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, lawmakers to tackle supply chain in meeting

The president will hold a bipartisan meeting to discuss U.S. supply chains with House and Senate members in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon. Biden will later sign an executive order on the economy with Harris in attendance.

The order is expected to mandate a 100-day review of critical product supply chains in the U.S. focused on those for computer chips, large capacity batteries, active pharmaceutical ingredients and critical minerals and strategic materials, including rare earth minerals. The order is part of the administration's effort to secure domestic supply chains in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that highlighted vulnerabilities that currently exist.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle


Trump's role in Jan. 6 siege looms over business of Washington: The Note

The first of what will be many congressional hearings on the Capitol siege revealed how much is still not known about what happened Jan. 6 -- even after an impeachment trial, evidence unearthed in scores of prosecutions and countless hours of videos of the attack itself. Perhaps the most obvious blind spot is what former President Donald Trump knew and what he did about it in real-time.

Tuesday's hearing raised a series of questions that directly involve the previous administration. Current and former law-enforcement officials aren't sure why FBI intelligence didn't make its way to the Capitol Police or why National Guard and Pentagon resources weren't faster to arrive when it became clear how awful the situation was.

Judge Merrick Garland plans to make Jan. 6 investigations his first priority after he becomes attorney general. And even with additional hearings Wednesday, Thursday and beyond, the concept of a bipartisan commission to investigate the events leading up to and during the siege is gaining traction on Capitol Hill.
Many of the most consequential questions rest with Trump -- assuming he is put in a position of having to answer them.

-ABC News Political Director Rick Klein


Tanden nomination delayed amid criticism

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


House to vote on COVID relief Friday

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced that lawmakers will vote Friday on the president's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan.

Once approved, the legislation heads to the Senate for consideration.

-ABC News' Mariam Khan and Benjamin Siegel


White House defends airstrikes as 'necessary' and 'proportionate'

After the U.S. conducted a military airstrike in eastern Syria along the border with Iraq on Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the president's authority to carry out the strike amid bipartisan pushback from members of Congress.

"As a matter of domestic law, the president took this action, pursuant to his Article II authority to defend U.S. personnel. The targets were chosen to correspond to the recent attacks on facilities, and to deter the risk of additional attacks over the coming weeks," Psaki said. "As a matter of international law, the United States acted pursuant to its right of self-defense, as reflected in Article 51 of the U.N. charter."

Psaki said the move was "necessary" and "proportionate" and reflected the president's unambiguous commitment to protecting American lives.

The Department of Defense briefed congressional leadership before the action Thursday night, according to a spokesperson on the National Security Council. The administration has been briefing lawmakers at the member and staff level Friday. There will be a full classified briefing early next week, and sooner if Congress wants, according to the spokesperson.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle