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ABC News

Trump announces new impeachment legal team

PHOTO: President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Fla., Jan. 20, 2021.
6:41
Carlos Barria/Reuters
Donald trump loses defense team before impeachment trial
By Libby Cathey, Jack Arnholz, Lauren King, Michelle Stoddart, Catherine Thorbecke, Tia Humphries
Last Updated: February 1, 2021, 2:30 AM

This is Day 12 of the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Top headlines:

  • Trump parts ways with top impeachment lawyer
  • Another quiet Saturday at the White House
  • South Carolina GOP votes to censure Rep. Tom Rice
  • Biden's executive actions reverse most 'egregious' Trump policies: Kate Bedingfield
  • Dems prepare to move ahead with 'reconciliation'
Here is how events are unfolding. All times Eastern.

Feb 01, 2021 2:30 AM

Biden withdraws Trump freeze to some government program funding

President Joe Biden is again undoing actions undertaken by the Trump administration. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Sunday, Biden announced he was withdrawing 73 proposed rescissions previously sent to Congress by former President Donald Trump on Jan. 14. 

The action would unfreeze $27.4 billion in cuts to previously approved funding for government programming.

"The withdrawals are for the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, the Interior, Justice, Labor, State, and the Treasury, as well as the African Development Foundation, the Commission of Fine Arts, the Corporation for National and Community Service, the District of Columbia, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Inter-American Foundation, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, the National Gallery of Art, the Peace Corps, the Presidio Trust, the United States Agency for International Development, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Legislative Branch," according to a statement from the Biden administration.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle


Jan 31, 2021 11:44 PM

Trump announces new impeachment legal team

A day after all five of former President Donald Trump's impeachment legal team quit, a new team has been selected.

Trial lawyers David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor, Jr. will lead his impeachment defense team, according to a statement from Trump Sunday.

“It is an honor to represent the 45th President, Donald J. Trump, and the United States Constitution,” Schoen said in a statement.

“I consider it a privilege to represent the 45th President. The strength of our Constitution is about to be tested like never before in our history. It is strong and resilient," Castor added. "A document written for the ages, and it will triumph over partisanship yet again, and always.”

Trump's former team, which was led by South Carolina lawyer Butch Bowers, resigned in part because of disagreements over how to mount Trump’s defense, sources told ABC News. The lawyers had planned to argue the constitutionality of holding a trial given Trump is now a former president.

The Senate trial is scheduled to begin on the week of Feb. 8.


Jan 31, 2021 9:37 PM

'We may end up seeing a president eating his words' on bipartisan COVID-19 bill: Vega

Unity was the focus of Biden's campaign, but absent gaining even one Republican vote for his coronavirus relief package, what does that mean going forward, ABC's "This Week" Co-anchor Martha Raddatz asked Senior White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega.

"It's something we've heard almost every day since he's been in office for the last few days. He said that there would be this epiphany by Republicans if Donald Trump left. He also, on a conference call, told supporters at one point that he would -- could end up eating his words but that he believed Republicans essentially would come around," Vega said Sunday. "Martha, we may end up seeing the president eating his words on this."

VIDEO: 'We may end up seeing a president eating his words' on bipartisan COVID-19 bill: Vega
16:09
The Powerhouse Roundtable breaks down the latest news on "This Week."

"The Biden team is at a crossroads right now. They've got to decide whether it is bipartisanship and unity that prevails or whether they're going to potentially go at it alone and just forego this effort of unity," Vega continued. "It is looking more and more like they're going to end up going at it alone."



Jan 31, 2021 5:24 PM

Do Democrats have a shot at flipping retiring Ohio Sen. Rob Portman's seat?

Ohio's Sen. Rob Portman's decision to retire opened a major new battleground in the fight for Senate control in 2022. But after former President Donald Trump easily carried the buckeye state last November, do Democrats have a shot at flipping the seat?

FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver gave ABC's "This Week" an early forecast.

"Democrats have a chance, it's just not a very good chance … it probably depends on the GOP having a really weak candidate or Democrats, a very strong one," he said Sunday.

VIDEO: Dems don't have 'a very good chance' to win Ohio Senate race: Nate Silver
2:13
538's Nate Silver on if he buys that Democrats have a chance to win the open 2022 Ohio Senate race.

Jan 26, 2021 1:40 AM

Biden, Merkel agree to revitalize alliance between countries

Biden continued with his calls to world leaders Monday, this time speaking with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and agreeing to revitalize the two countries alliance.

They agreed that cooperation was important to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. They also said the U.S. and Germany would work together on foreign policy issues regarding Afghanistan, Iran, China, Russia, Ukraine and the Western Balkans.

Biden started making calls to foreign leaders on Friday, first reaching out to the leaders of Canada, Mexico and the U.K. on Friday and the French president on Sunday. COVID-19 was also a main point of conversation on those calls.

-ABC News' Justin Gomez


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