Tag: President Biden

Biden is said to nominate three to USPS board of governors

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President Biden will nominate a former U.S. Postal Service executive, a leading voting rights advocate and a former postal union leader to the mail service’s governing board, according to three people briefed on the nominees, a move that will reshape the agency’s leadership and increase pressure on the embattled postmaster general.

Biden will nominate Ron Stroman, the Postal Service’s recently retired deputy postmaster general; Amber McReynolds, the chief executive of National Vote at Home Institute; and Anton Hajjar, the former general counsel of the American Postal Workers Union, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal policy.

If confirmed, the nominees would give Democrats a majority on the nine-member board of governors, with potentially enough votes to oust DeJoy, who testified Wednesday before a House panel that his new strategic plan for the mail service included slowing deliveries. Continue reading.

Biden holds first bilateral meeting with a world leader, a virtual session with Trudeau

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President Biden held his first bilateral meeting with a world leader, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on Tuesday. In the virtual session, the two discussed the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and refugees. “Our nations share close geography and history that will forever bind us together. But our values are even more consequential,” Biden said in remarks after the session.

Trudeau welcomed the change in Washington with a tacit swipe at former president Donald Trump. “U.S. leadership has been sorely missed over the past years,” Trudeau said during the meeting.

Earlier in the day, the Senate held its first hearing examining breakdowns in intelligence gathering and security preparations surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of Trump. An FBI warning of potential violence reached the U.S. Capitol Police on the eve of the assault, but top leaders testified during a Senate hearing that they did not see it. Continue reading.

Why the US rejoining the Paris climate accord matters at home and abroad — 5 scholars explain

The United States is formally back in the Paris climate agreement as of Feb. 19, 2021, nearly four years after former President Donald Trump announced it would pull out.

We asked five scholars what the U.S. rejoining the international agreement means for the nation and the rest of the world, including for food security, safety and the changing climate. Nearly every country has ratified the 2015 agreement, which aims to keep global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius. The U.S. was the only one to withdraw. 

What rejoining Paris means for America’s place in the world

Morgan Bazilian, Public Policy Professor and Director of the Payne Institute, Colorado School of Mines

Amanda Gorman, the National Youth Poet Laureate, wrote in her poem for U.S. President Joe Biden’s inauguration, “When day comes we step out of the shade.” That’s a good articulation of why the United States is now rejoining the Paris Agreement. 

White House announces $4 billion in funding for Covax, the global vaccine effort that Trump spurned

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The White House is throwing its support behind a global push to distribute coronavirus vaccines equitably, pledging $4 billion to a multilateral effort the Trump administration spurned.

At a Group of Seven meeting of leaders of the world’s largest economies Friday, President Biden will announce an initial $2 billion in funding for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to be used by the Covax Facility, senior administration officials said in a briefing.

The United States will release an additional $2 billion over two years once other donors have made good on their pledges and will use this week’s G-7 summit to rally other countries to do more. Continue reading.

Where things stand on COVID-19 relief measure

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Democrats are aiming to move quickly on a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package and give President Biden a legislative accomplishment early in his tenure.

A multitude of House committees advanced portions of the bill last week, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told colleagues on Tuesday that the plan is for the bill to be considered on the House floor next week.

The bigger challenge lies ahead when the work shifts over to the Senate. The legislation will need every Senate Democrat to vote for it to pass if no Republicans back it. Continue reading.

Biden to increase number of vaccine doses to states

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The Biden administration will increase the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses going to states this week.

States will receive 13.6 million doses per week starting this week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday. The current shipment is about 11 million doses. 

That marks a 57 percent increase over the amount states were getting when Biden first took office, Psaki said.  Continue reading.

Biden extends foreclosure moratorium, mortgage forbearance through June

This is the second time President Joe Biden has extended the relief since he took office.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is extending the foreclosure moratorium and mortgage forbearance through the end of June as part of his efforts to address the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the White House announced Tuesday.

The administration’s actions continue programs that former President Donald Trump started last year. This is the second time Biden has extended the programs after having signed an executive action on his first day in office that pushed the expiration date to the end of March.

The White House also announced Tuesday that the administration is extending the enrollment window to request a mortgage payment forbearance and will grant six months of additional forbearance for those who enroll on or before June 30. Continue reading.

The Memo: Biden steps out of Trump’s shadow

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President Biden ran for election as an antidote to his predecessor. Now he faces a different test — whether he can sell his own agenda.

Biden travels to Milwaukee Tuesday, where he will hold a CNN town hall event. It is his first official trip as president.

There, Biden will make the case for the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package that is the keystone of his domestic agenda. Continue reading.

With Trump Gone, Security Agencies Can Confront Violent Far Right

President Joe Biden’s administration is expanding new grants from the Department of Homeland Security to target and prevent right-wing domestic terrorism after years of such efforts being effectively stymied by Donald Trump — and the department is ramping up its plans to combat what experts say is the greatest terrorist threat facing America today.

According to an NBC report, although the department’s Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism prevention originally directed some funding to these grants toward the end of Trump’s time in office, Biden’s new plan expands upon the funding available, which will include more than $500,000 allocated toward American University to study the “growing threat of violent white supremacist extremist information.”

DHS, which in 2019 founded the Office for Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention to prevent violent political extremism, is expected to continue to receive more funding from Congress during the Biden administration. Grants awarded from this office go toward state and local law enforcement efforts in combating domestic terrorism. Continue reading.

GOP tries to weaponize pandemic-exhausted parents against Biden

Aware of this emerging voter demo, the White House is hoping its agenda and relief bill will inoculate it against frustrations.

Distraught and exhausted parents are emerging as a new class of voters that could torment President Joe Biden — and the White House is moving quickly to head off the pain.

Nearing a year into the pandemic, Biden’s advisers and allies recognize that they need to respond to the spiraling angst felt by families or risk driving them into the arms of waiting Republicans.

It is a crucial test for Biden and Democrats as they try to consolidate their gains from the 2020 election. The pandemic has disrupted lives and exacerbated inequities and a raft of public and private surveys show clear political potholes and opportunities because of it. The coronavirus is spawning sweeping policy prescriptions from Democrats and Republicans alike, from billions in school reopening funds to the creation of a federal child allowance. And it’s prompting pollsters to loosely coin emerging voter demos like “women in chaos” and “families in crisis.” Continue reading.