For 85 minutes, Kamala Harris became the first woman with presidential power
By Kate Sullivan, President Joe Biden on Friday temporarily transferred power to Vice President Kamala Harris while he was under anesthesia for a routine colonoscopy for one hour and 25 minutes, according to the White House. The nation’s first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president broke yet another barrier when she temporarily stepped into the acting role. Harris worked from her office in the West Wing while Biden was under anesthesia, according to Psaki. “@POTUS spoke with @VP and @WHCOS at approximately 11:35am this morning. @POTUS was in good spirits and at that time resumed his duties.
House Democrats expected to pass Biden’s social safety net expansion following overnight delay
By Clare Foran and Manu Raju, House Democrats are planning to pass President Joe Biden’s sweeping $1.9 trillion social safety net expansion legislation on Friday morning after House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy stalled an effort to vote Thursday evening by delivering a record-breaking marathon floor speech overnight. His delay was not expected to affect the eventual outcome of the vote, as Democrats projected confidence that they had enough support to send the measure to the Senate, where significant hurdles remain. Moderate Senate Democrats are expected to demand changes to the bill, meaning the House will likely have to vote on it again in the
Biden announces two new circuit court selections in first-year sprint to fill judicial openings
By Phil Mattingly, President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced two new selections to serve as circuit judges as the push to name — and confirm — a raft of judicial nominees stays a central focus of the White House and Senate Democrats, according to a White House official. Biden has selected Andre B. Mathis as his nominee to serve on the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals, the official said. Judge Alison J. Nathan will be nominated to serve on the 2nd US Court Circuit of Appeals. Nathan is currently presiding over the criminal trial of former Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Here’s what’s in the bipartisan infrastructure package
By Katie Lobosco and Tami Luhby, President Joe Biden signed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill into law Monday, finalizing a key part of his economic agenda. It will deliver $550 billion of new federal investments in America’s infrastructure over five years, touching everything from bridges and roads to the nation’s broadband, water and energy systems. Experts say the money is sorely needed to ensure safe travel, as well as the efficient transport of goods and produce across the country. The nation’s infrastructure system earned a C- score from the American Society of Civil Engineers earlier this year. Democrats claim the legislation pays for itself
Biden signs order to address ‘crisis of violence’ against Native Americans at White House summit
By Donald Judd and Kate Sullivan, President Joe Biden signed an executive order Monday directing federal agencies, including the departments of Justice, Interior and Homeland Security, to create a strategy addressing what the President called a “crisis of violence” against Native Americans. “Today, I’m directing federal officials to work with tribal nations on a strategy to improve public safety and advanced justice,” Biden said at the White House’s first-ever Tribal Leaders Summit. The President continued: “This builds on the work we did together on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act in 2013, when we granted authority to tribes to exercise
Biden signs infrastructure bill into law at rare bipartisan gathering
By Betsy Klein and Kate Sullivan, President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package and marked the major legislative victory at a White House event with lawmakers from both parties. “The bill I’m about to sign into law is proof that despite the cynics, Democrats and Republicans can come together and deliver results. We can do this. We can deliver real results for real people,” Biden said, speaking from the South Lawn at the White House. The President said: “We’re taking a monumental step forward to build back better as a nation.” “Here in Washington, we’ve heard countless speeches and promises and white papers from experts. But today
Biden taps former New Orleans mayor to oversee implementation of massive infrastructure bill
By Kaitlan Collins, John Harwood and Paul LeBlanc, President Joe Biden has selected former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu to oversee the implementation of the roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, the White House announced Sunday evening. Landrieu’s role underscores the substantial effort that officials say it will take to enact the massive piece of legislation, which is the first of its kind in decades. Biden and congressional Democrats hope to have some tangible benefit from the new law before next year’s midterm elections but are mindful that the appearance of wasted money could sour the public on a package that, for now,
Congress returns Monday with government funding, debt ceiling, economic bill looming
By Daniella Diaz, While Democratic leaders plan to take a victory lap Monday to celebrate President Joe Biden signing the bipartisan infrastructure bill, other pressing issues remain for lawmakers when they return for session this week. All eyes will turn to finishing negotiations on the separate multitrillion dollar economic bill that would expand the nation’s social safety net, as well as on government funding and the debt ceiling, which are both set to expire in early December. In a letter to Democratic colleagues Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said it is “likely” lawmakers will need to pass a continuing resolution — or a temporary extension
Biden wanted to remind Democrats what it was like to win. Now he’s aiming to capitalize on that momentum.
By Phil Mattingly, When President Joe Biden worked the phones for hours late into Friday night to push through his massive infrastructure bill, what he really wanted was to show Democrats what it felt like to win. After months of missed deadlines, simmering distrust and political fallout, White House officials now hope success can breed success. The victory came at a critical moment for a party and a President mired in months of internecine legislative warfare that had largely overshadowed the actual policies in question. Getting the $1.2 trillion package over the line is viewed by the White House and its Democratic allies as a
FW de Klerk, South Africa’s last apartheid leader who freed Nelson Mandela, dies at 85
By Rob Picheta, FW de Klerk, the last leader of apartheid-era South Africa who shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela after working to end racial segregation in the country, has died at 85, his foundation said on Thursday. De Klerk released Mandela, his subsequent successor, from prison and laboriously negotiated with him a transition to democracy, ending a decades-long segregationist system that kept South Africa’s White minority in power over the Black majority for generations. The two men shared the peace prize in 1993 for their work to end the policy, but de Klerk — who had served in governments