The U.S. Capitol was stormed by rioters and the halls of Congress evacuated as supporters of President Donald Trump swarmed past barricades, overwhelming outnumbered police and sending lawmakers fleeing proceedings in which they were formalizing the election victory of President-elect Joe Biden. In scenes almost unprecedented in the more than two centuries the building has stood, lawmakers grabbed their gas masks and loud booms echoed across the complex as Congressional security drew firearms inside the chambers of the American legislature. Questions are already being raised as to how such an attack on the center of U.S. government could have taken place. —David E. Rovella

Here are today’s top stories 

A somber Biden called on Trump during the afternoon to demand an end to the assault. “The scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not reflect a true America,” Biden said in Wilmington, Delaware. “It’s not protest,” he said. “It’s insurrection.” Trump later issued a taped statement in which he called for an end to the violence, in which a woman was shot, while repeating false claims of fraud in his defeat in the 2020 election. As night fell, large numbers of police finally arrived, pushing crowds off of the Capitol grounds.

Rioters invaded the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, smashing windows and breeching the two chambers of Congress.

Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP

Biden picked Merrick Garland, the federal judge who never got a confirmation hearing as President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee five years ago, as his choice for attorney general.

Democrats will take control of the U.S. Senate for the first time in six years as networks projected that Jon Ossoff defeated Republican David Perdue. Earlier in the day, Raphael Warnock was projected to defeat Republican Kelly Loeffler in Georgia’s other runoff election.

Jon Ossoff, right, and Raphael Warnock of Georgia. Both men have been projected winners of the state’s two U.S. Senate seats.

Photographer: Jessica McGowan/Getty Images North America

Chances of another Covid-19 bailout package got a boost as Democrats swept the runoff elections in Georgia, offering the prospect of more support for people and businesses hammered by the pandemic.

Top U.S. health officials encouraged states on Wednesday to start vaccinating people more widely, and Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine won European Union approval. In Asia, Japan’s daily cases topped 5,000 for the first time as it prepares to declare a state of emergency, with critics calling for broader steps. Here is the latest on Covid-19.

The second round of rescue checks can’t come fast enough for increasingly cash-strapped Americans. One in four consumers pulled money from their savings in December, the most so far in the pandemic.

Hong Kong arrested dozens of opposition figures, including an American lawyer, as Beijing intensified its crackdown on civil liberties there.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow 

• The attack on the U.S. Capitol failed to keep stocks down.
• Fed officials all backed bond buying pace, December minutes show.
• NYSE reverses itself again on plan to delist Chinese telecom firms.
• Businessweek: The student debt question Biden will have to answer.
• Bloomberg Opinion: What a Senate majority means for Democrats.
• Elon Musk closes in on Jeff Bezos for title of richest person alive.
• The wealth tax is going global.

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What you’ll want to read tonight

Inside the House Chamber as Mob Stormed In

At first, the disruption surrounding the Capitol seemed like a curiosity at best, a nuisance at worst. Thousands of Trump supporters were pushing into the East Front of the Capitol grounds, past barricades, some waving Trump flags, some American flags. But the situation quickly turned grave, with security officials inside the House of Representatives chamber warning that “lots of people” had broken past a perimeter that had been set up. “Hold the line and make sure we secure the building,” Paul Irving, the House sergeant at arms, could be heard saying into his phone.

People shelter in the House gallery as rioters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Photographer: Andrew Harnik/AP

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