Biden says 'no time to waste' on COVID relief bill

The White House released a letter Saturday from President Biden to the speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate on the airstrike in eastern Syria, in his effort to keep Congress "fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Act."

"I directed this military action consistent with my responsibility to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct United States foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive. The United States took this action pursuant to the United States' inherent right of self-defense as reflected in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter," Biden wrote in the letter.

This comes following some bipartisan criticism the White House received over the decision to carry out the airstrike in Syria.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

As Biden departed the White House to board Marine One Saturday afternoon, he was asked if he planned to punish Saudi Arabia’s crown prince following a U.S. intelligence report that concluded he ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

Biden carefully teased an announcement but said it wouldn’t specifically pertain to Khashoggi’s murder. 

He said, “there will be an announcement on Monday as to what we’re going to be doing with Saudi Arabia in general.”

The president then left the White House for Delaware. 

On Friday the Office of Director of National Intelligence released a highly anticipated report on the death of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident who was murdered and dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in Oct. 2018.

It revealed the U.S. intelligence community found Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation to capture or kill him. 

The Saudi government has denied that that the crown prince was involved and instead blamed the death on a rogue team of government agents. 

The killing has roiled the United States' longstanding ties with Saudi Arabia.

Biden said he spoke to King Salman on Thursday, one day before the report was released.

In honor of Black History Month, NASA astronaut Victor Glover welcomed Harris to the International Space Station via virtual chat.

A pre-recorded video shared on Saturday by NASA, shows Harris and Glover discussing several topics, including the legacy of human spaceflight, observing Earth from the space station and prepping for missions from the Moon to Mars.

Glover is a long-duration crew member on the International Space Station and is responsible for spacecraft systems and performance.

House Democrat details reasons for voting "no" on COVID-19 relief bill 

Rep. Jared Golden, one of only two House Democrats who voted against the COVID-19 bill early Saturday, detailed his decision to vote no in a lengthy statement, taking issue with the size and scope of the package -- and the large price tag that comes with it. 

Golden said he supported funding for vaccine distribution and testing, and emergency unemployment benefits, but disagreed with the funding efforts that duplicate efforts still being funded by previous stimulus plans or that he views as unnecessary -- including the income range for the $1400 Direct Checks

"This bill allocates $1,400 direct checks to individuals making up to $75,000 and married couples making up to $150,000, with phased-down checks for households with incomes as high as $200,000. Under this bill, it is estimated that over 90 percent of Maine tax filers would receive a check from the federal government. While those who have lost jobs or had hours reduced ought to receive income support, it is a waste to send a third round of government checks to wealthy individuals making almost three times the average household salary in Maine’s Second Congressional District," he wrote.

Golden also took issue with the inclusion of the Child Tax Credit expansion, a two-year enhancement of premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, and multiemployer pension reform, saying he supported the policy but disagreed with passing them through an emergency bill. 

“Many have popularly claimed that the biggest threat is not that Congress goes too big but that it goes too small in responding to the current economic situation," Golden wrote, paraphrasing Biden's common talking point.

"They are ignoring the possibility of a much-anticipated infrastructure proposal from the Biden Administration later this year which could offer a chance for Congress to further boost the economy if necessary. Between the money spent in 2020 and today’s package, we are already nearing $6 trillion in new spending in less than one year. This amount of new spending is unprecedented since World War II. It’s not unreasonable to take a step back and ask ourselves if we are making every dollar count and picking the right priorities. At some point, the bill has to come due, and when it does, it could put at risk critical programs such as Medicare or sap resources needed for important future priorities, from rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure to fixing our broken healthcare system.”

Notably, nowhere in the statement is the issue of the $15 minimum wage mentioned.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle