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

He made brief remarks Saturday after the House passed the legislation.

This is Day 40 of the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.


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House passes $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package in party-line vote

The House approved a massive $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, advancing President Joe Biden's top agenda item and providing more resources to schools and businesses, boost funding for vaccinations and testing, and grant financial relief to Americans across the country.

Democrats passed the measure early Saturday morning in a party-line vote, with Republicans united against the bill calling for slimmer, more-targeted relief.

All but two Democrats supported the bill in the 219-212 vote, and no Republicans backed the package.

Reps. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., and Jared Golden, D-Maine, voted against the legislation.

The Senate is expected to take up the legislation next week, after the chamber's parliamentarian ruled that Democrats could not include a $15 minimum wage in the proposal over budgetary concerns.

-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel and Trish Turner


Biden offers unifying words on Texas, pandemic

Addressing Texas’ effort to recover from the recent winter storm and the nation’s effort to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, President Joe Biden offered a message of unity Friday night in calling on the nation to put aside partisanship and instead focus on working toward a common cause.

"When a crisis hits our states like the one to hit Texas, it's not a Republican or Democrat that’s hurting, it's our fellow Americans who are hurting, and it's our job to help everyone in need. Look out for one another, leave nobody behind. That's what we've seen today in our visit," Biden said, addressing a group in a parking lot outside a mass vaccination site in Houston.

He committed to the people of Texas that the federal government will not turn its back in the long road to recovery: "We will be true partners to help you recover and rebuild from the storms and this pandemic and the economic crisis. We're in for the long haul."

Turning to the topic of the pandemic, Biden applauded the progress on vaccinations -- specifically pointing to the Food and Drug Administration's advisory panel recommending authorization of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

"It's incredible. The precision, the safety, the pride, the sense of purpose, everyone involved at that facility. And we've all seen the news about Johnson & Johnson vaccine, today’s, just -- the third safe, effective vaccine. And it's out. It’s -- They've approved it today,” he said.

The president made a plea for taking politics out of the pandemic, saying it should unite and not divide the nation.

"There is nothing partisan about this virus. It's too long we've allowed the virus to divide us. I met today with Gov. [Greg] Abbott, Sen. [John] Cornyn, conservative Republicans. I'm a Democratic president," he said. "We disagree on plenty of things, and there is nothing wrong with that, but there are plenty of things we can work on together. And one of them is represented right here today -- the effort to speed up vaccinations."

"We're not giving shots to Democrats or Republicans. I say it again, we're giving shots to Americans," he added.

-ABC News' Jordyn Phelps


Republicans vote by proxy -- after slamming the idea a year ago

Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C., had a message for Democrats last summer about their proxy voting system set up during the pandemic: it was an "unconstitutional scheme."

"If you use Nancy Pelosi's proxy to skip work, you shouldn't get paid. It's as simple as that," he said in a June 30 Facebook video introducing his new bill withholding member pay for proxy voting.

Budd wasn't alone: A handful of House Republicans previously critical of the proxy vote system submitted letters to have colleagues vote for them, while they were scheduled to appear at CPAC.

Freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., tweeted last summer that leaders "show up no matter how uncertain the times are," and that Democrats were "cowards for hiding" and proxy voting.

He was also in Orlando on Friday, telling conservatives activists, "If we sit on the sidelines, we will not have a country to inherit."

"If we do not get involved and say that it is our duty to make sure that our country is responsible, that our country doesn't take away our liberties, then my friends, we will lose this nation," Cawthorn said.

Others Republicans scheduled to appear at CPAC on Friday who also planned to vote by proxy included Reps. Greg Steube of Florida, Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, and Matt Gaetz of Florida, who was one of the first Republicans to support proxy voting.

Curtis Kalin, a spokesman for Budd, said the congressman still opposes proxy voting, and will donate his salary for the days he used the system to a restaurant relief fund, given his bill last year, "The No Pay for Proxy Voting Act."

The Republicans who attended CPAC aren't alone in their questionable use of the proxy voting system -- established by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., last year to cut down member travel to Washington during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., was caught voting during a Transportation Committee hearing from a boat during a family trip to Utah. Stanton later apologized and said he "messed up." And several House Democrats voted by proxy last May in order to attend a SpaceX rocket launch in Florida.-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel


Biden says Houston Food Bank is 'incredible'

At the second stop on Biden's visit to Texas, Biden, first lady Jill Biden and Houston Food Bank CEO Brian Greene toured the food bank where the first lady had already spent time volunteering Friday.

During the tour, the Bidens went to a room with rotating shelves that carry boxes of food, called the carousel room.

Biden also spent time walking around and speaking with volunteers, even taking a selfie with some. When asked by the press what he thought of the place, he said it is, "amazing, absolutely amazing."

"It’s incredible! It’s an incredible place. They do an -- and they have so many talented people here. It’s not just volunteers, they’re really talented people who do, you know, a lot of work outside before they got here."

Earlier Friday, Biden visited the Harris County Emergency Operations Center in Houston.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle


160 CEOs ask Congress to pass COVID-19 relief

One hundred and sixty chief executive officers sent an open letter to congressional leadership Wednesday, urging lawmakers to pass "immediate and large-scale federal legislation to address the health and economic crises brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic" on a bipartisan basis.

The letter asks Congress to "to authorize a stimulus and relief package along the lines of the Biden-Harris administration’s proposed American Rescue Plan," perhaps leaving some room for negotiation on what the final package will look like. But the letter makes clear that major business CEOs, including the heads of Morgan Stanley, Visa, United Airlines, BlackRock, Comcast and Google are pushing for relief on the scale of Biden's plan.

"The American Rescue Plan provides a framework for coordinated public-private efforts to overcome COVID-19 and to move forward with a new era of inclusive growth. The country’s business community is prepared to work with you to achieve these critical objectives," the letter says.

Just Tuesday, though, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, one of the few Senate Republicans who has shown willingness to buck his party, criticized the $1.9 trillion bill in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

"The $1.9 trillion bill is a clunker. It would waste hundreds of billions of dollars, do nothing meaningful to get kids back to school, and enact policies that work against job creation. The Congressional Budget Office’s recent analysis of the plan found that more than a third of the proposed funding—$700 billion—wouldn’t be spent until 2022 or later, undermining the administration’s claim that the massive price tag is justified for urgent pandemic-related needs," Romney wrote.

Whether the pressure from big business will sway any Republicans in the Senate remains to be seen, but Wednesday morning's messaging from GOP lawmakers is pretty clear: They have no intentions of budging.

-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky