Nancy Pelosi

A representative-elect from Louisiana died of Covid-19 on Dec. 29, the first member of the U.S. Congress to succumb to the disease.

Republican Luke Letlow, 41, had been elected to Louisiana's 5th district and was due to be sworn in on Sunday.

Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards announced the news on Twitter with a "heavy heart."

The House voted overwhelmingly on Dec. 28 to increase COVID-19 relief checks to $2,000, meeting President Donald Trump's demand for bigger payments and sending the bill to the GOP-controlled Senate, where the outcome is highly uncertain.

President-elect Joe Biden on Dec. 8 made his case for retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to be secretary of defense, urging Congress to waive a legal prohibition against a recently serving military officer running the Pentagon.

Donald Trump appears to be doing everything he can to fan the flames of anger with his threats of "shooting" and "vicious dogs." It is basically the same attitude he took to the coronavirus crisis, going as far as saying that having the highest number of infections in the world was a "badge of honor."

A government watchdog fired suddenly by Donald Trump was investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said a Democratic lawmaker who accused the president of committing a potentially illegal act of retribution.

The State Department confirmed the late on May 15 dismissal of Inspector General Steve Linick without giving a reason for his departure.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned on April 7, according to two officials, just hours after he had publicly apologized for a profanity-laced upbraiding of the officer he fired as captain of the coronavirus-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Exacting swift punishment against those who crossed him, an emboldened President Donald Trump ousted two government officials who had delivered damaging testimony against him during his impeachment hearings. The president took retribution just two days after his acquittal by the Senate.

Donald Trump's rejection of Nancy Pelosi's outstretched hand, followed by the speaker of the House of Representatives' ceremonial tearing up of a copy of his State of the Union speech, did not simply stress the end of any semblance of civility in American politics, nor was it just further proof of the rift between Republicans and Democrats.

A bitter feud between U.S. President Donald Trump and top Democrat Nancy Pelosi boiled over at his State of the Union speech on Feb. 4, with Trump denying her a handshake and Pelosi ripping apart a copy of his remarks behind his back.

U.S. President Donald Trump's articles of impeachment will likely be transmitted "soon" to the Senate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Jan. 9.

The top House Democrat did not offer a more concrete timeline but said only that she would do so "when I'm ready."

"And that will probably be soon," she told reporters at the Capitol.
"I'm not withholding them indefinitely."