Attorney general William Barr has refused to show up for planned testimony before the House Judiciary Committee after enduring a grilling by Democratic senators on Wednesday, who questioned his handling of the Mueller report and called for his resignation.

On Thursday, Democrats in the House blasted Mr Barr for skipping the hearing, and accused the executive branch of subverting constitutional checks and balances by undermining Congress.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the challenge we face is that the president of the United States wants desperately to prevent Congress, a co-equal branch of government, from providing any check whatsoever to even his most reckless decisions,” said chairman Jerrold Nadler, addressing an empty chair as colleague Steve Cohen chewed on a bucket of fried chicken, a stunt to imply Mr Barr was a coward for failing to attend.

Democrats accused Mr Barr on Wednesday of acting as Donald Trump’s human shield by declining to pursue obstruction of justice charges against the president. And, those same Democats called for the attorney general's resignation after the existence of a letter written to him by Robert Mueller appeared to suggest he had lied to Congress during a previous appearance on 10 April.

That drama playing out in Washington came as unrest in Venezuela has persisted, with the United States supporting regime change.

In response to the US position, representative Ilhan Omar claimed that US use of sanctions to force regime change has led to strife in Central America. Ms Omar went as far as to say that US foreign policy in Central America has exacerbated the immigration problem at the US southern border.

Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load