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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius resumes Monday after one month during which mental health experts evaluated the athlete to determine if he has an anxiety disorder that could have influenced his actions on the night he killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Judge Thokozile Masipa is expected to receive the conclusions of a panel of one psychologist and three psychiatrists who were instructed to assess whether the double-amputee runner was capable of understanding the wrongfulness of his act when he shot Steenkamp through a closed toilet door in his home on Valentine's Day last year. The assessments of a panel at a state psychiatric hospital could determine whether he should be held criminally responsible and affect the judge's deliberations on a verdict or, in the event of a conviction, the severity of the sentence, according to legal analysts.

The evaluation came after a psychiatrist, Dr. Merryll Vorster, testified for the defense that Pistorius, who has said he feels vulnerable because of his disability and long-held worry about crime, had an anxiety disorder that could have contributed to the killing in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013. He testified that he opened fire after mistakenly thinking there was a dangerous intruder in the toilet.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel has alleged that Pistorius, 27, killed the 29-year-old model after an argument, and has portrayed the Olympic athlete as a hothead with a love of guns and an inflated sense of entitlement. But he requested an independent inquiry into Pistorius' state of mind, based on concern the defense would argue Pistorius was not guilty because of mental illness.

Pistorius' defense team could get a boost if the hospital evaluation roughly aligns with the conclusions of Vorster, the defense witness, said a legal expert observing the trial. Kelly Phelps, a senior lecturer in the public law department at the University of Cape Town, said a diagnosis that Pistorius has an anxiety disorder could add weight to his account and compel the judge to consider the question: "Is it more likely that he is telling the truth about what occurred on that night?"

Even if the judge rules that Pistorius is guilty despite any disorder that he is suffering, Phelps said, the diagnosis could be a mitigating factor when he is sentenced.

"That is the area of law that is often referred to as diminished responsibility," she said.

Other possible conclusions in the psychiatric evaluation are that Pistorius is not suffering from any anxiety disorder, which could undermine his defense. Alternatively, it might be found that he was incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong or acting in accordance with that understanding, which could lead to a verdict of not guilty because of mental illness and referral to state psychiatric care.

Pistorius faces 25 years to life in prison if found guilty of premeditated murder, and could also face years in prison if convicted of murder without premeditation or negligent killing. He is free on bail.

Once Judge Masipa receives the conclusions from the mental health experts, the defense will be in a position to call its few remaining witnesses, prior to closing arguments and Masipa's deliberation on a verdict. If, however, the experts who observed Pistorius are not unanimous in their conclusions, the judge can call them to the stand to clarify their findings.

Pistorius was evaluated as an outpatient at Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital in Pretoria, the South African capital. He has been staying at the upscale home of his uncle.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — President Barack Obama will seek more than $2 billion to respond to the flood of immigrants illegally entering the U.S. through the Rio Grande Valley area of Texas and ask for new powers to deal with returning immigrant children apprehended while traveling without their parents, a White House official said Saturday.

With Obama looking to Congress for help with what he has called an "urgent humanitarian situation," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi visited a Border Patrol facility in Brownsville that held unaccompanied children. More than 52,000 unaccompanied children, most from Central America, have been apprehended entering the U.S. illegally since October.

"The fact is these are children — children and families," Pelosi said. "We have a moral responsibility to address this in a dignified way."

Obama plans to make the requests of Congress in a letter to be sent Monday, the White House official said. Details of the emergency appropriation, including the exact amount and how it will be spent, will come after lawmakers return from their holiday recess on July 7, said the official, who was not authorized to speak by name and discussed the requests on condition of anonymity.

Obama will also ask that the Homeland Security Department be granted the authority to apply "fast track" procedures to the screening and deportation of all immigrant children traveling without their parents and that stiffer penalties be applied to those who smuggle children across the border, the official said. Obama's requests were reported first by The New York Times.

In Brownsville, Pelosi said she holds little hope that Congress will pass comprehensive immigration reform this year but that politics should be set aside.

"A few days ago I would have been more optimistic about comprehensive immigration reform," Pelosi said. "I thought that we had been finding a way because we have been very patient and respectful of (Speaker of the House John Boehner) trying to do it one way or another. I don't think he gives us much reason to be hopeful now, but we never give up. There's still the month of July."

U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's surprise primary loss this month almost certainly doomed the chance for an immigration overhaul in the GOP-controlled House this year. Cantor, R-Va., had spoken in favor of citizenship for immigrants brought illegally to this country as youths. But he lost to a political novice who made immigration the race's central issue, accusing Cantor of embracing "amnesty" and open borders.

This past week, a leading House supporter of policy changes said legislative efforts on the issue were dead. Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, who's been one of the most bullish Democrats about the chances for action, said he had given up. Boehner's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.

Republicans have criticized Obama's immigration policies, arguing they've left the impression that women and children from Central America will be allowed to stay in the United States. The administration has worked to send a clear message in recent weeks that new arrivals will be targeted for deportation. But immigrants arriving from those countries say they are fleeing pervasive gang violence and crushing poverty.

The Border Patrol in South Texas has been overwhelmed for several months by an influx of unaccompanied children and parents traveling with young children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Unlike Mexican immigrants arrested after entering the U.S. illegally, those from Central America cannot be as easily returned to their countries.

The U.S. had only one family detention center in Pennsylvania, so most adults traveling with young children were released and told to check in with the local immigration office when they arrived at their destination. A new facility for families is being prepared in New Mexico.

Children who traveled alone, like those visited by Pelosi in Brownsville, are handled differently. By law, they must be transferred to the custody of the Health and Human Services Department within 72 hours of their arrest. From there, they are sent into a network of shelters until they can be reunited with family members while awaiting their day in immigration court.

Also Saturday, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said up to 2,000 unaccompanied immigrant children could be transferred from overcrowded facilities in McAllen, Texas, to his county by the end of next month. He said the plan is to have youngsters spend about three weeks in the North Texas county before hopefully being placed with relatives who are elsewhere in the U.S. The federal government will cover the costs, Jenkins said.

Meanwhile, Pelosi said immigrants' cases should be handled on a case-by-case basis.

"We don't want our good nature abused by those who would misrepresent what's happening in the United States on the subject of immigration to affect how we deal with a refugee problem," she said.

The situation is drawing attention and politicians from both parties to South Texas. While Pelosi was speaking in Brownsville, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, appeared with the first lady of Honduras, Ana Garcia de Hernandez, in McAllen.

Next week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman and Virginia Republican Bob Goodlatte is scheduled to lead members of that panel to the Rio Grande Valley, and House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, is scheduled to hold a field hearing Thursday in McAllen.

Pelosi said she came to Brownsville at the invitation of local U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela to find out what Congress can do to help.

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AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace in Washington and AP writer Will Weissert in Dallas contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is wildly unpopular.

In fact, two-thirds of Americans want their own House member booted. And the tea party is dogging longtime Republican lawmakers.

So incumbents are sweating out this year's election, right?

Nope. Mostly they're not.

People talk about throwing the bums out, but voters keep sending the same bunch back in.

More than halfway through the party primaries, 293 House and Senate members have completed their quests for renomination.

The score: Incumbents 291, challengers 2.

Granted, one of those two losses was a shocker. A virtual unknown, Dave Brat, toppled House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia in a Republican primary.

Two longtime lawmakers — Republican Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York — barely clung to nominations to their seats Tuesday.

But those rare exciting races that draw national attention are misleading. Most of the House candidates, about 60 percent so far, didn't have a soul running against them. Only a few faced a challenger who posed a real threat. No senator has been defeated yet.

What about November, when Republicans and Democrats face off in the general election?

It looks to be a dramatic midterm, all right, with Republicans pushing to seize control of the Senate. More incumbents will be vulnerable in the general election than the primaries. Still, the vast majority of sitting lawmakers are snug in their seats.

Over the past five decades, voters have routinely returned 9 of 10 incumbent candidates to the House. Senate races are a bit less predictable, but usually more than 80 percent of incumbents win.

Consider 2010, which was a "bad year" for incumbents. A wave of angry voters swept Republicans into the House majority. Fifty-eight House members were ousted that year, nearly all of them Democrats. President Barack Obama called it a "shellacking."

Yet even in that remarkable midterm, voters rehired 85 percent of Congress members who were on the ballot.

This year, Congress logged a confidence rating of 7 percent, the lowest Gallup has measured for any institution, ever. People don't put much attachment to their own representative anymore, either. An Associated Press-GfK poll last month found that 65 percent of Americans say their own House member should lose.

So why do these people keep winning?

It's harder for challengers to sell themselves to voters. Incumbents wield tremendous advantages. They raise big bucks from special interests, use their congressional offices to send voters mass mailings, build ties to businesses and advocacy groups in their districts, and benefit from name recognition. They have staff members back home working to keep constituents happy.

"If you know them, if you helped their father or sister or relative or friend, if you go to their events and show interest, if you do good staff work, you're going to go back," said former Rep. Connie Morella, who served 16 years in Congress.

A Republican in a heavily Democratic Maryland district, she was re-elected seven times, until her district boundaries were redrawn by Democrats to push her out in 2002.

Political calculations in the redistricting process every 10 years have contributed to most districts becoming solidly Republican or solidly Democratic.

"The gerrymandering is terrible," said Morella, now a professor at American University. "Few districts are truly competitive anymore."

Only about four dozen of the 435 House seats are considered in play this year, meaning either party might conceivably win them in November. Many of those are open seats, vacated by lawmakers who are retiring or seeking another office.

In dozens of other cases in the House, only one of the two major parties will even have a name on the November ballot.

In the Senate, about a dozen of the 36 seats up for election might be truly competitive.

Turnout is low in midterm elections, usually around 40 percent in the fall and often abysmal for primaries. Voters may feel they lack true choice, although Cantor's loss shows that establishment candidates can be ousted.

"There just aren't that many real races," said Larry Sabato, a veteran election forecaster at the University of Virginia. "So even if people don't like their representative, they don't necessarily vote for the challenger from the other party, or vote at all."

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