On Tuesday afternoon, the president will meet virtually with a group of Black essential workers to thank them for their critical roles during the pandemic.

Then, Biden will participate in his first bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and after give a statement on the meeting.

Three of Biden's picks for key administration positions have hearings before Senate committees Tuesday.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to consider Debra Haaland for secretary of the Interior. If the Senate confirms her as secretary of the interior, Haaland would be the first Native American to serve in a presidential Cabinet and would be the first Native person to oversee an agency that's played a major role historically in the forced relocation and oppression of Indigenous people.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee will consider Xavier Becerra to serve as secretary of health and human services.

Republican opposition to Becerra has been mounting since Biden announced his nomination in December. On Monday, a group of Republican lawmakers penned a letter to Biden urging him to withdraw Becerra's nomination.

The group of lawmakers, including 11 senators and many more members of the House, argued that Becerra is inexperienced and ill-prepared to guide the agency. Democrats have argued that Becerra has extensive experience in health care policy, first as a congressman who oversaw components of Medicare and then as a defendant of Obamacare as attorney general, using that role to add new focus on the issue.

And the Senate Judiciary Committee will resume its hearing, which began Monday, to consider Merrick Garland for attorney general.

Garland received a fairly warm welcome from both sides of the aisle during Monday's hearing, and a few GOP senators expressed their support for Garland. In the first half of his confirmation hearing Monday, he told senators his first briefing once he takes office at the Justice Department will be on the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett, Allison Pecorin, Luke Barr and Alexander Mallin

The U.S. Treasury announced sanctions on two more Myanmar military commanders, specifically citing the killing of three peaceful protesters in recent days.

Moe Myint Tun and Maung Maung Kyaw are both generals who were named by the military to join the state administration council, the coup’s new ruling body.

This brings the total number of sanctioned Myanmar officials to 12, and it comes days after the British and Canadian governments followed the Biden administration in sanctioning coup leaders. The European Union’s foreign affairs council announced Monday that it “stands ready to adopt restrictive measures targeting those directly responsible for the military coup and their economic interests” and review Myanmar’s trade status.

“Those directly responsible” have shown no sign of even acknowledging whatever financial pressure these penalties bring -- although it is meant as a message to the millions who have protested in recent days against the coup that the U.S. is actively watching.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated Biden’s call for the military to relinquish power, free political prisoners, and halt attacks on peaceful protests, saying Monday evening in a statement, “We will not hesitate to take further action against those who perpetrate violence and suppress the will of the people. We will not waver in our support for the people of Burma.”

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan

Following his brief speech, Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff walked out to the South Portico at the White House where candles were lit and displayed on the steps for the moment of silence.

Earlier, the National Cathedral rang its bells to honor the more than 500,000 Americans who died from the coronavirus.

"I received a letter from a daughter whose father died of COVID-19 on Easter Sunday last year," Biden said before the ceremony. "She and her children, his grandchildren, enter Lent this season, a season of reflection and renewal, with heavy hearts. Unable to properly mourn, she asked me in the letter, what was our loss among so many others? Well, that's what has been so cruel."

"So many of the rituals that help us cope, that help us honor those we loved, haven't been available to us. The final rites, with family gathered around, the proper home going, showered with stories and love, tribal leaders passing out the final traditions of sacred cultures on sacred lands," he continued. "As a nation, we cannot and we must not let this go on. That's why the day before my inauguration ... I said, 'to heal -- to heal, we must remember.' I know it's hard. I promise you, I know it's hard. I remember. But that's how you heal. You have to remember."

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