Good morning, NBC News readers.
President Donald Trump is poised to become the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice as more senior House Republicans join the push to remove him.
Here is what's happening this Wednesday morning.
Pence rebuff sets stage for impeachment vote
In a largely symbolic gesture, the House approved a non-binding resolution late Tuesday night calling on Vice President Mike Pence to use the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office before his term ends on Jan. 20.
The House passed the vote along party lines despite the fact that Pence had said earlier Tuesday evening that he would not heed the calls because he did not think it was "in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution."
The vice president's rebuff sets the stage for the House to reconvene Wednesday to vote on a single article of impeachment charging Trump with "incitement of insurrection" for urging his supporters to march on the Capitol last week.
A growing number of Republicans announced Tuesday night that they would join Democrats in voting in favor of impeaching Trump.
Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third-ranking House Republican, announced that she will vote to impeach the president, writing in a statement that there "has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States."
The House is expected to vote around 3 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Follow our live blog for all the latest developments throughout the day and watch live coverage on NBC News and MSNBC.
'This isn’t the final chapter': Analyst warns, again, about rise of right-wing extremists
In April 2009, a senior Homeland Security intelligence analyst wrote an internal report warning that right-wing extremism was on the rise in the United States and that it could lead to violence.
The report leaked, and the backlash was swift. Republican lawmakers were furious. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano apologized for parts of it, and the unit ultimately was dissolved.
Nearly 11 years later, a mob of right-wing extremists, spurred by President Trump, stormed the U.S. Capitol in a deadly riot that highlighted the magnitude of the threat.
"This Capitol insurrection that we just had last week — some people were like OK, this is the climax of the story. No, it's not. This is ushering in a new phase of violence and hostility," the report's author Daryl Johnson said in an interview with NBC News' Sahil Kapur. "This isn't the final chapter of a movement that's dying out."
Here are some of our other stories on the aftermath of last week's riot:
- Capitol Police were left in the dark about violent extremist threats because the FBI held back information over free speech concerns.
- "People are going to be shocked": Officials cited the "mind-blowing" number of crimes committed during riot, but said little about the intelligence failures.
- Law enforcement and the military are probing their own ranks as it appears some participated in the Capitol riot.
- Some Republican lawmakers were rankled by new security measures, including metal detectors, inside the Capitol.
- "Too little, too late": Extremism experts criticize payment companies who have provided services to hate groups for years.
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Plus
- Biden is expected to announce Wednesday that he will nominate former U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power to head the U.S. Agency for International Development.
- In effort to speed up the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, officials recommend states give it to anyone 65 and up.
- Arrested, tear-gassed but still singing: Popstar-turned-politician Bobi Wine takes on Uganda's "strongman."
THINK about it
Capitol rioters like the "QAnon Shaman" looked ridiculous. That was by design, Elena Sheppard writes in an opinion piece.
Live BETTER
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Shopping
Peloton may be the most popular stationary bike, but it's far from the only option when it comes to at-home cycling.
Snow = panda playtime
One fun thing
During times like these, you've gotta dream big. And winning the Mega Millions or Powerball would be a game changer for just about anyone aside from the world's richest man, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.
The current jackpots are among the highest in the national lottery's history. Combined they total over $1 billion.
NBC News’ Kerry Sanders asks NBC News national political correspondent Steve Kornacki to crunch the numbers on the odds of winning both prizes.
Not surprisingly, they are long... But you never know!
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Thanks, Petra
