House expected to pass COVID relief bill next week

The legislation includes an increase to the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Last Updated: February 25, 2021, 1:45 AM EST

This is Day 33 of the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Top headlines:

Here is how events are unfolding. All times Eastern.
Feb 16, 2021, 12:55 PM EST

Biden allies in Congress expected to introduce immigration reform bill this week

President Biden's allies on Capitol Hill are expected to introduce an immigration reform bill later this week, in what could be Democrat’s most ambitious attempt to overhaul the hardline border policies of the Trump administration. Multiple sources tell ABC News the bill is expected to be introduced on Thursday.

While it’s unclear exactly what the legislation will include, it is expected to mirror many of the immigration priorities Biden laid out on day one of his administration – including a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants and prioritizing keeping families together by eliminating visa backlogs.

President Joe Biden speaks alongside Vice President Kamala Harris about his administration's response to the coup in Myanmar in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex, Feb. 10, 2021.
Patrick Semansky/AP

Past attempts to overhaul the U.S. immigration system have failed under both parties. The Biden administration has signaled it may have better luck by splitting up the legislation – rather than putting everything in one giant reform package. But ABC News has learned Democrats spearheading this effort on Capitol Hill are, for now, committed to one major legislative push. One Democratic aide insisted no conversations about splitting the package up are occurring.

Biden has already taken sweeping executive action aimed at undoing some of former President Trump’s hallmark initiatives on immigration – from halting construction of the southern border wall to reversing the Trump administration plans to exclude undocumented immigrants from the Census count. He has been able to make these changes since Trump enacted many of these policies through a series of executive actions, as opposed to legislation.


-ABC News' Cecilia Vega, Ben Gittleson, Molly Nagle, Quinn Owen, Benjamin Siegel and Sarah Kolinovsky

Feb 16, 2021, 9:36 AM EST

Biden to use 1st trip as president to make case for his COVID relief plan

With Trump's impeachment trial no longer dominating the headlines, Biden is making his first official trip as president Tuesday to visit Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as he tries to drum up popular support for his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.

Biden is taking his case directly to the American people at a CNN town hall in Milwaukee at 9 p.m. ET ahead of another Midwestern trip -- to Michigan on Thursday -- to visit a Pfizer manufacturing site.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at Andrews Air Force Base after spending the weekend at Camp David, Feb. 15, 2021, in Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
Evan Vucci/AP

The White House has maintained that while GOP senators in Washington are balking at his costly plan, a large majority of Americans support it, as well as several Republican governors and mayors.

Biden's first trip official trip outside Washington as president -- amid an ongoing pandemic and still struggling economy -- also provides him the chance to show the one-on-one empathy with Americans he's made his trademark.

Feb 15, 2021, 9:56 PM EST

Several Americans injured in rocket attack in Iraq

A U.S. service member and several American contractors were injured in a rocket attack near Iraq's Erbil International Airport on Monday, according to a statement from Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

One non-American, civilian contractor was killed, according to initial reports of the attack.

A statement from the Ministry of the Interior of the Kurdistan Regional Government said a number of rockets were launched toward the city of Erbil and landed on several sites at 9:30 p.m. local time. Three missiles fell near Erbil International Airport, a source at Iraq's Ministry of Interior confirmed to ABC News.

"We are outraged by today’s rocket attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region," Blinken said in his statement.

"We express our condolences to the loved ones of the civilian contractor killed in this attack, and to the innocent Iraqi people and their families who are suffering these ruthless acts of violence," the statement continued.

Blinken's statement did not say who was behind the attack or throw blame on Iran, but a Shite militia group has claimed responsibility, according to SITE Intel.

The U.S. secretary of state also confirmed he called the prime minister of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, to pledge U.S. support.

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan, Cindy Smith and Christine Theodorou

Feb 15, 2021, 9:04 PM EST

Trump celebrates Presidents Day, backlash grows against Republicans who voted to convict

Former President Donald Trump on Monday made his first public appearance since his Senate acquittal over the weekend, greeting supporters from his motorcade as he passed them by in West Palm Beach, Florida.

It was one of just a few public sightings of Trump off the golf course since he left the White House and relocated to his new home state on Jan. 20.

The former president celebrated his acquittal with supporters in Florida on Presidents Day. Democrats point out it was the most bipartisan presidential impeachment verdict in history.
3:57

Backlash grows against Republicans who voted to convict Trump

The former president celebrated his acquittal with supporters in Florida on Presidents Day. Democrats point out it was the most bipartisan presidential impeachment verdict in history.
ABCNews.com

Meanwhile, the seven Republican senators who joined Democrats to vote to convict the former president are facing backlash from their home states.

Sen. Bill Cassidy was unanimously censured by the Louisiana GOP executive committee just hours after he voted on Saturday and Sen. Richard Burr was censured by the North Carolina Republican Party Central Committee in an unanimous vote on Monday.

ABC News' Will Steakin, Meg Cunningham and Quinn Scanlan