OnPolitics: POTUS tests positive for COVID-19

Hello, OnPolitics readers!

We've made it to the next Jan. 6 committee hearing. The panel, which has presented evidence of the motives behind the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, holds its eighth session tonight in primetime.

Committee members Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., and Adam Kinzinger, D-Ill., will lead the hearing, which will outline former President Donald Trump's actions as rioters descended on the Capitol.

Former deputy White House press secretary Sarah Matthews and former Trump National Security Council member Matthew Pottinger are also expected to testify, according to reports.

In a Sunday interview with CNN's "State of the Union," Luria said new witnesses will also come forward.

Kinzinger also said the hearing will be "eye-opening" on CBS' "Face the Nation."

"The reality is, I'll give you this preview, the president didn't do very much but gleefully watch television during this time frame," the Illinois Republican said.

You can watch the hearing live at 8 p.m. ET on USA TODAY's YouTube channel. The hearing will also air on various cable networks. CNN will also stream without a need for a cable password and C-SPAN will broadcast.

It's Amy and Chelsey with today's top stories out of Washington.

COVID-19 reaches the Oval Office

President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday, according to the White House.

The president said his symptoms are "mild" in a video released Thursday afternoon on social media.

“Hey folks, guess you heard. This morning I tested positive for COVID,” Biden, 79, said. “But I’ve been double vaccinated, double boosted. Symptoms are mild.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has plagued Biden's presidency since his inauguration last year. More than 70% of Americans have been infected with COVID, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden will work in isolation at the White House until he tests negative. Daily updates of the president's condition will be provided to the public, Jean-Pierre said.

Lawmakers who traveled with Biden to Somerset, Mass., Wednesday on Air Force One are taking precautions. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who were with Biden on the trip, are following CDC guidance as close contacts.

Two U.S. presidents have had COVID: Trump, who was in office when the pandemic reached U.S. shores, was the first president to contract COVID-19 in fall 2020. But while Biden's symptoms are mild due to his vaccination status, vaccines were not yet available when Trump was hospitalized and received experimental treatments as his oxygen levels fell dangerously low.

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Real quick: stories you'll want to read

• Jan. 6 hearing to focus on Trump's actions: The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack will give a "minute-by-minute" overview of Trumps' actions while out of the public eye on the day of the insurrection, according to Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., committee vice chair.

• Army faces recruiting crisis: The Army faces the worst recruiting environment since the all-volunteer force was created in 1973. The shortfall in soldiers comes as the Pentagon sends troops to reinforce NATO after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.

• Bipartisan group introduces election reform bills: Following months of negotiations, a bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday introduced two new bills meant to install new safeguards for the certification of presidential election results.

• No witnesses called in Steve Bannon case: Attorneys for Steve Bannon called no defense witnesses in the contempt trial of the former White House strategist charged with defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Capitol attack.

Eight House Republicans join Democrats to codify access to birth control

A bill that would federally protect the right to contraceptive access passed the House on Thursday in a vote where eight Republicans joined all 220 Democrats in support of the measure.

The eight Republicans who voted in favor of codifying contraceptive access are Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, John Katko of New York, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Maria Salazar of Florida and Fred Upton of Michigan.

The House's final tally of 228-195 was largely along party lines.

Mace, one of the Republicans who voted in support of the bill, told USA TODAY that improved health care for women in a post-Roe America should include access to birth control.

"There's a reason why we're having so many of these abortions; if women had access to birth control, maybe we wouldn't have a reason to have so many of these children murdered in the womb," she said. "If you're going to ban (abortion), you've got to make sure women have access to health care, medical care, prenatal care and birth control."

BA.5 makes up nearly 80% of new COVID-19 cases. 🦠 Here's what to know about the subvariant. -- Amy and Chelsey

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: White House says Biden tests positive for COVID-19