Biden wants Congress to take action on gun reform

White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated that Biden's meeting with ten Republican senators at the White House Monday evening would be an "exchange of ideas" but did not guarantee any changes to the plan Biden has proposed -- the American Rescue Plan.

"He's happy to have a conversation with them," Psaki said. "What this meeting is not is a forum for the president to make or accept an offer."

Asked if was more important to go big as Biden has pressed in recent weeks or go bipartisan, on beat with his theme of unity, Psaki said the president believes they can have both with the package.

"And there is historic evidence that it is possible to take a number of paths, including through reconciliation -- if that is the path that is pursued -- and for the vote to be bipartisan. But it's important to him that he hears this group out on their concerns, on their ideas," she said.

Given the GOP counterproposal costs about a third of Biden's and jettisons some measures altogether, Psaki was pressed if the White House views their plan as a "serious attempt" at compromise.

"He felt it was an effort to engage on a bipartisan basis. That's why he invited them to the White House today. But his view is that the size of the package needs to be commensurate with the crisis -- crises we are facing, the dual crises we're facing, hence why he proposed a package that's $1.9 trillion," she said.

The White House COVID-19 response team at a virtual press briefing Monday announced the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services struck a $230 million deal with the Australian company Ellume to make millions of at-home, over-the-counter COVID-19 tests.

Dr. Andy Slavitt, a senior adviser to White House COVID-19 response team, said the self-performed, over-the-counter test kits can detect COVID-19 with roughly 95% accuracy within 15 minutes and will be available for about $30.

"They can be used if you feel symptoms of COVID-19 and also for screening for people without symptoms, so they can safely go to work, school, into events that are appropriate for people ages two and older," Slavitt said.

He said the test is performed in a mid-turbinate nasal swab which, he said, "basically means it's less invasive than the long nasal pharyngeal swab that people may have seen on the news."

The test user puts the sample into a digital analyzer which can send test results to a smartphone in about 15 minutes. Results would not have to be sent out to a lab.

Citing the contract, Slavitt said Ellume will be able to scale their production to manufacture more than 19 million test kits per month by the end of 2021, 8.5 billion of which are guaranteed to the U.S. government.

Asked how a $30 at home test fit into White House's equity goal and for screening people regularly, Slavitt said the unit costs can only come down with mass production.

The White House COVID-19 response team at a virtual press briefing Monday acknowledged coronavirus variants "remain a great concern," but overall stressed Americans should take a vaccine as soon as it becomes available, pushing back on any concerns over getting a vaccine now despite variants evolving.

"When the vaccine becomes available to you, please get vaccinated," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden's chief medical adviser on COVID-19.

Fauci said vaccinations are the best way to fight mutations because they prevent the virus from spreading and replicating.

"There is a fact that permeates virology, and that is: Viruses cannot mutate if they don't replicate," Fauci said.

He and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky also stressed wearing a mask and social distancing -- hours ahead of Biden's transportation mask mandate going into effect.

The Washington, D.C. area is bracing for more ice after the city’s biggest snowstorm in nearly two years left the district in a blanket of snow on Monday.

The weather delayed all Senate votes Monday including one on Biden's homeland security secretary nominee Alejandro Mayorkas to Tuesday. It also delayed the start to in-person learning Monday in the District leaving students to continue classes online instead.

The president on Sunday night, after a day of flurries, tweeted he was "Grateful for the short commute on days like these" along with a photo of him walking on the White House portico.

Though the Senate has essentially taken a snow day, ten Republican senators are still scheduled to meet with Biden at the White House later Monday to pitch a counterproposal to his COVID-19 relief package costing about a third of the size.