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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WH faces questions on child immigration policy

After an expanded detention facility for child migrants reopened in Carrizo Springs, Texas, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., tweeted Tuesday, “This is not okay, never has been okay, never will be okay - no matter the administration or party.”

In a press briefing Wednesday, Psaki attempted to cast the Biden administration’s efforts to manage immigration as a major improvement over President Donald Trump’s policies but didn’t fully address Ocasio-Cortez's criticism that such facilities shouldn’t exist at all.

Psaki said the administration had three options when it comes to child migrants: to send them back to their countries (which she said can be dangerous), to transfer them to a facility managed by the Department of Health and Human Services, or to put them in the care of families or sponsors "without any vetting." She said the administration has chosen the middle option.

“What we are doing is working as quickly as possible to process these kids into these HHS facilities, which have been revamped, which have medical and educational services available, so that we can then transfer them to families. That's what our approach is,” Psaki said.

Psaki would not commit to a request to allow media in to prove that children are treated humanely, citing privacy and security concerns. Psaki tried to explain the administration’s options in dealing with minors at the border and why the detention facilities have become a primary strategy.

“This is a difficult situation. It's a difficult choice. That's the choice we've made,” she said.

Psaki also attempted to defend delays in transferring children from facilities run by Customs and Border Protection, which often lack amenities, to Health and Human Service facilities that are intended for longer-term care. By law, children are supposed to spend no more than 72 hours in Customs and Border Protection facilities after initial apprehension.

“There were some delays last week because of weather, and because some of these facilities to safely move these kids to, did not have power and were not in a place where they could -- they had the capacity to take in these kids and do it safely. That is not our objective. That is not our goal," Psaki said. "So some, unfortunately, did stay four days, five days, or longer, but the objective is to move them as quickly as possible to the HHS sponsored facilities.”

-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky


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."


Vote to rename post office delayed over election results vote

Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss., took to the House floor on Tuesday to speak in favor of his bill to name a Tupelo post office after U.S. Air Force Col. Carlyle “Smitty” Harris, a Vietnam prisoner of war who was held in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton."

The uncontroversial measure was slated to pass under the suspension of the House rules -- with debate expedited because it had the support of two-thirds of the chamber.

But in a surprise move, Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., blocked the measure, and instead forced the House to take a recorded vote on the bill Tuesday evening.

The reason? Kelly voted to overturn the election results on Jan. 6.

"As Representatives working every day on behalf of the American people, Rep. Casten believes that working with members regardless of political party is at the core of good public policy," Casten's chief of staff Cara Pavlock said in an email obtained by ABC News. "As a general matter, he does not suggest this action against members with whom we merely disagree, but that willingness to collaborate can only extend so far and to those that also hold the core value of upholding democracy."

"The vote to overturn the election results in the midst of a violent insurrection was a bridge too far," Pavlock wrote, adding that Casten also planned to vote against the post office renaming for that reason.

The bill did pass on a vote of 406-15.

The minor procedural dustup is one of many reminders of how Congress is still grappling with the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and that lawmakers are still coming to terms with how to approach colleagues who supported and amplified former President Donald Trump's efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 election.

-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel