Biden will travel to Houston, Texas, on Friday with first lady Jill Biden in the wake of deadly winter storms that left millions without power and killed at least 17.

During his visit, the president will tour the Harris County Emergency Operations Center. Then the first lady will visit the Houston Food Bank to package food and water for the local community. After that, she and the president will meet with volunteers at the food bank. Biden will then visit a COVID-19 vaccination site, where he’ll deliver remarks.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki previewed the trip during a briefing on Thursday and noted that Biden would survey damage from the storm with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for the majority of the day. She also said that the trip was not a political one. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is also expected to meet Biden in Houston.

“He views it as an issue where he's eager to get relief to tap into all the resources in the federal government to make sure the people of Texas know we're thinking about them, we’re fighting for them, and we're going to continue working on this as they're recovering. There is plenty of time to have a policy discussion about better weatherization, better preparations," Psaki said. "And I'm sure that's one that will be had, but right now, we're focused on getting relief to the people in the state, getting updated briefings, tapping into all of the levers of federal government.”

Can you have a battle for a party if only one side is invited to the fight?

The Conservative Political Action Conference has long been a colorful if sometimes unreliable gauge of the state of the movement that powers the Republican Party. This year … not so much.

With the GOP divided about its future, the biggest gathering of conservatives in the early days of the Biden presidency gets underway in Orlando, Florida, on Friday as a tribute to all things Donald Trump -- up to and including rehashed and baseless complaints about the election.

Featured speakers include Donald Trump Jr., Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, Govs. Kristi Noem and Ron DeSantis, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Ambassador Richard Grenell and a wide range of pro-Trump House members and commentators. The former president himself, of course, speaks Sunday, in his first public speech since Jan. 20.

Not attending: Senators including Mitch McConnell, Ben Sasse or Mitt Romney; House members like Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger; former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley; former Vice President Mike Pence.

The theme of this year's CPAC is "America Uncanceled," though one speaker who had been booked was himself canceled for his extreme and anti-Semitic views.

But Trump and what he represents don't need to be "uncanceled" if they weren't canceled in the first place. It's hard to call it a comeback if the person and the movement in question never really left.

-ABC News Political Director Rick Klein

Biden spoke Thursday with King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia "to address the longstanding partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia," according to a readout from the White House.

The official readout of the call did not mention anything about the intelligence report on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi or the crown prince.

"Together they discussed regional security, including the renewed diplomatic efforts led by the United Nations and the United States to end the war in Yemen, and the U.S. commitment to help Saudi Arabia defend its territory as it faces attacks from Iranian-aligned groups.

"The President noted positively the recent release of several Saudi-American activists and Ms. Loujain al-Hathloul from custody, and affirmed the importance the United States places on universal human rights and the rule of law. The President told King Salman he would work to make the bilateral relationship as strong and transparent as possible. The two leaders affirmed the historic nature of the relationship and agreed to work together on mutual issues of concern and interest," the readout said.

At the end of his remarks for the National Governors Association winter meeting, Biden answered "yes" to a question about whether it "was a good call."

-ABC News' Senior White House Correspondent Mary Bruce and Molly Nagle

Biden joined a meeting of the National Governor's Association on Thursday afternoon. During the meeting, the group's chair, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., who has been under fire for nursing home deaths in his state and is facing fresh details concerning a harassment allegation, said the nation's governors support the president's COVID-19 relief bill.

Biden touted his plan, which has bipartisan support outside of the Senate, as helping all Americans. The president noted that 400 mayors have called him in support of the bill.

"It's clear that even when the immediate crisis passes, there’s going to be more work to be done to help constituents recover," Biden said. "And my administration will be there every step of the way with you, because when people in this country need help, they're not Democrats, Republicans, they're all Americans and people who need work."

Cuomo also said governors stand behind Biden's forthcoming infrastructure bill, which he has not yet released but touted on the campaign trail.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a remarkably candid moment, told reporters that during a closed-door lunch with his caucus Tuesday, he made a strong pitch for them to set aside differences over specific policies like the minimum wage hike and just vote for the president's COVID-19 relief bill.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., then went a bit further after Schumer left the room and said the majority leader had "begged" his members to drop their opposition, emphasizing that the relief bill is Biden's signature legislation, and they need to stick together.

"He's begging all of us -- despite disagreements people may have -- this is the Administration's signature bill...And we need to stick together," Durbin recounted.

Some moderate Democrats like Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., have expressed concern about a $15 per hour minimum wage hike included in $1.9 trillion relief proposal. Manchin said an $11 an hour increase would be more appropriate for his state.

Republicans have hammered Democrats for forcing the increase on businesses suffering under the economic strains of the pandemic, but supporters of the wage increase -- a doubling of the current federal minimum wage -- note that the Biden plan is implemented over a five-year period.

GOP Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Utah's Mitt Romney introduced a plan Tuesday that would increase the minimum wage to $10 per hour by 2025 with a mandatory requirement that businesses implement E-Verify to ensure undocumented workers do not receive the increase.

The GOP proposal is not expected to be adopted as Democrats speed toward passage of the overall Biden plan.

-ABC News' Trish Turner