Shalanda Young testifies before Senate as top Democrats pressure Biden to pick her for OMB director
By Alex Rogers, CNN Shalanda Young will testify Thursday morning before the Senate Homeland Security committee, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats publicly pressure the Biden administration to pick her to lead the Office of Management and Budget. White House officials have been quietly working through potential replacement options after Neera Tanden withdrew her nomination, including Young, Gene Sperling, the former Clinton and Obama administration economic official, and Ann O’Leary, a former top adviser to Hillary Clinton. But it’s clear that Young, the nominee for OMB deputy director, is a favorite on Capitol Hill. She has received
Senate gears up for marathon effort in push for Covid relief
By Clare Foran and Ted Barrett, CNN The Senate is bracing for a marathon effort and a late night of voting on amendments before lawmakers take a final vote on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill — it’s just not yet clear exactly when that will take place. A procedural move to advance the bill now seems on track for a vote Thursday, a Senate Democratic aide told CNN, with Democratic leaders still waiting Wednesday evening for the official cost estimate before bringing the newly revised bill to the floor. Democrats say the legislation is urgently needed to
Feds on high alert Thursday after warnings about potential threats to US Capitol
By Geneva Sands and Zachary Cohen, CNN Federal law enforcement is on high alert Thursday in the wake of an intelligence bulletin issued earlier this week about a group of violent militia extremists having discussed plans to take control of the US Capitol and remove Democratic lawmakers on or about March 4 — a date when some conspiracy theorists believe former President Donald Trump will be returning to the presidency. US officials on Wednesday alerted lawmakers to a potential threat, for which security has been enhanced as a precaution. The House changed its schedule in light of warnings from US
Senate confirms Cecilia Rouse to be Biden’s top economist
By Alex Rogers, CNN The Senate confirmed President Joe Biden’s nomination of Cecilia Rouse to chair the Council of Economic Advisers. The vote on Tuesday was 95-4. Rouse, a labor economist and dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, will be the first Black person to serve as the President’s top economist. She previously served as a member of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers and worked for President Bill Clinton’s National Economic Council. Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said Tuesday that Rouse had spent her career “focusing on
House to vote on sweeping government, ethics and election bill
By Clare Foran and Annie Grayer, CNN The House is expected to vote Wednesday on HR 1, a sweeping government, ethics and election bill that Democrats have made a signature legislative priority. HR 1 passed the House during the last Congress after Democrats won back the majority, but it failed to advance in the Republican-controlled Senate. Now that Democrats also control the White House and the Senate, House Democrats, led by Rep. John Sarbanes of Maryland, are poised to pass the legislation again. It is still likely to hit a roadblock in the Senate, however, where it’s not clear there
Left out of House stimulus, hospitals and nursing homes pin hopes on the Senate
By Tami Luhby, CNN Shut out of the stimulus package that passed the House last week, hospitals and nursing homes are hoping they can convince the Senate to give them an additional infusion of funding in its version of the $1.9 trillion relief bill. Congress last year created and poured $178 billion into the Provider Relief Fund to help hospitals, nursing homesand other health care providers pay for coronavirus-related expenses and offset revenue losses from postponing elective procedures. Hospitals, however, say that only $4.4 billion will remain in the fund by the end of the month. Yet the pandemicremains a
Frustration is growing over the obstacles Biden’s nominees of color are facing
Analysis by Maeve Reston, CNN President Joe Biden succeeded in nominating the most racially diverse slate of Cabinet nominees in history. But now the slow and contentious process of getting some of his top picks confirmed is leading progressive groups to question whether his nominees of color are facing a higher level of scrutiny than White male nominees of past administrations. It’s not yet possible to make hard data comparisons with past administrations, in part because the confirmation process is ongoing and in part because Biden’s picks have been more diverse overall. But there is a growing sense of frustration
Biden to huddle with Senate Democrats on Covid relief ahead of push for passage
By Clare Foran, CNN President Joe Biden is expected to huddle with Senate Democrats on Tuesday as the chamber gears up to pass the White House’s top legislative priority: a major pandemic relief plan. Biden is slated to join Senate Democrats virtually during their caucus lunch Tuesday afternoon, a meeting that comes as Democrats face pressure to stick together to pass the sweeping rescue package. Biden also held a virtual meeting with a group of Senate Democrats on Monday. The President’s ongoing outreach underscores the important role the narrow Democratic majority will play in getting the Covid package across the
UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield: Congress’ work in wake of Capitol riot ‘shows that our democracy is resilient’
By Caroline Kelly, CNN US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Monday that Congress’ work in the immediate wake of the US Capitol insurrection confirmed to her that American democracy had survived the January 6 attack. Asked by CNN’s Don Lemon how, as ambassador, she would calm allies’ potential concerns over what happened that day, Thomas-Greenfield replied: “What they saw on that day was extraordinarily painful for all of us. But what they also saw on that day that made us extraordinarily proud is that … after the riots ended, the Senate came back to their chambers and
Progressive House Democrats pressure Harris to invoke rarely employed move to ignore parliamentarian decision on wage hike
By Manu Raju, Chief Congressional Correspondent Liberal House Democrats are pleading with Vice President Kamala Harris to ignore the ruling of the Senate’s parliamentarian and decide that the $15 federal minimum wage can stay in the Covid relief package during Senate floor debate this week. Such a move has not been employed since 1975 — and taking that tack would generate pushback from senators from both parties who say relying on advice of the parliamentarian is paramount to maintaining order in the Senate. Moreover, the White House has been leery of taking that step, which would also generate staunch opposition