House expected to pass COVID relief bill next week

Biden held a phone call Tuesday evening with “with governors of states impacted by severe winter weather, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt,” according to the White House.

They discussed the severe weather across the south and central U.S., and Biden told them his administration was “prepared to assist and stands ready to respond to requests for Federal assistance from the governors and will deploy any additional Federal emergency resources available to assist the residents of their states in getting through this historic storm,” the White House said.

He also “expressed gratitude” to frontline workers, the White House added.

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson

Republican Sens. Tom Cotton and Mitt Romney are putting together a proposal to raise the minimum wage, as Sen. Bernie Sanders and other Democrats continue to push forward a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 in the next COVID-19 relief package. 

According to Cotton's Twitter thread Tuesday afternoon, the proposal will require employers to verify the legal status of their workers, and "gradually" raise the minimum wage by tying it to inflation. It would go into effect after the pandemic is over and would include "protections" for small businesses.

Romney's office told ABC News that the bill text and more details will be released next week. The Utah senator has suggested raising the minimum wage to around $10 an hour. 

The emerging proposal underscores the shifting politics around the issue and marks a potential opportunity for compromise down the road, depending on how Democrats decide the handle the minimum wage issue on Capitol Hill, since it's not expected to make it through the Senate in the COVID-19 relief legislation.

-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel and Mariam Khan

President Biden has been briefed on the reemergence of Ebola in Central and West Africa, "and his prayers are with the families who have died and those who are impacted," the White House said today, after Guinea this week declared an outbreak of the disease and Democratic Republic of Congo a week before had confirmed Ebola’s presence there, too.

Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, on Tuesday spoke with ambassadors from Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in order “to convey the United States willingness to work closely with the governments of affected countries, and neighboring countries whose citizens would be at risk of the current outbreak spread,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a written statement.

Psaki said "the world cannot afford to turn the other way” and pledged U.S. support to fight the spread of Ebola.

"The Biden Administration will do everything in its power to provide U.S. leadership to stop these outbreaks," she said, "working with the affected governments, the World Health Organization, the African Union and the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and neighboring states."

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., announced Tuesday that the House is expected to vote next week on the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package and that the vote could slide into the last weekend of February. 

"Members should be aware that the House may need to remain in session through the weekend next week to complete consideration of the American Rescue Plan," Hoyer said in a letter to colleagues Tuesday.

The House is expected to take up the Senate-passed version the second week of March.

-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel