Live politics updates: Democrats to take control of the Senate on Wednesday

David Jackson, Rebecca Morin, Nicholas Wu and Christal Hayes, USA TODAY

McConnell: Mob attack at the Capitol was 'provoked by the president'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued his most striking condemnation of President Donald Trump yet after the attack at the U.S. Capitol, saying the mob of protesters were “provoked by the president.”

“The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence,” McConnell said on the Senate floor, casting a clear shot not only to Trump but fellow Republicans who backed the president’s efforts to overturn election results in several swing states.

McConnell publicly split with Trump after the attack, which happened as the House and Senate were counting Electoral College votes earlier this month to officiate Biden’s win, and has left open the possibility of convicting Trump at his second impeachment trial.

“We must always keep in mind that we’re all Americans,” McConnell said on the floor. “We all love this country. And we’re all in this together.”

The Kentucky Republican said Wednesday would usher in a new start, noting the close margins in the House and Senate show the American people want their leaders to work together.

“There are serious challenges that our nation needs to continue confronting,” McConnell said. “Our marching orders from the American people are clear – we’re to have a robust discussion and seek common ground.”

Read the full story.

— Christal Hayes

Warnock, Ossoff to be sworn in Wednesday, giving Democrats majority in Senate

Democrats will take control of the Senate on Wednesday after their two newest members, Georgia’s Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, are sworn in.

Warnock and Ossoff are set to be sworn in late Wednesday afternoon, according to a Senate source who was unauthorized to speak publicly about the plans. The two new Democrats will give a 50-50 split in the chamber. They’re set to be sworn in after Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take their oaths of office as the new president and vice president, meaning Harris will officially be the president of the Senate and the tie-breaking vote allowing Democrats control of the chamber. Harris, who resigned from her Senate seat this week, is set to be replaced by Democrat Alex Padilla. He will also be sworn in on Wednesday, the source added.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who is set to take control of the chamber, said he was meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Tuesday about a power-sharing agreement because the chamber will be split down the middle. The last time the Senate saw a 50-50 split was in 2001, when George W. Bush was president. Then, Republicans and Democrats forged an agreement that, among other things, called for both parties to come to compromises on the Senate schedule and had an equal number of senators from each party on committees.

“I’m talking to McConnell later. We'll see what happens,” Schumer told reporters on the potential agreement. He added their conversation would also entail plans on President Donald Trump’s pending Senate impeachment trial.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Tuesday certified the results of the state's runoff Senate elections earlier this month, won by Ossoff and Warnock.

"[T]he Secretary of State affirms that the statewide consolidated returns for state and federal offices are a true and correct tabulation of the certified returns received by this office from each county," Raffensperger's office said in a statement.

The certification of the runoffs comes before the state's Friday deadline to do so.

Trump had publicly challenged Georgia's certification of its presidential election, won by Biden with a slim margin. Despite Trump's protests, multiple recounts showed Biden won by under 12,000 votes.

— Christal Hayes and Jeanine Santucci

Biden to release immigration plan with pathway to citizenship

On the same day he is inaugurated into office, President-elect Joe Biden will introduce immigration legislation that will include an eight-year pathway to citizenship for nearly 11 million immigrants living in the United States without legal status, a Biden transition official confirmed Tuesday.

The legislation, first reported by the Washington Post, will also include expanding refugee admissions and an enforcement plan that includes deploying technology to patrol the border.

Under the legislation, immigrants without legal status living in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2021, would be put in a temporary legal status for five years, with a green card being granted if they meet requirements like passing a background check and paying taxes, under the legislation. They then could apply for citizenship three years later.

A worker pulls cables as preparations take place for President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 16, 2021.
A worker pulls cables as preparations take place for President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 16, 2021.

Some undocumented immigrants will see a quicker process in the pathway to citizenship. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, also known as “Dreamers,” in addition to agricultural workers and those in the temporary protected status program could qualify for green cards immediately.

Biden’s immigration plan comes after four years of a hardline approach to immigration from President Donald Trump, which led to several controversial policies, including trying to end the DACA program. The Supreme Court last June upheld the program.

More: Joe Biden ran on bringing back normalcy. With COVID, riots and a looming impeachment trial, that task just got tougher

In addition to introducing the legislation Wednesday, Biden will also issue executive actions related to immigration, including reversing Trump's travel ban for Muslim-majority countries.

— Rebecca Morin

Trump expected to issue more pardons - but the president isn't expected to be on the list

President Donald Trump and staff members are putting the final touches on a long list of pardons that will include friends and allies - but probably not himself, aides said.

The president had discussed the idea of preemptive pardons for himself and his family, aides said, but officials said family members do not need them and attorneys questioned the legality of a self-pardon.

More: From the border to the federal bench to raging political divisions: How Donald Trump's tenure has changed America

Trump has already pardoned high-profile ex-aides like Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn, and this list is expected to include lesser-known names.

Rapper Lil Wayne, who pleaded guilty last month to possessing a loaded handgun aboard a chartered airplane, is expected to be on a pardon list that could approach 100 names, aides said.

The list will be released later Tuesday or early Wednesday; Trump's term expires on Wednesday.

President Trump has granted pardons to 26 people including Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and many other allies.
President Trump has granted pardons to 26 people including Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and many other allies.

More: Can Trump pardon himself? What's a preemptive pardon? Experts explain the sweeping power

Many of the pardons will go to friends and political supporters of the president.

Wayne, for example, tweeted out a photo of himself with Trump during last year's election in an apparent said said he supported the president's criminal justice policies and economic plans for African-Americans.

— David Jackson

Top Congressional Democrats, Republicans to join Biden for pre-inaugural church service

President-elect Joe Biden invited top congressional leaders to mass before his inauguration, a move designed to kick off his term with a display of bipartisanship.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Calif., plan to accompany Biden to mass tomorrow at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, their offices said.

The invite and bipartisan attendance is aimed at transmitting a message of unity between political parties after the attack at the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob and the intense divisions that have split Washington for years.

More: From the border to the federal bench to raging political divisions: How Donald Trump's tenure has changed America

McConnell and McCarthy have been two of Trump’s top fighters in Congress, leading Republicans through the plethora of controversies and his impeachment last year. McConnell split fairly publicly with Trump after the attack at the Capitol earlier this month and has left open the possibility of convicting Trump in his second impeachment trial. The date of Trump’s second trial, which will happen after he’s left office, has not been scheduled.

— Christal Hayes and Nicholas Wu

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Live updates: Capitol attack 'provoked' by Trump, McConnell says

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