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's AG pick to face questions before Senate Judiciary Committee
Merrick Garland, Biden's pick for attorney general, could face tricky political questions during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. In the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Garland and Democrats are expected to point to Garland's work prosecuting the Oklahoma City bombing as evidence of his ability to investigate and prosecute domestic terrorism.
"If confirmed, I will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol on January 6 – a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government,” Garland will say.
Garland's opening statement also conveys a commitment to equity, saying that upholding the Civil Rights Act remains "urgent" for the Department of Justice. Garland has received ample bipartisan support, ahead of his confirmation hearings before Senate Judiciary Monday and Tuesday, 61 former federal judges and a bipartisan group of more than 150 former Justice Department officials have penned letters in support of Garland's confirmation.
-ABC News' Alexander Mallin and Benjamin Siegel
GOP finds risky form of unity in opposing COVID relief bill: The Note
The Republican Party is both less divided and more divided than it seems at the moment -- and not in ways that glide along the easiest political paths.
On the question of former President Donald Trump, the GOP is less divided than a colorful House leadership news conference might make it seem. The party still belongs primarily to Trump, as the CPAC gathering that begins Thursday in Florida will demonstrate.
On the question of President Joe Biden's agenda, there's actually more GOP dissension than meets the eye. The first floor votes on Biden's COVID-19 package are coming Friday in the House, yet united Republican opposition in Congress doesn't align with public polling on the topic.
Among the public at large, Biden and his COVID plans are considerably more popular than Trump and opposing COVID relief, at least for now. But Republican lawmakers appear to fear more political blowback in opposing Trump than voting "no" on COVID bills.
-ABC News Political Director Rick Klein