The Latest: Trump returns to Washington to meet with Biden and GOP lawmakers

President Joe Biden will welcome President-elect Donald Trump to the White House on Wednesday for an Oval Office visit that is a traditional part of the peaceful handoff of power — a ritual Trump himself declined to participate in four years ago.

Meanwhile, House control remains in the balance with a dozen races left to be called.

Wednesday's meeting puts Biden and Trump together for first time since their June debate

It was Biden's poor performance at that debate that led Democrats to start pressuring him to drop out and let another candidate take on Trump.

Biden pulled the plug on his campaign weeks later and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. She lost to Trump in last week's election.

Trump is heading to a big day in Washington

President-elect Donald Trump is on his way to Washington to meet with Republican congressional leaders on Capitol Hill and President Joe Biden at the White House.

Trump's plane took off from the airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, around 7:30 a.m. ET for the roughly two-hour flight to the U.S. capital.

A meeting between the incoming and outgoing president is tradition but then-President Trump didn't invite Biden to the White House after he lost to the Democrat in 2020.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says it was important to Biden to invite Trump because he believes in the ''norms'' and a peaceful transfer of power.

Senate Republicans are gathering behind closed doors to pick a new majority leader

Republican senators will gather behind closed doors Wednesday to decide who will replace longtime Senate leader Mitch McConnell and lead their new majority next year — a decision that could shape the future of the Senate, and the party, as Donald Trump reclaims the presidency.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Florida Sen. Rick Scott have been scrambling to win the most votes in the secret ballot election, promising a new direction in the Senate even as they furiously compete for Trump's favor. It will be the first test of Trump's relationship with Congress after he won the election decisively and claimed a mandate for his agenda.

It's uncertain who will win.

Read more about the GOP's decision

An Israeli strike on a home in northern Gaza killed three siblings aged 6 and under, among at least six people killed in airstrikes in the war-ravaged territory, Palestinian medics said. In Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building south of Beirut on Wednesday killed at least six people and wounded 15, the Health Ministry said.

An Israeli strike on a home in northern Gaza killed three siblings aged 6 and under, among at least six people killed in airstrikes in the war-ravaged territory, Palestinian medics said. In Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building south of Beirut on Wednesday killed at least six people and wounded 15, the Health Ministry said.