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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Blinken calls for reform in remarks to UN human rights council

In pre-taped remarks, Biden's new Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered his first address to the U.N. Human Rights Council since the U.S. moved to rejoin as an observer. Blinken said the U.S. will seek full-time membership for the 2022 term.

In his remarks, Blinken called for reform of the council, including members with anti-Israel bias and members that "undermine" human rights. He even called out a few countries by name, including Russia, Iran, Venezuela and China -- all members. Blinken also noted America’s imperfect human rights record, citing discrimination and violence toward Black, indigenous and Asian Americans.

"I recognize that any pledge to fight for human rights around the world must begin with a pledge to fight for human rights at home," Blinken said. "People of color in the United States deal every day with the consequences of systemic racism and economic injustice."

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan and Chad Murray


Biden, lawmakers to tackle supply chain in meeting

The president will hold a bipartisan meeting to discuss U.S. supply chains with House and Senate members in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon. Biden will later sign an executive order on the economy with Harris in attendance.

The order is expected to mandate a 100-day review of critical product supply chains in the U.S. focused on those for computer chips, large capacity batteries, active pharmaceutical ingredients and critical minerals and strategic materials, including rare earth minerals. The order is part of the administration's effort to secure domestic supply chains in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that highlighted vulnerabilities that currently exist.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle


Trump's role in Jan. 6 siege looms over business of Washington: The Note

The first of what will be many congressional hearings on the Capitol siege revealed how much is still not known about what happened Jan. 6 -- even after an impeachment trial, evidence unearthed in scores of prosecutions and countless hours of videos of the attack itself. Perhaps the most obvious blind spot is what former President Donald Trump knew and what he did about it in real-time.

Tuesday's hearing raised a series of questions that directly involve the previous administration. Current and former law-enforcement officials aren't sure why FBI intelligence didn't make its way to the Capitol Police or why National Guard and Pentagon resources weren't faster to arrive when it became clear how awful the situation was.

Judge Merrick Garland plans to make Jan. 6 investigations his first priority after he becomes attorney general. And even with additional hearings Wednesday, Thursday and beyond, the concept of a bipartisan commission to investigate the events leading up to and during the siege is gaining traction on Capitol Hill.
Many of the most consequential questions rest with Trump -- assuming he is put in a position of having to answer them.

-ABC News Political Director Rick Klein


Tanden nomination delayed amid criticism

Biden's pick for director of the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, was supposed to testify before the Senate Budget Committee Wednesday morning, however the committee postponed Tanden's confirmation hearing, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

In addition, a vote on the nomination in the Senate Homeland Security Committee has also been postponed, a spokesperson told ABC News that the delay was because, "members need more time to consider the nominee."

Moments after news broke that two Senate committees postponed their votes on Tanden's nomination, White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended Tanden in a Twitter thread, making clear the White House is standing by their nominee.

"Neera Tanden is a leading policy expert who brings critical qualifications to the table during this time of unprecedented crisis. She also has important perspective and values, understanding firsthand the powerful difference policy can make in the lives of those going through hard times," Psaki tweeted.

The nomination has been in trouble since lawmakers became critical of Tanden’s combative tweets aimed at Republicans and her effort to delete them before her nomination. Her nomination was in danger of being derailed when moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced his opposition to her nomination, citing her temperament.

-ABC News' Trish Turner, Molly Nagle, Katherine Faulders and Sarah Kolinovsky


First lady visits the Houston Food Bank

First lady Jill Biden arrived at the Houston Food Bank around 1 p.m. on Friday with Texas first lady Cecilia Abbott, according to a pool report.

Biden and Abbott first stopped in the main lobby for several minutes and received a rundown of the food bank’s food distribution process from Nicole Lander, the organization’s chief impact officer. Lander told the first ladies that the food bank distributes an average of 18 million pounds of food per month during disasters, the equivalent of 20 tractor-trailer loads. Lander also noted that one in four children in the Houston area lacks consistent access to nutritious food, according to the report.

Biden and Abbott then moved to a warehouse room and joined volunteers in packing bags of food for the food bank’s Backpack Buddy program, which distributes food on weekends to students who rely on school meals during the week.

Biden packed canned peaches, while Abbott packed boxes of raisins.

They were joined by Houston Independent School District Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan, according to the pool report.

After their first stop, Biden and Abbott moved to a separate room to pack meals for seniors through the food bank’s Senior Box program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and provides a monthly box of food to roughly 11,000 low-income seniors in the Houston area, a separate pool report said.

Biden packed quick oats into boxes. Abbott also helped pack food boxes nearby, wearing a face mask emblazoned with the Texas flag.