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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Biden meets with lawmakers about supply chain vulnerabilities

In keeping with the White House's focus of the day, Biden held a bipartisan Oval Office meeting Wednesday with House and Senate members ahead of signing an executive order mandating a review of critical U.S. supply chains.

"The last year has shown the vulnerability we have with some of the supply chains, including the PPE that we needed badly but had to go abroad to get. And there are current strategies," Biden said.

Biden praised the bipartisan effort to address the shortage of the chips for cars and said the group planned to discuss the problem, along with other shortage issues.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle


White House 'surprised' by number of J&J vaccine doses ready to ship

The White House was surprised to discover that Johnson & Johnson will only have about 3 to 4 million doses of its vaccine ready to ship once the FDA grants an emergency use authorization, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a press briefing Wednesday.

Johnson & Johnson had estimated it could ship 12 million doses at the end of February in a $1 billion contract signed with the federal government in August.

“We were surprised to learn that Johnson & Johnson was behind on their manufacturing. As you noted, it was kind of reported earlier to be about 10 million, and now it's more like 3 to 4 million doses that they would be ready to ship next week if they are moved through the FDA process, which is not yet concluded, just to note," Psaki said. "And we are going to continue to work with them on ensuring that that can be expedited.”

Despite the initial availability, Johnson & Johnson has said it expects 20 million doses to be available by the end of March and to meet its contractual obligation for 100 million doses by the end of June.

-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky


Harris swears in Thomas-Greenfield as UN ambassador

Veteran diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield was sworn in Wednesday morning as Biden's U.N. ambassador. Thomas-Greenfield, known for her "gumbo diplomacy", is a Louisiana native and child of the segregated South.

After being sworn in, Thomas-Greenfield tweeted saying she was "honored" to hold the post.

"Diplomacy is back. Multilateralism is back," Thomas-Greenfield said in the tweet. "America is back."


Tanden confirmation 'a numbers game': Psaki

White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked during a press briefing Wednesday whether the postponement of Senate hearings for Biden's pick to manage the Office of Management and Budget was a setback and Psaki said she wouldn't "put it in those terms."

Psaki emphasized that the administration is still "fighting" for Tanden's nomination and remains committed to getting Biden's pick confirmed. When asked whether Tanden had offered to withdraw her nomination, Psaki said that is "not the stage" the administration is in.

"The stage we’re in is working to continue to fight for her nomination. And, as you know, it’s a numbers game, right? It's a matter of getting one Republican to support her nomination," Psaki said. "We're continuing to do that outreach, answer questions they have, and continue to reiterate her qualifications."


Garland 'shocked' by videos of Black Americans being killed by law enforcement

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., in his first line of questioning as a member of the Judiciary Committee, asked Garland how he could use his power as attorney general to make equal justice for all Americans a possibility.

Garland said he was "deeply aware" of the moment the country is in with regards to racial justice and that it was a substantial part of why he wants to be attorney general. He cited over-incarceration of Black Americans and other minorities, reducing the emphasis on prosecuting lower-level crimes like marijuana possession and the need for greater discretion to prosecutors in terms of not pursuing the harshest sentences for crimes that aren't of a violent nature.

Ossoff also said that Tuesday marks the one-year anniversary of the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery and asked Garland how he planned to use the DOJ's authority to ensure that local agencies are held to account.

"What I will say is that like many, many Americans I was shocked by what I saw in videos of Black Americans being killed over this last summer. That, I do think, created a moment in the national life that brought attention from people who had not seen what Black Americans and other members of communities of color had known for decades, but it did bring everything to the fore and created a moment," Garland said. "We have an opportunity to make dramatic changes and really bring forth equal justice under the law which is our commitment of the Justice Department for the Civil Rights Division is the place where we focus these -- these operations."

-ABC News' Alexander Mallin