The House passed the $1.9tn coronavirus relief package, delivering Joe Biden his first major legislative victory as president. According to an Urban Institute analysis, the relief package will reduce US poverty in 2021 by more than a third. The White House has said the president will sign the bill on Friday.
Democratic congressional leaders signed the relief bill, officially sending it to Biden’s desk. At a bill enrollment ceremony this afternoon, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, celebrated the passage of the “historic” legislation. “So what do we say to America? We say to America: help is on the way,” Schumer said.
The US will purchase another 100m doses of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine, Biden confirmed at a White House event this afternoon. In his remarks, the president celebrated the increased production of coronavirus vaccines and the House passage of the relief bill. “There is light at the end of this dark tunnel of the past year,” Biden said. “There is real reason for hope, folks.”
The Senate confirmed two more of Biden’s cabinet nominees, Merrick Garland and Marcia Fudge. Garland was confirmed as the next US attorney general, and Fudge was confirmed to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Senate also voted 66-34 to confirm Michael Regan as the EPA administrator. Regan, 44, previously served as secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality. He’ll be the first Black man to lead the EPA and the second Black administrator in the agency’s history.
Texas’s attorney general has threatened to sue county officials if they don’t lift local mask mandates. The threat comes after Texas governor Greg Abbott lifted a statewide mask mandate, and at the same time announced that all businesses could reopen “100%” – triggering a mad dash for vaccines, and inciting panic among vulnerable workers.
The White House reiterated that migrants should not attempt to enter the US right now. Ambassador Roberta Jacobson, the coordinator for the southern border, said at the White House briefing today that the Biden administration is still working to recalibrate the US immigration system after four years of Donald Trump’s leadership. “The border is not open,” Jacobson said. Her comments come as the US has seen a surge in the number of unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the border.
Texas’ attorney general has threatened to sue county officials if they don’t lift local mask mandates.
Texas governor Greg Abbott lifted a statewide mask mandate, and at the same time announced that all businesses could reopen “100%” – triggering a mad dash for vaccines, and inciting panic among vulnerable workers.
But the governor’s orders, which go against the advice of health officials, do allow local officials to issue “mitigation strategies” though officials are prohibited from punishing residents who refuse to follow mask orders. Private businesses are allowed to mandate masks, and limit capacity within their own premises.
But Ken Paxton, the attorney general, is threatening officials implementing local mask orders.
“The decision to require masks or otherwise impose Covid-19-related operating limits is expressly reserved to private businesses on their own premises,” Paxton said. “It does not rest with jurisdictions like the City of Austin or Travis County or their local health authorities. Nor do they have the authority to threaten fines for non-compliance.”
Paxton gave officials until 6pm Wednesday to rescind local mask mandates, threatening, “Otherwise, On behalf Of the State of Texas, I will sue you.”
.@MayorAdler & @AndyBrownATX, you and local health authorities have until 6:00pm today to rescind any mask mandates or business-operating restrictions and come into full compliance with GA-34 ➡️ https://t.co/Bz5DQsw8IV
Senate confirms Michael Regan as EPA administrator
The Senate has voted 66-34 to confirm Michael Regan as the EPA administrator.
Regan, 44, previously served as secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality. He’ll be the first Black man to lead the EPA and the second Black administrator in the agency’s history.
“And as he did in North Carolina, I know (Regan) will work quickly to restore morale and achieve real results,” said Environmental Defense Fund president Fred Krupp in a statement.
The number of migrant children and families seeking to cross the US-Mexico border has increased to levels not seen since before the coronavirus pandemic – a challenge for Joe Biden as he works to undo the hardline immigration policies of predecessor Donald Trump.
Statistics released Wednesday by US customs and border protection (CBP) showed the number of children and families increased by more than 100% between January and February.
Children crossing by themselves rose 60% to more than 9,400, forcing the government to look for new places to hold them temporarily.
Roberta Jacobson, the administration’s coordinator for the southern border and a former ambassador to Mexico, joined the White House press briefing on Wednesday.
She said the president is committed to building a fair immigration system, but cannot undo the damage of the Trump administration“overnight”.
She sidestepped a question about whether the situation at the border qualifies as a crisis.
“Whatever you call it wouldn’t change what we’re doing,” Jacobson said.
FBI must target white supremacists' infiltration of police agencies, congressman says
Lois Beckett
The FBI must develop a strategy to respond to white supremacist infiltration of law enforcement agencies and address its past failures to take the issue seriously, a prominent Democratic congressman has argued in a letter to the FBI director, Christopher Wray.
Multiple internal FBI reports over the past 15 years have labeled white supremacist infiltration of police departments as a serious threat. But last year, FBI officials refused to testify in a hearing about the topic, repeatedly telling congressional staffers that “it did not believe that this threat was supported by evidence” and “that there would not be any utility in the bureau offering testimony”, the Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin wrote in a letter to Wray on Tuesday.
The presence of current and former police officers in the violent insurrection at the Capitol on 6 January was “irrefutable proof of this threat”, the congressman argued.
“Given the FBI’s refusal just last year to admit that extremist police officers posed a serious threat to our nation’s security, I am now concerned that the bureau lacks an adequate strategy to respond to this clear and present danger to public safety,” Raskin, the chair of a subcommittee on civil rights and civil liberties, wrote.
Raskin requested a briefing on the issue for members of Congress by 26 March. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.
In February, a confidential intelligence assessment from the FBI’s San Antonio division warned that white supremacists and other far-right groups would “very likely seek affiliation with military and law enforcement entities” in order to advance their ideology, attack racial minorities, and gain insider information and tactical training, according to ABC News, which obtained a copy of the report.
The tropical island cruise that departed San Francisco in February 2020 became one of the United States’ first Covid-19 hotspots with a coronavirus outbreak aboard that forced 3,000 vacationers into a weeks-long quarantine and was eventually connected to at least 122 cases and six deaths.
In the year since, Grand Princesspassengers have tried to get some resolution to the horrors that befell them, reckoning with the cruise company’s actions and the Trump administration response to one of the first major health emergencies in the pandemic.
Many have filed lawsuits against Princess Cruises and some against its parent company Carnival – nearly three dozen cases have wound up in the LA courtroom of federal district court judge Gary Klausner. The passengers charge that the cruise company negligently sent them out to sea, despite being alerted to the dangers by a disaster it handled on another ship in Japan and a suspicious illness during a previous leg of the Grand Princess’ journey. They also claim that pre-boarding health checks were cursory and that the company did not take prompt action to stop the spread of the virus on board once the outbreak was under way.
“We were surprised at how ill-prepared they were,” said Denise Morse, who went on the cruise with her husband, David, to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. The Morses did not sue Princess Cruises, but they did fear for their life during the ill fated trip. “They didn’t seem to have any institutional knowledge passed down from one incident to the next.”
A Republican senator who voted against the $1.9tn stimulus package is now trying to take credit for the legislation.
Roger Wicker of Mississippi is touting the bill’s aid to restaurants and small businesses. But Wicker, like all his Senate Republican colleagues who voted unanimously against the relief bill, said just yesterday criticized the package. “The Democrats’ $1.9T spending package makes their priorities clear: expanding the government’s role in Americans’ lives is more important than actual Covid relief,” he said.
Independent restaurant operators have won $28.6 billion worth of targeted relief.
This funding will ensure small businesses can survive the pandemic by helping to adapt their operations and keep their employees on the payroll.https://t.co/Ob4pRb9Xh4
With the bill headed to Biden’s desk for a signature, Republicans who’ve stuck together in opposition to the legislation have found themselves in a tough spot – having to explain to Americans why they tried to block much-needed economic relief. A majority of Americans, including a hefty proportion of Republican and Republican-leaning voters, support the package.
During a press conference yesterday, Nancy Pelosi warned against “Republican colleagues who – they say no to the vote, and they show up at the ribbon-cuttings or the presentations.”
Texans scramble to get vaccinated after Republican governor says no more masks
Erum Salam
In Houston, a long line of cars wraps around a cluster of white tents in the parking lot of NRG Stadium – a Texas-sized vaccination hub. Texans roll up to the drive-through, hang an arm out of the window to get their shot, and leave as if the vaccination site were one of many fast-food restaurants sprawled across the state.
Men and women in army green and face shields direct traffic, scan QR codes and administer shots containing the ticket to a renewed social life and some peace of mind.
That reassurance could not come too soon for Texans, since the statewide mask mandate has now officially been lifted, leaving millions of those still unvaccinated more vulnerable to an infectious disease that has killed 527,000 people in the US, including more than 45,000 in Texas.
On 2 March, the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, announced the statewide mask mandate implemented over the summer would suddenly cease to exist as of Wednesday.
At first glance, one might see the announcement as the light at the end of the tunnel. But upon further examination, it seems Texas is jumping the gun.
According to the Texas health department, the number of those fully vaccinated in the state currently stands at 2,463,005 – about 16% of Texas’s near 15 million over-18 population. Texas currently ranks 38th in the nation for total administered vaccinations.
Announcing the end of the mask mandate, Abbott said last week: “It is now time to open Texas 100%. So today, I am issuing a new executive order that rescinds most of the earlier executive orders: effective next Wednesday, all businesses of any kind are allowed to open 100%. Also, I am ending the statewide mask mandate.”
The announcement fueled condemnation from Democratic leaders across the state. Some argued Abbott’s order was a distraction from the state’s failure to keep its energy grid powered during a brutal winter storm that left millions without electricity, heat and water for days.
Joe Biden will travel to Delaware county, Pennsylvania, next Tuesday, the White House just announced.
The trip will mark the beginning of the president’s tour to sell the $1.9tn coronavirus relief package to the American people.
The House passed the relief bill this afternoon, and Biden is expected to sign the legislation into law on Friday. Biden will also likely tout the bill and its benefits for American families tomorrow, when he delivers his first primetime address as president.
Biden has said that he believes the Obama administration erred by not taking a “victory lap” after passing the 2009 stimulus bill, and he intends to learn from that mistake this time around.
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague Maanvi Singh will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
The House passed the $1.9tn coronavirus relief package, delivering Joe Biden his first major legislative victory as president. According to an Urban Institute analysis, the relief package will reduce US poverty in 2021 by more than a third. The White House has said the president will sign the bill on Friday.
Democratic congressional leaders signed the relief bill, officially sending it to Biden’s desk. At a bill enrollment ceremony this afternoon, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, celebrated the passage of the “historic” legislation. “So what do we say to America? We say to America: help is on the way,” Schumer said.
The US will purchase another 100m doses of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine, Biden confirmed at a White House event this afternoon. In his remarks, the president celebrated the increased production of coronavirus vaccines and the House passage of the relief bill. “There is light at the end of this dark tunnel of the past year,” Biden said. “There is real reason for hope, folks.”
The Senate confirmed two more of Biden’s cabinet nominees, Merrick Garland and Marcia Fudge. Garland was confirmed as the next US attorney general, and Fudge was confirmed to lead the department of housing and urban development. Michael Regan, Biden’s nominee to lead the environmental protection agency, is also expected to be confirmed later today.
The White House reiterated that migrants should not attempt to enter the US right now. Ambassador Roberta Jacobson, the coordinator for the southern border, said at the White House briefing today that the Biden administration is still working to recalibrate the US immigration system after four years of Donald Trump’s leadership. “The border is not open,” Jacobson said. Her comments come as the US has seen a surge in the number of unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the border.
The Dow Jones closed at a record high this afternoon, hours after the House passed the $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill.
The Dow closed at 32,297.02, marking the first time that the stock market has closed above 32,000.
The success of the stock market since Joe Biden took office will probably irritate Donald Trump, who frequently took credit for stock market gains (and ignored stock market tumbles) while he was president.
Joe Biden reflected recently on the last time a Democratic administration had to rescue an economy left in tatters by a Republican president.
“The economists told us we literally saved America from a depression,” Biden told the House Democratic Caucus last week. “But we didn’t adequately explain what we had done. Barack was so modest; he didn’t want to take, as he said, a ‘victory lap’. I kept saying, ‘Tell people what we did.’ He said, ‘We don’t have time. I’m not going to take a victory lap.’ And we paid a price for it, ironically, for that humility.”
The 46th US president is often lauded for his humility but don’t expect him to repeat Obama’s mistake. Once his $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill is signed, he is set to take an extended victory lap by travelling the country to promote it.
Biden will have short and long sales pitches. First, that help is on the way after the hellish year of a pandemic that has killed more than 528,000 people in the US and put many millions out of work.
The stimulus, among the biggest in history, includes $400bn to fund $1,400 direct payments to most Americans (unlike Donald Trump, Biden’s signature will not appear on the cheques), $350bn in aid to state and local governments and increased funding for vaccine distribution.
The American Rescue Plan is not without disappointments for progressives, notably the lack of a $15-per-hour minimum wage, a harbinger of how difficult an evenly divided Senate will be for Biden to handle. All the more reason to enjoy his victory lap and celebrate that four decades of Reaganism and “trickle down” economics are at an end.
After concluding his prepared remarks, Joe Biden answered one question that a reporter shouted at him as he walked away from the podium.
The reporter asked the president what the US would do with its surplus coronavirus vaccine doses, if the country ends up with more doses than it needs.
“If we have a surplus, we’re going to share it with the rest of the world,” Biden replied. “We’re not going to be ultimately safe until the world is safe.”
With that, Biden departed the event, ignoring the other questions that reporters shouted at him.
Biden celebrates relief bill's passage: 'There is light at the end of this dark tunnel'
Joe Biden celebrated the House passage of the coronavirus relief bill, noting that he will sign the legislation on Friday.
“This bill represents a historic, historic victory for the American people, and I look forward to signing it later this week,” Biden said.
The president said the relief package would help ensure the US has more vaccines, more vaccinators and more vaccination sites in the coming months. Biden also emphasized the bill would allow schools to reopen safely, which he has said is a key priority for his administration.
Biden will deliver a primetime address tomorrow night, his first primetime speech as president, and he said he will use the opportunity to outline the next stage of the pandemic response.
“I’m going to talk about what comes next,” Biden said. “There is light at the end of this dark tunnel of the past year ... There is real reason for hope, folks.”
US will purchase another 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Biden confirms
Joe Biden confirmed that his administration will purchase another 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine.
The president said the additional doses would ensure that the US government has “maximum flexibility” as it continues to distribute coronavirus vaccines to the American people.
“A lot can happen. A lot can change. And we need to be prepared,” Biden said.
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine has been shown to be less effective than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, but it has the benefit of being a single-dose vaccine, rather than the double-dose options from Pfizer and Moderna.
Joe Biden commended Johnson & Johnson and Merck, who are usually rivals in the corporate health sector, for coming together to produce Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine.
The president described the companies’ partnership as the start of “a new chapter in our battle against Covid-19”.
Biden added that the companies’ joint efforts are the latest example of American businesses “putting patriotism and public health first” as the country confronts coronavirus.
