Welcome to your weekly run-down of all the big news, strange rules and interesting happenings from the world of US politics.
This week, crowds of Americans packed the National Mall as fireworks exploded over the country’s capital city.
It was July 4, Independence Day, and a special one at that. After more than a year of horror from the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 600,000 American lives, a highly-vaccinated public was gathering together to celebrate a return to normal, according to US President Joe Biden.
But hanging over the evening was the shadow of a previous gathering.
The National Mall hadn’t hosted a crowd that large in almost six months, not since the January 6 Capitol riot, when a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters attempted to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s electoral victory.
On that day, hundreds of Americans stormed the building, sending politicians fleeing into barricaded rooms and causing Capitol Police to fear for their lives.
