UK's Truss sacrifices finance minister, scraps tax plan in fight to survive

FILE PHOTO: British Prime Minister Liz Truss and Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng visit Berkeley Modular, in Northfleet, Kent, Britain, September 23, 2022. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/Pool

British Prime Minister Liz Truss fired her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday and scrapped parts of their economic package in a desperate bid to stay in power and survive the market and political turmoil gripping the country.

Kwarteng said he had resigned at Truss’s request after being forced to rush back to London overnight from IMF meetings in Washington.

Truss, in power for only 37 days, then told a news conference she would now allow a key business levy to rise from next year, raising 18 billion pounds, as she accepted she had gone “further and faster” than markets had been expecting.

“We need to act now to reassure the markets of our fiscal discipline,” she said.

Truss appointed Jeremy Hunt, a former foreign and health secretary, to replace Kwarteng.

“You have asked me to stand aside as your Chancellor. I have accepted,” Kwarteng said in his resignation letter to Truss, which he published on Twitter.

She said in response: “As a long standing friend and colleague. I am deeply sorry to lose you from the government.

British Prime Minister Liz Truss attends a news conference in London, Britain, October 14, 2022. Daniel Leal/Pool via REUTERS

“We share the same vision.”

The pound slid against the dollar after she spoke, trading 1.2% lower on the day at $1.1198 and two-year British government bonds, or gilts turned negative.

The plan for unfunded tax cuts crushed UK assets and drew international censure, but the pound and gilts have started to recover since the government started looking for ways to balance the books.

Kwarteng is the country’s shortest serving chancellor since 1970, and his successor will be the fourth finance minister in as many months in Britain, where millions are facing a cost of living crisis. The finance minister with the shortest tenure died.

Truss’s own position is in jeopardy.

She won the Conservative Party leadership last month by promising vast tax cuts and deregulation to try to shock the economy out of years of stagnant growth, and the fiscal policy Kwarteng announced on Sept. 23 aimed to deliver that vision.

But the response from markets was so ferocious that the Bank of England had to intervene to prevent pension funds from being caught up in the chaos, as borrowing and mortgage costs surged.

The duo had been under mounting pressure to reverse course after polls showed support for the Conservative Party had collapsed, prompting many colleagues to look for ways to force them out of office.

“The party loves the idea of principles and conviction politicians, but staying in power is everything,” one party insider told Reuters. “Ruthless can also be popular.”

MARKET ROUT

Having triggered a market rout, Truss now runs the risk of bringing the government down if she cannot find a package of public spending cuts and tax rises that can appease investors and get through any parliamentary vote in the House of Commons.

Her search for savings will be made harder by the fact the government has been cutting departmental budgets for years.

At the same time Conservative Party discipline has all but broken down, fractured by infighting as it struggled first to agree a way to leave the European Union and then how to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and grow the economy.

“If you can’t get your budget through parliament you can’t govern,” Chris Bryant, a senior lawmaker from the opposition Labour Party, said on Twitter. “This isn’t about u-turns, it’s about proper governance.”

Underlining how far Britain’s reputation for sound economic management and institutional stability had fallen, a source within the Group of Seven leading nations said G7 finance ministers at a meeting this week focused on the problems in Britain, and not the usual subject of Italy.

In Washington, Kwarteng was told by the head of the International Monetary Fund of the importance of “policy coherence”. His flight back to London was carried live by television news channels. He was fired minutes after arriving back in Downing Street.

In Westminster, Truss has been trying to find agreement with her cabinet ministers on a way to preserve her push for growth with measures acceptable to her lawmakers that would also reassure financial markets.

Rupert Harrison, a portfolio manager at Blackrock and once an adviser to former British finance minister George Osborne, said markets have now almost fully priced in a U-turn.

“(That) means if the U-turn doesn’t come markets will react badly,” he said on Twitter.

FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL

A Conservative Party lawmaker, who asked not to be named, said Truss’s economic policy had caused so much damage that investors may demand even deeper cuts rebuild confidence.

“Everything’s possible at the moment,” said the lawmaker, who had backed another ex-chancellor, Rishi Sunak, in the leadership race. “The markets have lost trust in the Conservative Party - and who can blame them?”

According to a source close to the prime minister, Truss is in “listening mode” and consulting lawmakers to gauge which parts of the programme they would support in parliament.

Credit Suisse economist Sonali Punhani said the government needed to find around 60 billion pounds through tax cut U-turns and further spending cuts.

According to a source close to the prime minister, Truss is in “listening mode” and consulting lawmakers to gauge which parts of the programme they would support in parliament.

Credit Suisse economist Sonali Punhani said the government needed to find around 60 billion pounds through tax cut U-turns and further spending cuts.

“It would be challenging to deliver the scale of these cuts, but for them to be credible, these need to be delivered sooner rather than in the latter part of the forecast,” Punhani said.

The latest bout of political drama to grip Britain comes as the Bank of England also prepares to end its intervention in the gilt market. Truss is the fourth prime minister in six turbulent years of British politics.

Putin: Germans Paying the Price for Berlin Prioritizing NATO Relations

©Sputnik / Ilya Pitalev / Go to the mediabank

Germany, as well as other European countries, are experiencing a severe energy crisis after they slapped sanctions against Moscow, driving fuel prices up to record-high levels.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that German authorities made a major mistake by prioritizing NATO relations instead of German citizens' wellbeing on Friday.

"In this case, apparently, some obligations in the alliance were put at the forefront... Was it right or not? I think that this is a mistake, and now German business, economy, and citizens are paying for this mistake, because there are negative economic consequences for the Eurozone in general and for Germany in particular," Putin said on Friday at a press conference following his visit to Kazakhstan.

According to him, it seems that few people take German interests into account - otherwise "Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 would not have been blown up". Although they were not (delivering gas before the explosions), there was an element of reliability - that as a last resort they could be turned on; but now there is no such option," he added.

In the past few months, Germany has seen a surge in energy prices since the EU adopted several rounds of sanctions against Moscow, citing the start of the special military operation in Ukraine.

The situation became even more daring in September after the Nord Stream pipeline was targeted by explosions, resulting in a massive leakage of gas under the Baltic Sea.

Russia has been investigating the pipeline incidents as acts of international terrorism, while European Union officials also admitted that the pipeline was sabotaged. However, Germany, Sweden and Denmark, who are investigating the blasts, demonstrated no intentions to include Russia in the probe.

Special Military Operation

Putin addressed the special military operation in Ukraine, saying that Russia had no intention of destroying Ukraine and that the Russian military has no need for another series of strikes against Ukrainian military infrastructure.

“There is no need for massive strikes now, there are other tasks, because, as far as I know, out of 29 (infrastructure) objects, seven were not hit as planned by the Ministry of Defense. But these objects are being finished off gradually, there is no need for massive strikes, at least for now, and later - we'll see," he explained.

He also commented on the partial draft mobilization, stressing that it would be finalized in two weeks. The president said that the mobilization was needed to secure the line of contact with Ukraine, which is over 1,000 kilometers.

"Now... 222,000 people have been mobilized out of 300,000. I think that within about two weeks all mobilization activities will be completed," Putin stated.

A serviceman of Russian private military company Wagner Group shoots from a 122 mm D30 howitzer at the Ukrainian positions, as Russia's military operation in Ukraine continues, in the suburbs of Bakhmut, Donetsk People's Republic
©Sputnik / Viktor Antonyuk / Go to the mediabank

He also warned against calls to dispatch NATO forces in Ukraine, stressing that if the alliance's troops directly clash with Russian forces it could lead to a global catastrophe. He stated that people speculating about this should be cautious enough not to engage in fully-fledged confrontation with Russia.

Russia targeted Ukrainian infrastructure following a terror attack on the Crimean bridge last week, which damaged the construction and killed several people.

Possible Negotiations

Commenting on the prospects of talks between Moscow and Washington ahead of the G20 summit, the Russian president noted that Joe Biden should be asked about it, adding that at the moment there is no platform for such dialogue.

Putin also added he has not decided yet if he will travel to the G20 summit in Indonesia.

He also noted that Russia is always ready for talks with Ukraine, but that Kiev has already made a decision to make talks impossible.

"We have always said that we are open (for negotiations). We even reached certain agreements in Istanbul. in fact, these accords were almost initialed. However, as soon as the (Russian) troops withdrew from Kiev, Ukraine's desire to negotiate immediately disappeared, that's all," Putin said.

North Korea Fires Some 170 Artillery Shells Toward Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea

©Photo : KCNA

North Korea fired about 170 artillery shells toward the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea on Friday, the Kyodo news agency reported, citing the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.

According to the report, North Korea fired 130 artillery shells toward the Yellow Sea and 40 more shells toward the Sea of Japan at dawn on Friday. The shells fell outside South Korea's exclusive economic zone.

The North Korean shelling violated the 2018 Comprehensive Military Agreement, which established a maritime buffer zone between Seoul and Pyongyang to reduce military tensions, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said.

"We're looking into everything one by one. But it's correct that it's a violation of the Sept. 19 accord," Yoon said, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.

The president added that Seoul was building "a readiness posture against North Korea's provocations."

Earlier in the day, North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan. The missile traveled about 650 kilometers (404 miles) at a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers before falling outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, some 370 kilometers from the country's coast, Kyodo reported, citing Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada. Hamada said that the missile flew on an irregular trajectory.

North Korea has carried out eight test launches since September 25 and over 25 since the beginning of the year. North Korea has emphasized that its test launches are being carried out in response to the refusal of the US and South Korea to stop joint military drills, which Pyongyang believes threaten regional stability.

Korea Utara menembakkan rudal, menerbangkan pesawat tempur di dekat perbatasan saat Korea Selatan menjatuhkan sanksi

New tensions are flaring between the Koreas, with the North flying warplanes near their shared border and launching the latest in a series of missiles and the South holding a live-fire artillery drill.

North Korean aircraft approached the no-fly zone straddling the border between 10:30 p.m. Thursday and 12:20 a.m. Friday, according to the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a move that Pyongyang followed up just hours later with its 27th missile launch of the year.

At one point the North's aircraft were just 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from the northern limit of the Military Demarcation Line that runs down the center of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, the JCS said.

South Korea responded by scrambling fighter jets, including its top-of-the-line F-35s.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency said the actions were in response to 10 hours of South Korean live-fire artillery exercises near the border.

The South Korean military confirmed to CNN that an artillery exercise had taken place 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border but said it did not violate an agreement with the North regulating such exercises. Seoul claims instead that Pyongyang violated the agreement earlier Friday by firing 170 rounds of artillery into the sea off its west coast.

"Artillery firing in the maritime buffer zones is a clear violation of the September 19 military agreement, and the launch of short-range ballistic missiles is also a violation of UN Security Council resolutions," the JCS said.

"We sternly warn against North Korea's repeated provocations and strongly urge (North Korea) to stop them immediately." The flurry of military activity on both sides of the border came just hours after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned his nuclear forces are fully prepared for "actual war."

"Our nuclear combat forces ... proved again their full preparedness for actual war to bring the enemies under their control," Kim said in comments reported by KCNA.

Kim's fiery statement -- his first about North Korea's missile program for several months -- came after he reportedly oversaw the test Wednesday of long-range cruise missiles over waters west of the Korean Peninsula, according to KCNA.

On Monday, North Korean state media broke six months of silence over this year's spate of missile tests, claiming they were meant to demonstrate Pyongyang's readiness to fire tactical nuclear warheads at potential targets in South Korea.

The tests showed the country's forces were "fully ready to hit and wipe out the set objects at the intended places in the set time," KCNA said.

South hits North with new sanctions

North Korea has been developing its nuclear missile forces in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, ramping up its activities since the last of three meetings in 2019 between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump failed to yield any agreement.

On Friday, in response to Pyongyang's repeated missile tests, the South imposed its first unilateral sanctions on the North since 2017.

The sanctions target 15 individuals who "contributed to bringing supplies related to the funding of North Korea's weapons of mass destruction and missile development," South Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a news release.

The sanctions also target 16 organizations that took part in North Korea's evasion of the UN sanctions, the ministry said.

The South Korean government expects the sanctions will have "the effect of blocking illegal fund transactions with these North Korean agencies and individuals and remind the domestic and international community of the risks of transacting with them," the ministry said.

South Korea has so far independently sanctioned 109 individuals and 89 agencies.

Penampakan Kereta Cepat Jakarta-Bandung, PT KCIC: Progres Sudah Masuki Tahap Akhir

Rangkaian kereta inspeksi untuk kebutuhan perawatan Kereta Cepat Jakarta-Bandung di Tegal Luar, Kabupaten Bandung, Jawa Barat pada Kamis (13/10/2022). ANTARA/Aji Cakti

Proyek pembangunan Kereta Cepat Jakarta-Bandung sudah memasuki tahap akhir. Menurut PT KCIC, proyek ini sudah mencapai 88 persen.

"Progres kereta cepat Jakarta-Bandung sudah 88 persen, saat ini kita benar-benar mendekati tahap akhir untuk konstruksinya," ujar Presiden Direktur PT KCIC Dwiyana Slamet Riyadi mengutip dari Antara.

Ia menambahkan bahwa konstruksi pada tahap akhir menyangkut masalah subsistem, track, listrik aliran atas, persinyalan, commisioning dengan Kementerian Perhubungan, dan sebagainya.

Hal ini merupakan pekerjaan yang persentasenya kecil namun sudah masuk masa interfacing, jadi membutuhkan koordinasi dengan masing-masing kontraktor karena satu lokasi lahan bisa digunakan oleh lebih dari dua kontraktor.

Selain itu juga koordinasi dengan sejumlah kementerian seperti Kementerian Perhubungan dan sebagainya dinilai penting dalam tahap ini.

"Itu membutuhkan sebuah upaya besar, namun alhamdulillah sampai dengan saat ini kami terus didukung," kata Dwiyana.

Sebelumnya, Presiden Joko Widodo (Jokowi) mengharapkan proyek Kereta Cepat Jakarta-Bandung (KCJB) dapat menjadi bagian konektivitas antarnegara seperti yang digagas negara-negara ASEAN.

Presiden Jokowi mengatakan proyek KCJB akan diintegrasikan dengan pelabuhan ataupun bandara sehingga menjadi bagian konektivitas lintas negara.

Jokowi mengungkapkan realisasi pembangunan proyek kereta cepat hingga Rabu ini, sudah mencapai 88,8 persen dari target. Dia mengatakan Kereta Cepat Jakarta-Bandung dapat beroperasi pada Juni 2023.

Dengan dibangunnya proyek kereta cepat Jakarta-Bandung, Jokowi mengharapkan mobilitas orang dan barang akan meningkat dan cepat. Hal itu juga akan meningkatkan daya saing perekonomian.

Sedikitnya 5 orang tewas di Raleigh, termasuk Polisi yang sedang tidak bertugas

5 tewas, 2 lainnya terluka dalam penembakan Raleigh: PejabatLima orang tewas, termasuk seorang petugas polisi yang sedang tidak bertugas, dan setidaknya dua lainnya terluka dalam penembakan di Raleigh, North Carolina, Kamis malam, menurut pejabat kota. Ethan Hyman/The News & Observer via AP

Lima orang tewas, termasuk seorang polisi yang sedang tidak bertugas, dan sedikitnya dua lainnya terluka setelah penembakan di jalur alam di Raleigh, North Carolina, Kamis malam, kata Walikota Mary-Ann Baldwin.

Seorang petugas K-9 yang mengalami cedera yang tidak mengancam jiwa termasuk di antara mereka yang terluka, kata walikota

Tersangka telah ditahan, kata polisi kemudian.

Pengarahan lain diharapkan sekitar 10:45 malam.

Polisi memblokir pintu masuk ke I-540 timur di Buffaloe Road di Raleigh, N.C., 13 Oktober 2022.
Ethan Hyman/The News & Observer via AP

"Kita harus menghentikan kekerasan tanpa berpikir ini di Amerika dan kita harus mengatasi kekerasan senjata," kata Baldwin

Setidaknya tiga orang diangkut ke pusat trauma WakeMed Health and Hospitals sehubungan dengan insiden itu, kata seorang pejabat rumah sakit kepada ABC News. Tidak ada kabar tentang kondisi mereka saat ini. Pejabat rumah sakit tidak tahu apakah orang lain terluka dalam penembakan itu.

Adegan penembakan berada di daerah Jalur Greenway Sungai Neuse dekat Osprey Cove dan Bay Harbour drive, kata polisi.

"Warga di daerah itu disarankan untuk tetap tinggal di rumah mereka," cuit Departemen Kepolisian Raleigh.

Gubernur North Carolina Roy Cooper mengatakan dia telah menginstruksikan penegak hukum negara bagian untuk "memberikan bantuan menanggapi penembak aktif di East Raleigh."

"Petugas negara bagian dan lokal berada di lapangan dan bekerja untuk menghentikan penembak dan menjaga orang tetap aman," katanya di Twitter.

Sekretaris Keamanan Publik Departemen Carolina Utara Eddie Buffaloe, Jr. juga mengkonfirmasi bahwa departemen tersebut telah menyediakan sumber daya negara bagian dan "bekerja dengan penegak hukum setempat untuk menghentikan penembak ini."

Patroli Jalan Raya Negara Bagian, petugas Kepolisian Negara Bagian dan Agen Khusus Penegakan Hukum Alkohol membantu Departemen Kepolisian Raleigh dengan insiden tersebut.

Tampak terguncang, Walikota Raleigh Mary-Ann Baldwin, mengumumkan bahwa banyak orang tertembak, dan setidaknya lima orang tewas di Neuse River Greenway pada Kamis sore. Baldwin menyampaikan berita tersebut selama konferensi pers di Gedung Kota Raleigh pada Kamis, 13 Oktober 2022 di Raleigh, N.C. Robert Willett rwillett@newsobserver.com SHOOTING LUNCURKAN MANHUNT

IMF urges most Asian central banks to tighten policy further

FILE PHOTO: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri GripasREUTERS

Most Asian central banks must tighten monetary policy further as rising commodity prices and their currencies' depreciation, driven by steady U.S. interest rate hikes, push inflation above their targets, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday.

China and Japan are exceptions, where the economic recovery has been weaker, slack remains substantial and inflation has not risen as sharply as elsewhere, said Krishna Srinivasan, director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department.

Many Asian currencies depreciated "quite sharply" as U.S. monetary tightening led to widening interest rate differentials, helping push up import costs for the countries, he said.

"While our baseline is for inflation to have peaked by end-year, large exchange-rate depreciations could lead to higher inflation and greater persistence, particularly if global interest rates rise more forcefully, and require faster monetary policy tightening in Asia," Srinivasan said in a news conference during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Washington.

Large currency depreciations and rising interest rates could also trigger financial stress in Asian countries with high debt, Srinivasan said.

"Asia is now the largest debtor in the world besides being the biggest saver, and several countries are at high risk of debt distress," he said.

Most of the rise in Asia's debt is concentrated in China, but also seen in other economies, Sanjaya Panth, deputy director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department, told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

"Some form of market stress cannot be ruled out. But the relatively strong position of many economies gives us comfort," he said, pointing to their low levels of external debt, higher reserves and resilient financial systems.

Mobil Tertabrak Kereta Api di Nganjuk, 2 Orang Tewas dan 3 Lainnya Kritis

Kecelakaan kereta api di Nganjuk Jawa Timur (Foto: Tangkapan layar Instagram)

Kecelakaan tragis di perlintasan kereta api tanpa palang pintu kembali terjadi. Kali ini di Kabupaten Nganjuk Jawa Timur (Jatim).

Dalam kecelakaan ini dua orang dikabarkan meninggal dunia, sementara tiga lainnya menderita luka-luka. Video paska kecelakaan pun viral di media sosial.

Video detik-detik paska-kecelakaan diunggah akun Instagram @andreli_48. Dalam video itu nampak rongsokan mobil yang sudah hancur berada di sebelah rel kereta api.

Sementara orang-orang berkrumun di sekitar mobil tersebut. Seseorang nampak mengambil daun pogon pisang untuk menutup jenazah atau korban yang tergeletal di sebelah mobil.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Andre Li (@andreli_48)

Dalam keterangan video itu juga diketahui kalau kecelakaan tersebut terjadi di perlintasan kereta tanpa palang pintu di Desa Ngudikan Kecamatan Wilangan Nganjuk, hari Kamis, 13/10/2022.

"Nganjuk Dua Meninggal Tiga Kritis Kecelakaan di perlintasan kereta api tanpa palang pintu di Desa Ngudikan Wilangan Nganjuk, hari Kamis, 13/10/22. Kecelakaan melibatkan mobil dan kereta api. Ada 2 korban meninggal dunia dan 3 kondisi kritis," demikian tulis keterangan dalam video itu.

U.S. House Jan. 6 committee votes to subpoena Trump

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2021, file photo, Rep. Bennie Thompson D-Miss., chairman of the House Select Committee on the January 6th attack speaks with reporters outside the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot unanimously voted at its public hearing Thursday to subpoena former President Donald Trump about his actions surrounding the insurrection.

The move to try to force Trump to testify under oath has been under consideration for some time.

Lawmakers on the committee have made clear that they want to move quickly to obtain testimony and documents related to the attack. One witness summoned to testify, former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon, is facing a criminal contempt referral after defying the panel’s subpoena.

Here’s a deeper look at the committee, its mission and how it operates:

WHY IS CONGRESS INVESTIGATING?

Unlike some previous investigations in the Trump era — including the Russia probes and the impeachment inquiry into Trump’s interactions with Ukraine — the central facts of the Jan. 6 insurrection are known. A group of Trump supporters, fueled by his false claims of a stolen election, brutally assaulted police and smashed their way into the Capitol to interrupt the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.

U.S. Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell and Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges, who were both injured defending the Capitol and members of Congress on January 6, 2021, watch as the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol play a video of former President Donald Trump declaring that he won the presidential election on election night of 2020 during their public hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 13, 2022.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters

But there are still unanswered questions about the attack on the Capitol, and lawmakers say they are committed to presenting a full accounting to make sure it never happens again.

The committee is looking into every aspect of the riot, including what Trump himself was doing while it unfolded and any connections between the White House and the rioters who broke into the building.

The panel is also investigating how the protests leading up to and during the insurrection were financed, including the rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6 preceding the riot.

“The biggest black box though is what was the president’s role? What was the role of people in the White House? What did the president know about who was coming to this rally?” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who sits on the panel, said in an interview on C-SPAN. ”And what did he do when he found out?”

The Democrat from California added, “There are a lot of important unanswered questions.”

Trump’s claims of widespread election fraud were soundly rejected by a succession of judges, by state election officials and by Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr. No case has ever established irregularities of a scale that would have changed the outcome.

A BROAD INQUIRY

Another goal for the committee is looking into why U.S. Capitol Police — as well as federal, state and local law enforcement agencies — were so ill-prepared for the rally-turned-insurrection and whether their response, after it began, was inadequate. The factors that contributed to the attack, including the role of technology companies and online platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, is also under review.

Last week, committee members expanded the scope of their investigation when they subpoenaed Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department lawyer who positioned himself as an ally of Donald Trump. The demands for documents and testimony from Clark, who aided Trump’s efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election, reflect the committee’s interest in the chaos that ensued in the Justice Department as Trump and his allies leaned on government lawyers to advance his false election claims.

The committee’s probe plans on building upon findings of other investigations being conducted, including the large-scale prosecution by the U.S. Department of Justice of the more than 600 rioters from nearly every state. But, ultimately, the final report the committee will produce will be separate from the DOJ effort.

WHAT POWERS DOES THE PANEL HAVE?

For now, the panel is conducting closed-door interviews rather than open hearings, trying to build a comprehensive picture of everything that happened that day and who was behind it.

But that’s not always easy to do — especially with aides and confidants of the former president, who learned during his presidency that there were few consequences for rebuffing Congress.

The committee chair has the power to issue subpoenas, and they can also pursue contempt charges against subpoenaed witnesses who refuse to comply. On Tuesday, the committee will start that process with a vote to recommend criminal contempt charges against Bannon, who defied a subpoena last week.

The full House would then vote to send that recommendation to the Justice Department, which would then decide whether to prosecute. Biden has said he would like the Justice Department to prosecute, but Attorney General Merrick Garland has not indicated what he would do.

WHAT’S AHEAD?

The Jan. 6 panel so far has issued 19 subpoenas as thousands of pages of documents are flowing to the committee and its staff.

Besides Bannon, lawmakers have said they are “engaging” with two other Trump officials — former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Defense Department official Kashyap Patel. It remains unclear whether Dan Scavino, Trump’s longtime social media director and one of his most loyal aides, will cooperate.

Of the subpoenas issued, 13 were to officials who helped plan rallies in support of Trump ahead of the attack, including the massive event on the day of the siege at which the president told his supporters to “fight like hell.”

Those individuals have been ordered to appear at separate depositions the committee has scheduled from late October through the beginning of November.

In addition, the committee is receiving support from the Biden administration as it seeks information and documents. Biden rejected Trump’s claim of executive privilege surrounding documents requested from Trump’s time in the White House. The setup of their potential release to Congress is expected in mid-November.

It is unclear at this point when the committee will wrap up its investigation and release a final report.