Biden issued a major disaster declaration for Oklahoma in the wake of winter storms in the U.S. south. The declaration covers 16 counties in Oklahoma and allows increased federal funding for recovery.

On Saturday, Biden issued a major disaster declaration for Texas, which freed up funds to aid recovery efforts after the storms left millions without power. The president is set to visit Texas on Friday to see relief efforts and visit a vaccine distribution facility.

-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky

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

Tom Vilsack was sworn in as the secretary of agriculture Wednesday evening in a ceremony the vice president said was her first via Zoom.

Harris was in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with a pool of journalists and Vilsack appeared on a large screen with his family.

"Congratulations, Mr. Secretary and to the whole family," Harris said after he was sworn in. "The president is so excited. We've got a lot of work to do and we'll do it together."

Vilsack is returning to a role he held in the Obama administration for eight years. He previously served two terms as Iowa's governor.

He was confirmed on Tuesday by a vote of 92-7.

Biden has reversed former President Donald Trump's presidential proclamation restricting immigration during the COVID-19 pandemic citing the economy, saying it does not advance the interests of the United States.

"To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here. It also harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world. And it harms individuals who were selected to receive the opportunity to apply for, and those who have likewise received, immigrant visas through the Fiscal Year 2020 Diversity Visa Lottery," Biden wrote in a proclamation of his own.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

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