Capitol building but lawmakers have been able to circumvent them provided they were wearing their congressional pin.

Acting House Sergeant-at-Arms Timothy Blodgett said the move was necessary to "provide a safe and secure environment in which to conduct legislative business".

Members of Congress are allowed to carry guns on Capitol Hill, but Mr Blodgett said firearms would be "restricted to a member's office".

Earlier, Republican representative Lauren Boebert said she would carry her gun "in DC and in Congress", adding that the government should not be allowed to dictate how she could protect herself.

Long queues formed at the House entrances on Tuesday evening, angering some Republican lawmakers, Fox News reported, external.

Image source, Reuters

A new poll for CBS News, external suggests a majority of Americans support a second impeachment of President Trump.

Of those polled, 55% said there were in favour opposed to 45% against.

It comes hours before the House of Representatives is due to hold a vote on impeaching Mr Trump.

Asked if they thought more acts of violence were likely following last week's attack on Congress, 74% believed it was at least "somewhat likely".

Most of those polled - 59% - believed that what happened at the US Capitol could be described as insurrection, and an attempt to overthrow the government.

A newly elected Republican Congresswoman from Georgia says it is "insane" to blame maskless lawmakers for new Covid-19 cases among House representatives.

"It is absolutely ridiculous and insane to blame us," Marjorie Taylor Greene told Fox News.

Three Democrat lawmakers who were caught up in the riot have tested positive in recent days, with fingers pointed at those who refused to wear masks while locked in a secure room alongside their colleagues.

Greene defended her decision not to wear a mask. "[We] did not have Covid or any symptoms," she said, adding that she had tested negative on 4 January.

Americans should not be forced to wear a mask, she added, insisting that "healthy people do not spread Covid."

Health experts believe that a significant proportion of Covid infections are caused by asymptomatic people inadvertently spreading the virus.

Image source, EPA

While President Trump faces a possible second impeachment, a new survey suggests there is growing distrust in leaders and institutions around the world.

According to the annual Edelman Trust Barometer, external, 57% of people surveyed believe heads of government, business leaders and journalists are spreading falsehoods or exaggerations.

Its 2021 Trust Barometer - entitled "Declaring Information Bankruptcy" - said there was an "epidemic of misinformation and widespread mistrust of societal institutions and leaders around the world".

In the US, levels of trust in the media differed according to political affiliation. Among Joe Biden supporters, 63% trusted journalists compared to 21% of voters for Donald Trump. Mr Trump has regularly branded the mainstream media "fake news".

"The violent storming of the US Capitol last week and the fact that only one-third of people are willing to get a Covid vaccine crystallise the dangers of misinformation," said Richard Edelman, who heads the Edelman communications group.

In 2019, no House Republicans voted to impeach Trump. And when the process got to the Senate, only Utah Republican senator Mitt Romney, external broke the party line.But this time there has already been signals of support for the move from some Republicans.

Liz Cheney, the third most senior Republican in the House of Representatives and daughter of former Vice-President Dick Cheney, vowed to back impeachment. She said Mr Trump had "summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack".

"There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution," the Wyoming representative added.

Three other Republican House members - John Katko, Adam Kinzinger and Fred Upton - said they would also vote for impeachment.

Image source, Google/Getty Images

As we mentioned earlier, YouTube has become the latest social media network to suspend President Trump.

The Google-owned service stopped his account from uploading new videos or live-streaming material for a minimum of seven days, and has said it may extend the period.

Trump had already been suspended by Facebook and Instagram following last week's rioting on Capitol Hill, until at least when President-elect Joe Biden takes office on 20 January.

Twitter has gone further by imposing a permanent ban. Amazon's Twitch has also disabled his account on its platform and Snapchat has locked his account.

Shopify, Pinterest, TikTok and Reddit have also taken steps to restrict content associated with Trump and his calls for the results of the US election to be challenged.

Read more on this story here.

Yesterday Trump made his first remarks since last week's violence and showed no regret for the address he made to his supporters.

Just before they marched on Congress, he had reiterated his unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and told them to "peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard", but also to "fight like hell".

"What I said was totally appropriate," Mr Trump told reporters on Tuesday. "I want no violence."

He said the impeachment process was "causing tremendous anger" and was a "continuation of the greatest witch-hunt in the history of politics".

Image source, Reuters

Let’s bring you up to speed with the main headlines before we delve deeper...

• A number of senior US Republicans have said they will support a second impeachment of President Trump following last week's violent assault on Congress

• Senior Democrats had called on Vice-President Mike Pence to use his powers to replace Trump by invoking the 25th Amendment, but he has said he is not prepared to do so
• The Secret Service is launching a massive security operation to safeguard the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on 20 January
• Trump has showed no remorse for his actions and dismissed the moves against him as "a witch hunt"
• YouTube has become the latest social network to suspend President Trump

To impeach - in this context - means to bring charges in the US Congress that will form the basis for a trial. This is a political process, rather than a criminal one.

The US constitution states that a president "shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanours".

The impeachment is brought to the House of Representatives and must be passed in a vote. After that it moves to the Senate where a two-thirds vote is necessary to convict the president and remove him from office.

The Democrats control the House so a vote there is highly likely to pass. As far as the Senate is concerned, Democrats only hold half of the seats. However, some Republican senators have indicated that they are also open to impeachment, making Mr Trump's position less certain.

Today's debate is expected to go faster than the one in 2019 - when Trump was impeached (and later acquitted in the Senate) over allegations he sought help from Ukraine to boost his chances of re-election.

The House will recovene at 09:00 local time (14:00 GMT).

There will be around an hour's debate on the rule that establishes the next step... And that next step is two hours of debate on the impeachment resolution.

After that debate comes the first vote.

Then they spend a couple of hours debating the individual articles of the impeachment. Republicans and Democrats get one of those hours each.

There is just one article this time, accusing Trump of "incitement of insurrection".

During the debate, we can expect some emotional stories from lawmakers who were trapped inside the Capitol during the riots.

Finally, there will be a vote on whether to impeach.

So, buckle up, this will take a few hours.

Image source, Reuters

It's another big day in Washington DC. Just days before President Donald Trump's term comes to an end, he is facing another impeachment trial.

Democrats are seeking to kickstart that process today, with an all-important vote in the House of Representatives to see if there is support to proceed and escalate the case to a trial in the Senate.

Seeing as the Democrats control the House, today's vote is highly likely to go their way.

What will be interesting is seeing how many Republicans join them. Some have already signalled support for the motion.

And in case somehow you have forgotten how we got to this point...

Trump is accused of inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol building at a speech before a violent riot kicked off last Wednesday. An impeachment would formally charge the president with inciting insurrection.

Will Trump be the first president to be impeached twice? We will find out later today. Stay tuned and we'll bring you all the updates.