State Dept. condemns arrests, repression in Russia
It called for the release of protesters and opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
This is the fifth day of the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Top headlines:
Bipartisan congressional leaders accept Biden's church invitation for Inauguration Day
Biden, the second Catholic to be elected president, has invited the bipartisan congressional leadership to church with him on Wednesday morning ahead of his inauguration, and all parties have accepted, sources tells ABC News.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy have separately accepted the invite and plan to attend -- a move that is sure to project unity ahead of the official transfer of power.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are also expected to attend.
Punchbowl News first reported the invite.
President Trump is skipping Biden's inauguration and traditional handover of power at the White House to hold his own sendoff at Joint Base Andrews while he still bears the title of president ahead of noon on Wednesday -- making him the first president to skip his successor's swearing since an impeached Andrew Johnson in 1869 snubbed Ulysses Grant.
-ABC News' Trish Turner and Benjamin Siegel
Biden HHS nominee poised to become the first openly transgender federal official if confirmed
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have chosen to nominate Dr. Rachel Levine as assistant Secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, the transition announced Tuesday.
Levine currently serves as secretary of health for Pennsylvania. She would be the first openly transgender federal official confirmed by the Senate, if approved.
"Dr. Rachel Levine will bring the steady leadership and essential expertise we need to get people through this pandemic — no matter their zip code, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability — and meet the public health needs of our country in this critical moment and beyond. She is a historic and deeply qualified choice to help lead our administration's health efforts," Biden said of Levine in a statement.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle
Overview: Biden heads to Washington as impeachment looms over final full day of Trump's presidency
Biden is waking up in Wilmington, Delaware, before heading to Washington for his inauguration as the 46th president of the United States.
The president-elect and soon-to-be first lady Jill Biden plan to “attend a send-off event in Wilmington,” in the afternoon, where Biden will deliver remarks. Then, in the early evening in Washington, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris plan to speak at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to honor COVID-19 victims -- on the same day the country may hit [400,000 deaths]( from the pandemic -- while facing a National Mall filled with 200,000 American flags. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders will hold a simultaneous candlelight ceremony on the Capitol East Front.
On President Trump's final full day in office, he's expected to end his term bunkered behind the White House, as he has for the last week, focused on who will benefit from his pardon powers. He is expected to issue pardons and commutations, potentially more than 100 before he departs Wednesday, but sources tell ABC News that a self-pardon and pardons for family are unlikely.
Trump is also expected to release a taped video message to the public at some point Tuesday, after first lady Melania Trump on Monday afternoon tweeted a nearly 7-minute long farewell video looking back on her time in the White House.
With just hours to go until his departure, and potentially the start of his impeachment trial pending Pelosi sending the article of impeachment to the Senate, Trump is still set to skip his successor's swearing-in -- the first president to do so since Andrew Johnson in 1869 -- and hold a large sendoff of his own hours before Biden takes the oath of office at noon on Wednesday.
Sources say Trump plans chopper via Marine One to Joint Base Andrews where he is expected to give brief remarks to supporters and departing members of his administration. Sources add that Trump has requested the event to have a "military-like feel" and will have a military band, red carpet and an honor guard. The president will then fly down to Mar-a-Lago in Florida aboard Air Force One with a small number of staffers who will be part of his post-presidency operation, according to the sources.
One of Trump's final actions as president taken Monday night was to lift travel restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, but in a sign of what's to come, the incoming Biden administration said the lift will be reversed before it even takes effect.
Tuesday will also see five of Biden's Cabinet nominees before Senate committees handling their confirmation hearings including Avril Haines to serve as director of national intelligence, Janet Yellen to serve as treasury secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas to serve as the homeland security secretary, Tony Blinken to serve as secretary of state, and Lloyd Austin to serve as secretary of defense. The committee schedule is ramping up at the same time Trump's impeachment trial is expected to start -- a challenge for the Senate, which is also reeling from the attack on the U.S. Capitol less than two weeks ago.
-ABC News' Ben Gittleson
Biden, Harris to honor lives lost to COVID
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will mark the lives lost to COVID-19 in a special event in Washington the night before the inauguration, according to their transition team.
The two will speak at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Tuesday evening, according to a schedule.
As of Monday evening, 398,879 Americans have died from the coronavirus, according to data from John Hopkins' Coronavirus Resource Center.