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Last Updated: March 24, 2021, 12:17 AM EDT

This is Day 12 of the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Top headlines:

Here is how events are unfolding. All times Eastern.
Jan 28, 2021, 4:43 PM EST

Biden administration defends use of executive actions

White House press secretary Jen Psaki in a press briefing Thursday pushed back on criticism of the administration’s heavy use of executive actions, pointing to Biden’s continued work to get his COVID-19 package passed.

Psaki also added that Biden was simply undoing the damaging policies of the Trump administration with his actions.  

“In terms of executive actions, he also ran with a commitment to take steps immediately to address the pain and suffering that the American people were feeling," Psaki said. "And that includes overturning some of the detrimental, harmful, and at times immoral policies and actions of the prior administration. But he's the first to tell you, as he said many times publicly, he's not going to take executive action alone. That’s why he's put forward a number of packages that he's actively working with members of both parties to move forward on."

Thursday's actions on health care add to a series of executive moves by Biden in his first week as president, setting an ambitious tone for his administration on a number of policy areas. Since entering office on Jan. 20, Biden has signed more than 30 executive actions addressing the coronavirus pandemic, economy, immigration, climate crisis and more.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Jan 28, 2021, 3:58 PM EST

Emhoff makes 1st solo appearance as second gentleman

The nation's first second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, made his first solo appearance in his new role in the nation's capital on Thursday afternoon.

Emhoff visited The Farm at Kelly Miller Middle School to meet with representatives of Dreaming Out Loud, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit "focused on food security and economic opportunity."

He shared an elbow bump with the organization's founder, Chris Bradshaw, ahead of a "farm tour" in which both gentlemen donned masks. 

PHOTO: Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff speaks with Christopher Bradshaw during a visit to the farm at Kelly Miller middle school, Washington, Jan. 28, 2021.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff speaks with Christopher Bradshaw, executive director of Dreaming out Loud, a nonprofit organization focused on food security and economic opportunity, during a visit to the farm at Kelly Miller middle school, Washington, Jan. 28, 2021.
Nicholas Kamm/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Earlier in the day, Emhoff tweeted his designation was now official after Merriam Webster added "Second Gentleman" to their dictionary, and playing off a phrase of his wife's, said, "I might be the first, but I won't be the last."

Emhoff, an attorney, also taught his first entertainment law class Thursday morning at Georgetown Law, where he is a visiting professor.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff walks out of a greenhouse during a visit to the farm at Kelly Miller middle school in Washington, Jan. 28, 2021.
Nicholas Kamm/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Jan 28, 2021, 3:43 PM EST

White House 'not looking to split' COVID-19 relief package

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a press briefing Thursday that the White House is "not looking to split" the COVID-19 relief package the Biden administration has proposed.

Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a daily press briefing at the White House on January 28, 2021.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

"The reason is because we are not going to put ourselves in a place, or anyone in a place, where we're choosing between helping families to put food on the table and making sure kids get back to school, or making sure kids get back to school and getting a vaccine in the arms of Americans" Psaki said.

Earlier this month, Biden proposed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill with funding for ongoing vaccination efforts and to address immediate economic needs. However, even moderate Republicans in Congress, like Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, have expressed concern with the price tag.

Jan 28, 2021, 3:23 PM EST

Biden's DHS nominee moves toward confirmation

The nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to lead the Homeland Security Department has cleared a procedural hurdle in the Senate and is now expected to move forward to a final vote on Monday evening.

Following Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s motion to limit debate on the nomination -- the first time Schumer's had to use the tool to bypass GOP efforts to slow down a Biden confirmation -- the vote will go forward with 51 votes needed to confirm, according to a senior Democratic aide.

Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during President-elect Joe Biden's introduction of his cabinet member nominees, Nov. 24, 2020, in Wilmington, Del.
Washington Post via Getty Images, FILE

Mayorkas has received a wide swath of support from current and former law enforcement officials, including members of the largest federal law enforcement officer’s union, the Border Patrol union -- a bipartisan group of four former secretaries and police chiefs across the country. The support came after a group of Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee called on committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to hold an additional hearing to consider Mayorkas.

He would be the first Latino and first immigrant to serve as Homeland Security secretary, if confirmed.

-ABC News' Quinn Owen and Allison Pecorin

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