Live updates: Trump did not check on Pence during U.S. Capitol siege and they haven’t spoken since

WASHINGTON – The flag atop the White House was lowered to half-staff on Sunday afternoon, in an apparent effort to honor the slain police officer who died after the president’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

It was not immediately clear why the White House moved to lower the flag on Sunday. On Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi directed the lowering of the flag at the U.S. Capitol.

The New York Times had previously reported that Trump had not given the order to lower the flag and had also not reached out to the family of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick. Vice President Mike Pence called the family to offer his condolences.

— Amanda Macias

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has called on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to take extra security measures for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration following the deadly Capitol attack last week.

“Given the events of last week, this inauguration preparation has to be different than any other inauguration preparation,” Bowser said during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

The mayor asked that the department extend the length of the National Special Security Event status to Jan 11 and extend the perimeter of coverage to include the Capitol. Bowser will also request President Trump to declare a pre-emergency declaration for D.C. to allow for additional federal coordination.

— Emma Newburger

WASHINGTON – The FBI has received 40,000 online tips from the public on the identification of people who took part in the deadly pro-Trump riots at the U.S. Capitol last week.

FBI agents working on the investigation are using facial recognition technology to help with the digital materials that have been submitted.

On Thursday, the FBI requested the public to send “tips and digital media depicting rioting or violence in and around the U.S. Capitol.”

“If you have witnessed unlawful violent actions, we urge you to submit any information, photos, or videos that could be relevant at fbi.gov/USCapitol,” the agency said in a subsequent statement.

—Amanda Macias

President Donald Trump will head to Alamo, Texas on Tuesday, as calls for his removal from office continue to grow. The trip comes in his last full week in office.

A White House spokesman, Judd Deere, said the trip is “to mark the completion of more than 400 miles of border wall — a promise made, promise kept — and his Administration’s efforts to reform our broken immigration system.”

Trump campaigned on building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and has sought to make the tightening of the immigration system a central aspect of his legacy.

But the trip, which may be his first public appearance since a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, is likely to be subsumed by furor in Washington and a possible vote on impeachment in the House of Representatives.

— Tucker Higgins

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has not ordered flags to fly at half-staff on federal buildings to honor the police officer who was killed in the U.S. Capitol riot sparked by the president’s supporters, according to The New York Times.

Trump has not reached out to the family of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, according to the report. Vice President Mike Pence called the family to offer his condolences.

On Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi directed the lowering of the flag at the U.S. Capitol.

— Amanda Macias

Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the attending Capitol physician, sent a memo to Congress members and staff Sunday, warning them of a possible Covid-19 exposure following the Capitol Hill riot.

“On Wednesday January 6, many members of the House community were in protective isolation in room located in a large committee hearing space. The time in this room was several hours for some and briefer for others. During this time, individuals may have been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection,” the letter said.

Several members of Congress were not wearing a mask as seen in this Punchbowl News video while in the room.

Dr. Monahan is recommending that all individuals who were inside the isolation room get a Covid test next week as a precaution. Additionally, he encourages them to do a daily symptom inventory check, wear masks and to social distance.

— Jade Scipioni

GOP Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri said that impeachment and removal is “clearly not going to happen” while Trump is in office during an interview on CBS News’s “Face The Nation” on Sunday.

“Is there any likelihood that he could possibly be removed between now and Jan. 20? And if there is no additional ensuing event, my belief is there is no possibility of that,” Blunt, a member of the Republican Senate leadership, said.

Democrats intend to introduce an article of impeachment into the House of Representatives as early as this week, citing Trump’s instigation of the riot that consumed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., has raised the possibility of not sending impeachment to the Senate until after President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

Such a maneuver, which has never been done in the presidential context and remains untested in court, would theoretically prevent Trump from running for office in the future.

Blunted added that he viewed the president’s actions as “clearly reckless.”

“The country is the right way to hold president’s accountable. The president touched the hot stove on Wednesday and is unlikely to touch it again,” he said.

— Tucker Higgins

WASHINGTON –House Majority Whip James Clyburn on Sunday said the vote on whether or not to impeach President Donald Trump a second time could happen as early as this week.

Clyburn said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that House Democrats may fast-track an impeachment vote but could hold off until later to send the articles of impeachment over to the Senate.

“Let’s give President-elect Biden the 100 days he needs to get his agenda off and running, and maybe we’ll send the articles sometime after that,” the South Carolina Democrat said, citing concerns that Trump’s impeachment would distract lawmakers as well as hamper the incoming Biden administration.

Clyburn also said that the stunning phone call between Trump and Georgia’s Republican secretary of state should also be included in the articles of impeachment. Earlier this month, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger resisted pressure from the president to change Georgia’s election results.

“That is impeachable and I think it should be brought into the discussion,” Clyburn said. “We in the House of Representatives have a responsibility to maintain the integrity of a federal election,” he said, adding that “we must voice disapproval over what the president did.”

—Amanda Macias

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said that if he were in Congress he would vote to impeach President Donald Trump and that “there’s not a whole lot of question here.”

“That’s exactly what I would do,” Christie said on ABC’s “This Week,” when asked if he would vote to impeach.

“I think if inciting to insurrection isn’t [grounds for impeachment] then I don’t really know what is,” Christie said.

The Republican former official was removed as the head of Trump’s transition team shortly after the president’s 2016 victory.

The comments appear to be something of a reversal for Christie.

As recently as Friday, Christie told The New Yorker that he didn’t think an impeachment was “practical” and suggested that Congress had already rebuked the president enough.

“I think that message has been sent. And I think the reaction you saw from the president in the speech he gave last night shows that message has been sent,” he told the magazine.

The same day, he told Bloomberg that Trump should face “consequences” but did not elaborate.

— Tucker Higgins

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is calling last week’s deadly mob attack on the U.S. Congress “the day of broken glass,” comparing it to the 1938 “Night of Broken Glass” carried out by Nazi mobs in Germany against Jewish stores and institutions.

“I grew up in Austria, I’m very aware of Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass. It was a night of rampage against the Jews carried out in 1938 by the Nazi equivalent of the Proud Boys,” Schwarzenegger said in a video posted to his Twitter feed.

“Wednesday was the Day of Broken Glass right here in the United States,” he continued. “The broken glass was in the windows of the United States’ Capitol.”

“They did not just break down the doors of the building that Housed American democracy. They trampled the very principles on which our country was founded,” Schwarzenegger said, who recounted traumatic childhood experiences growing up in Austria after the Second World War.

—Spencer Kimball

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on Sunday said President Donald Trump should be impeached, but cast doubt on the practicality of the process with so little time left until Trump’s term expires, and suggested the president could face legal consequences when he leaves office.

Manchin, the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, said during an interview on CNN that there’s “no doubt” the president should be impeached following Wednesday’s violent attack on the Capitol.

“You got a political path and you have a judicial path. I think the judicial path could give us the best results,” Manchin said.

But the lawmaker has expressed skepticism over whether there would be enough time for an impeachment trial in the Senate, and urged Congress on Sunday to focus on the incoming Biden administration and vaccine distribution rather than take the “political route” of impeachment.

— Emma Newburger

The U.S. Capitol Police has partnered with the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority to increase security for Congress members at airports after some lawmakers have been harassed traveling to and from Washington D.C.

A “House Alert” was to sent to Congress members on Saturday issuing the travel security notification.

Officials warned that members and staff should “remain vigilant of their surrounding and immediately report anything unusual or suspicious.” Lawmakers are also encouraged to submit their flight itineraries to House Security officials to “ensure an increased security posture.”

“Agents from the U.S. Capitol Police will also be stationed at BWI, IAD and DCA airports through the Inauguration to assist in security coordination,” the memo said.

—Jade Scipioni

GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said on Sunday that he believes President Donald Trump should resign immediately, but stopped short of calling for him to be impeached so close to the end of his term.

“I think at this point, with just a few days left, it’s the best path forward, the best way to get this person in the rear view mirror for us,” Toomey said of Trump resigning during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union. “That could happen immediately. I’m not optimistic it will, but I do believe that would be the best way forward.”

Toomey is the second GOP senator to publicly call for Trump’s resignation since a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Wednesday. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski called on Trump to resign on Friday. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska has said he is open to considering impeachment articles if they are presented to the Senate.

The Pennsylvania senator, who announced in October he would not run for reelection when his term ends in 2022, also said that Trump had committed impeachable offenses. But as a practical matter, he said, “there may not be a viable impeachment route at this point,” with President-elect Joe Biden due to assume office in just over a week.

Democrats have pushed for Trump to resign and for Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to initiate removal proceedings under the 25th Amendment. With those outcomes unlikely, Democrats are readying to introduce an impeachment article in the House of Representatives as early as Monday.

— Tucker Higgins

Vice President Mike Pence is not currently inclined to invoke the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to begin the process of removing President Donald Trump from office, multiple sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

Sources close to Pence told NBC News that the step is viewed as “impractical.” The 25th Amendment would require majority support from Trump’s Cabinet. Trump is allowed to contest the move, which would send the issue to Congress where a two-thirds vote would then be required to remove him.

CNN reported late Saturday that Pence had not ruled out invoking the 25th Amendment. However, a source told NBC News that the preferred approach is to let “the clock run out.”

CNBC reported last week that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held informal discussions within their agencies about the 25th Amendment. However, they concluded that the process would take more than a week, which would dilute its impact given the reality that President-elect Joe Biden will assume office on Jan. 20.

Mnuchin has cut short his overseas trip to return to the U.S. to facilitate the transition to the Biden administration, a source told CNBC Saturday. Mnuchin’s decision to return early has nothing to do with the 25th Amendment, the source said.

— Spencer Kimball

President Donald Trump has not called Vice President Mike Pence since the deadly U.S. Capitol riots last week, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.

As the pro-Trump mob was attacking Congress last Wednesday, Pence had to be evacuated to a secure location in the Capitol. During the attack, Trump did not check on Pence’s safety, two sources familiar with matter told NBC News.

Some Pro-Trump rioters were calling for Pence to be hanged. Trump still has not condemned the threats of violence against Pence, but the White House has issued a statement on Saturday.

“We strongly condemn all calls to violence, including those against any member of this administration,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said.

In the buildup to the attack on the Capitol, Trump was pressuring Pence to reject the Electoral College votes from swing states that delivered President-elect Joe Biden his victory. Pence does not have the constitutional authority to reject electoral votes, and he refused to do so.

The mob stopped Congress from counting the Electoral College votes for several hours Wednesday. The joint session of Congress, in which Pence presided, confirmed Biden’s victory later Thursday when it reconvened.