Monday, Jan. 4

· The Bureau of Land Management released a plan for the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, a once-protected 23 million-acre swath of land, to be opened up for oil development, one in a number of pro-drilling actions that President Donald Trump’s administration is taking in its final days.

· The Food and Drug Administration alerted health care providers and patients that the rapid COVID-19 tests from the Curative, Inc., company, used to screen House and Senate members and staff, are prone to false results, primarily false negatives.

Tuesday, Jan. 5

· Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili announced that Iran requested that international police organization Interpol arrest Trump and 47 other American officials identified as playing a role in the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani early last year. The assassination was already deemed against international law by the United Nations.

· The United States government collected $7 million in Iranian assets, claiming it is for victims of state-sponsored “terrorism” according to the Justice Department, in the U.S. share of a civil forfeiture investigation that targeted attempts to violate sanctions on Iran.

· The Trump administration finalized changes to weaken the government’s enforcement of a century-old law, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which protects most wild bird species in the country. Federal wildlife officials acknowledged that this relaxing of protections could result in the mass death of these birds.

· U.S. intelligence agencies confirmed that Russia likely perpetrated the recent enormous hack of government and corporate databases.

· The Trump administration announced its intention to award a $3.7 billion grant to help Puerto Rico rebuild pumping stations, reservoirs, water and wastewater treatment plants damaged by Hurricane Maria over three years ago.

Wednesday, Jan. 6

· President-elect Joe Biden selected Merrick Garland as his attorney general. Garland is a federal appeals court judge popularly known for being snubbed as President Barack Obama’s pick for Supreme Court Justice to replace Antonin Scalia in 2016.

· Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock narrowly won the Georgia runoff election for senator against conservative Kelly Loeffler, a Trump loyalist who was appointed to the seat by the president, making Warnock the first Black senator from any former Confederate state.

· Jon Ossof won his Georgia senate race against Republican David Perdue, effectively flipping the Senate blue and giving Democrats full control of Congress.

· Thousands of pro-Trump rightwing extremists led a failed coup on Capitol Hill, storming the Capitol building as Congress was about to certify Biden’s Electoral College victory. At least five people died in the chaos, including a police officer and many insurrections, including one who was shot by Capitol police and another who was trampled to death while carrying a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag. Police said 52 people were arrested that night and more identified and caught in ensuing days. Such action against the certification were planned by rightwing activists and encouraged by Trump. Even some conservative Republicans referred to the rioters as domestic terrorists.

Thursday, Jan. 7

· In response to Wednesday’s events and contrary to previous supportive comments, Trump gave a conciliatory speech acknowledging Biden’s win, promising a smooth transfer of power and calling for “healing and reconciliation.”

· Three top security officials in Congress were sacked or asked to resign due to Wednesday’s fatal and dangerous security breach on Capitol Hill: Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger and House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving.

· Facebook and Twitter froze Trump’s accounts for comments viewed as praising the attempted coup and inciting violence.

· Congress officially certify Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president after having returned to their joint session the evening before after the Capitol was invaded by mob violence earlier Wednesday.

· Legislators pledged to investigate how the Capitol Police handled the breach of the Capitol building and to question whether or not law enforcement allowed the mob to infiltrate the building.

· A number of Trump administration officials began to resign in the wake of Wednesday’s events including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger and First Lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff Stephanie Grisham. “They are running away from their responsibility,” House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said. “If they feel that strongly, they would stay … so they can cast two of the votes that are necessary to invoke the 25th Amendment.”

· Biden commented on Wednesday’s events, directly blaming the president for the violence and criticizing what he viewed as a double standard between how police handled the insurrectionists versus Black Lives Matter protestors in recent years. Biden said, “What we witnessed yesterday was not dissent, it was not disorder, it was not protest. It was chaos. They weren’t protestors. Don’t dare call them protestors. They were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists.”

· The U.S. announced it plans to indefinitely hold off imposing tariffs that it has threatened on French cosmetics, handbags and other imports in retaliation for an international digital services tax, which an investigation found unfairly singled out U.S. companies.

· Biden announced Gina Raimondo, governor of Rhode Island, as his choice for commerce secretary; Marty Walsh, mayor of Boston, for labor secretary; and California small business advocate Isabel Guzman to lead the Small Business Administration.

· The Trump administration asked all political appointees to submit resignation letters by Inauguration Day, a process that usually begins much earlier to ease the transition between an old administration and the new.

Friday, Jan. 8

· The U.S. reported over 4,000 daily coronavirus deaths for the first time. Over 365,000 deaths had been recorded in the country so far.

· Twitter, Trump’s preferred social media platform, shifted from a temporary freeze to a permanent ban of Trump’s account due to risk of “further incitement of violence.”

· House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned in a letter to members of the House that Trump could be impeached a second time for his encouragement of the crowds who stormed the Capitol Wednesday. “If the president does not leave office imminently and willingly, the Congress will proceed with our action,” Pelosi said.

Saturday, Jan. 9

· Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the U.S. will end its decades-old restrictions on official contacts with Taiwan, a move that is almost certain to make the Chinese government, which claims sovereignty over the small country, irate. “This action will benefit both of our great democracies,” Pompeo said.

Sunday, Jan. 10

· The House moved to attempt to force Trump from office by escalating pressure on Pence to evoke the 25th Amendment and committing to quickly begin impeachment proceedings.

· The FBI arrested two men photographed breaking into the Senate chamber in military-style clothes holding zip ties, which suggested to some they intended to take hostages.