House passes bill named in honor of George Floyd aimed at preventing police misconduct
By Clare Foran, CNN The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved legislation aimed at preventing police misconduct that Democrats named in honor of George Floyd, whose death in police custody sparked nationwide calls to overhaul policing and address racial injustice. House Democrats originally introduced and passed the bill — titled the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act — last year in the wake of Floyd’s death, but it never passed in the Senate, which was under Republican control at the time. Supporters of the bill say it would improve law enforcement accountability and work to root out racial bias in
One year into the pandemic, America is still down nearly 10 million jobs
By Anneken Tappe, CNN Business The American job market is nowhere near fixed. Nearly one year into the pandemic, the nation is still down nearly 10 million jobs. Another 745,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits on a seasonally adjusted basis last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. It was a slightly smaller number of claims than economists had expected, but it was up from the prior week. And it’s still more than three times the number of claims in the same week last year. On top of that, 436,696 workers applied for Pandemic Unemployment benefits, which are available to
Senate preparing for series of politically tough votes amid Covid relief push
By Clare Foran and Ted Barrett, CNN The Senate is bracing for a series of politically tough amendment votes Friday that could stretch late into the night and into the early hours of Saturday, the last major hurdle senators face before voting on President Joe Biden’s sweeping pandemic relief bill. The long series of amendment votes, known as a vote-a-rama, is a Senate tradition that the minority party uses to put members of the majority on the record on controversial issues in an effort to make changes to a bill that they oppose. It’ll be a major test of Democratic
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