House expected to pass COVID relief bill next week

The State Department has announced the U.S. is "ready" to accept talks with Iran and the other remaining parties of the Iran nuclear deal "to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran's nuclear program," according to spokesperson Ned Price.

The EU's deputy foreign affairs official Enrique Mora tweeted earlier Thursday that the body was ready to play facilitator again and host Iran and the P5+1 -- the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, who negotiated the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

The announcement from Price comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Thursday morning with his French, British, and German counterparts and presented a unified front on the way forward on Iran. In a statement, they notably agreed that Iran must return to compliance with the nuclear deal and then negotiate with the parties to "strengthen the JCPOA" and "address broader security concerns related to Iran's missile programs and regional activities" -- something Iran says it won't do.

The Biden administration is also rescinding moves by former President Donald Trump to restrict Iran at the United Nations. As a gesture of good will, it is easing the travel restrictions on Iran's diplomats in New York and withdrawing the Trump position that the U.S. had snapped back U.N. sanctions.

Offering to meet -- and that potential first meeting -- "may not necessarily be a breakthrough," said one official on a briefing call with reporters. "We're not going to hype it for what it isn't. But it is a step. Until we sit down and talk, nothing's going to happen. ... But if we don't take that step, the situation is going to go from bad to worse."

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan

Biden will once again take his message about COVID-19 vaccinations and relief on the road Friday, traveling to Kalamazoo, Michigan, to tour a Pfizer vaccine manufacturing plant. The trip was originally scheduled for Thursday but was postponed.

Before he travels to Michigan on Friday, the president will participate in a virtual G-7 conference. Biden plans to announce that the United States will contribute a total of $4 billion to a U.N.-backed program seeking to distribute COVID-19 vaccine doses to people in the poorest countries in the world, according to senior administration officials.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki gave a preview of Biden’s scheduled address to G-7 leaders during a press briefing Thursday, suggesting that he will take his main domestic agenda and apply it on the world stage.

“President Biden will focus on a global response to the COVID pandemic, including coordination on vaccine production, distribution and supplies, as well as continued efforts to mobilize and cooperate against the threat of emerging infectious diseases by building country capacity and establishing health security financing,” Psaki said.

The president will also virtually attend the Munich Security Conference on Friday.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle and Ben Gittleson

Congressional Democrats on Thursday unveiled sweeping immigration reform legislation, which essentially consists of a roundup of immigration priorities President Joe Biden laid out on his first day in office.

The reform proposal is the most ambitious effort so far to counteract the Trump administration's hardline border policies.

The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 would create an eight-year path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people in the country. The measure provides funding for more immigration judges and support staff to help with the backlog of asylum seekers. The bill provides for increased security at ports of entry focused on detecting drugs and other contraband.

Counties and municipalities will be able to petition for additional work visas as needed under the reform bill. The bill would also remove the word "alien" in the immigration code and replace it with "noncitizen."

It would end the three and 10-year bans on reentry for undocumented immigrants who voluntarily leave the country,
reform the legal immigration processes by no longer counting spouses and minor children against a country's share of allotted visas and would increase from 55,000 to 80,000 the number of diversity visas issued for countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S.

-ABC News' Cecilia Vega and Quinn Owen

White House deputy national security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall joined White House press secretary Jen Psaki in a White House press briefing with an update on the winter storm and power outages in Texas.

Sherwood-Randall said Biden held a call with governors on Tuesday to offer whatever federal help was needed, including approving emergency declarations in Texas, Oklahoma and processing a new request from Louisiana to allow FEMA to offer immediate assistance. 

Sherwood-Randall noted that as of Thursday morning, numbers of those without power in Texas have fallen from in the millions to around 600,000 but stressed that due to the nature of the storm, residents would likely still experience rolling power outages as officials work to restore power across the state. When asked for additional specifics on what FEMA had provided to Texas, Sherwood-Randall said FEMA “has made 60 generators and fuel available to support critical sites like hospitals and water facilities. It has moved in 729,000, liters of water, more than 10,000 wool blankets, 50,000 cotton blankets and 225,000 meals.”

Psaki addressed the winter storm’s impact on the vaccination effort, saying the administration was staying in close contact with partners.

“We're also working with our partners to move on scheduled deliveries whenever possible and to search shipment operations through the end of the week into the weekend. We're in conversation about extended hours and additional appointments to try and reschedule shots given the storm,” Psaki said. 

Psaki said Biden had spoken with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott two days ago to convey his commitment to helping and stressed that the president was being kept aware of the unfolding situation Thursday while working from the White House. She did not commit to a visit from Biden to the region due to the strain a presidential trip can put on local resources. 

-ABC News' Molly Nagle