White House holiday decor honors COVID-19 frontline workers
Holiday decorations unveiled Monday for Joe and Jill Biden’s first White House Christmas honor frontline workers who persevered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurses, doctors, teachers, grocery store workers, and others are recognized in this year’s gigantic Gingerbread White House, which was made into a 350-pound (158.76 kilograms) gingerbread village with the addition of a school and police, fire and gas stations as well as a hospital, a post office, a grocery store, and a warehouse to honor workers who stayed on the job. Fewer people are likely to see the decked-out mansion in person this year, with public tours still suspended because of the continuing threat from COVID-19. But videos, photos, and other details are available at WhiteHouse.gov/Holidays. “Gifts from the Heart” is the theme. In remarks thanking volunteers for decorating, the first lady explained the vision behind her theme, speaking of unity and her view that everyone comes together around faith, family and friendship, gratitude and service, and love for one’s community. “For all of our differences, we are united by what really matters,” she said. “Like points on a star, we come together at the heart. That is what I wanted to reflect in our White House this year. In each room, we tell a story of gifts from the heart.” The first lady, a longtime community college professor, invited Maryland second graders for Monday’s unveiling of the holiday decorations. They were inspired by people the president and first lady met while traveling around the country this year, according to the White House. Frontline workers are also represented in the iridescent doves and shooting stars that illuminate the East Colonnade hallway, “representing the peace and light brought to us by all the front-line workers and first responders during the pandemic,” the guidebook says. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the White House holiday season in other ways, though it remained unclear how parties and receptions may be tweaked to compensate for it. White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said parties will be held, though they will be “different” from years past. Some indication will come Wednesday when the president and first lady and Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, light a menorah to celebrate Hanukkah. Emhoff, who is Jewish, helped light the National Menorah on the Ellipse on Sunday. Volunteers who decorated the White House came only from the surrounding area, instead of from all over the United States as in past years, because of COVID-19 concerns. The White House also wasn’t spared the supply shortages that many Americans are contending with. Some topiary trees took a little longer to arrive, said social secretary Carlos Elizondo. The other showstopper of holidays at the White House is the official Christmas tree, an 18-foot-tall (5.5-meter tall) Fraser fir that commands the Blue Room and is trimmed with white doves and ribbon bearing the names of all U.S. states and territories to celebrate peace and unity. More than 100 volunteers decorated the White House, including the Oval Office, while the Bidens spent Thanksgiving week in Nantucket, Massachusetts. They trimmed 41 Christmas trees and hung some 6,000 feet (2,000 yards) of ribbon and more than 10,000 ornaments. Twenty-five wreaths adorn the exterior of the White House, and nearly 79,000 lights illuminate the Christmas trees, garlands, wreaths, and other holiday displays. Christmas stockings for each of the Biden grandchildren — Naomi, Finnegan, Maisy, Natalie, Hunter, and baby Beau — hang from the fireplace mantel in the State Dining Room, which celebrates family, while two trees in that stately room are decorated with framed Biden family photos and photos of other first families during the holiday season. Many of the photos are personal favorites of Jill Biden, who picked them out of old family albums on trips home to Delaware, said Elizabeth Alexander, the first lady’s communications director. The decorations are the product of months of work by the first lady and her staff in the White House East Wing, starting as far back as June. A second grade class from Malcolm Elementary School in Waldorf, Maryland, was invited to the White House and bantered with PBS KIDS characters Martin and Chris Kratt from “Wild Kratts” and costumed characters Ms. Elaina, Daniel Tiger, Molly of Denali, Arthur, and Rosita from “Sesame Street.” The first lady then read her children’s book, “Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops.” “Let’s move on to happier things,” she said after stopping to ask the kids about their pets and one boy started talking about his dogs that had died. She invited a local National Guard family whose daughter was among the second graders to highlight the role the Guard has played in the U.S. response to COVID-19, and military families spending the holidays away from loved ones. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
White House: 10% of kids have been vaccinated in 1st two weeks
The White House says about 10% of eligible kids aged 5 to 11 have received a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine since its approval for their age group two weeks ago. At least 2.6 million kids have received a shot, White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday, with 1.7 million doses administered in the last week alone, roughly double the pace of the first week after approval. It’s more than three times faster than the rate adults were vaccinated at the start of the nation’s vaccination campaign 11 months ago. Zients said there are now 30,000 locations across for kids to get a shot, up from 20,000 last week, and that the administration expects the pace of pediatric shots to pick up in the coming days. Kids who get their first vaccine dose by the end of this week will be fully vaccinated by Christmas, assuming they get their second shot three weeks after the first one. State-by-state breakdowns of doses given to the age group haven’t been released by the White House or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but figures shared by states show the pace varies. About 11-12% of children in that age group have received their first doses in Colorado, Utah, and Illinois, but the pace is much slower in places like Idaho (5%), Tennessee (5%), and Wyoming (4%), three states that have some of the lowest rates of vaccination for older groups. The White House was stepping up its efforts to promote kid vaccination, with first lady Jill Biden and the singer Ciara taping a video Wednesday encouraging shots for kids. The first lady also visited a Washington pediatric care facility along with Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, the Washington Mystics’ Alysha Clark, and the Washington Wizards’ Thomas Bryant. “You’re the real heroes,” Biden told newly vaccinated kids. “You have your superpower, and now you’re protected against COVID.” Biden also warned parents against misinformation around the vaccines and emphasized their safety. “I want you to remember and share with other parents: The vaccine protects your children against COVID-19,” she said. “It’s been thoroughly reviewed and rigorously tested. It’s safe. It’s free, and it’s available for every single child in this country five and up.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Joe Biden, Mitch McConnell get COVID-19 boosters, encourage vaccines
Seventy-eight-year-old Joe Biden and 79-year-old Mitch McConnell got their booster shots Monday, the Democratic president and the Republican Senate leader urging Americans across the political spectrum to get vaccinated or plus up with boosters when eligible for the extra dose of protection. The shots, administered just hours apart on either end of Pennsylvania Avenue, came on the first workday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration recommended a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine for Americans 65 and older and approved them for others with preexisting medical conditions and high-risk work environments. Both leaders said that even though the booster doses provide more enduring protection against the virus, they weren’t the silver bullet to ending the pandemic. “Boosters are important, but the most important thing we need to do is get more people vaccinated,” Biden said. Nearly 25% of eligible Americans aged 12 and older haven’t received a single dose of the vaccines. They are bearing the brunt of a months-long surge in cases and deaths brought about by the more transmissible delta variant of the virus that has killed 688,000 in the U.S. since the pandemic began. “Like I’ve been saying for months, these safe and effective vaccines are the way to defend ourselves and our families from this terrible virus,” said McConnell, a polio survivor. Biden got his first shot on Dec. 21 and his second dose three weeks later, on Jan. 11, along with his wife, Jill Biden. Biden said the first lady, who is 70, would also receive the booster dose, but she was teaching Monday at Northern Virginia Community College, where she is a professor of English. “Now, I know it doesn’t look like it, but I am over 65 — I wish I — way over,” Biden joked. “And that’s why I’m getting my booster shot today.” Biden has championed booster doses since the summer as the U.S. experienced a sharp rise in coronavirus cases driven by the delta variant. While the vast majority of cases continue to occur among unvaccinated people, regulators pointed to evidence from Israel and early studies in the U.S. showing that protection against so-called breakthrough cases was vastly improved by a third dose of the Pfizer shot. But the aggressive American push for boosters, before many poorer nations have been able to provide even a modicum of protection for their most vulnerable populations, has drawn the ire of the World Health Organization and some aid groups, which have called on the U.S. to pause third shots to free up supply for the global vaccination effort. Biden said last week that the U.S. was purchasing another 500 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine — for a total of 1 billion over the coming year — to donate to less well-off nations. Biden took questions from reporters about his vaccination experience and matters of the day as a military nurse injected the dose into his arm. The president said he did not have side effects after his first or second shots and hoped for the same experience with his third. Vice President Kamala Harris, 56, received the Moderna vaccine, for which federal regulators have not yet authorized boosters — but they are expected to in the coming weeks. Regulators are also expecting data soon about the safety and efficacy of a booster for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot. At least 2.66 million Americans have received booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine since mid-August, according to the CDC. About 100 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 through the Pfizer shot. U.S. regulators recommend getting the boosters at least six months after the second shot of the initial two-dose series. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
White House: U.S. has capacity to evacuate remaining Americans
The United States has the capacity to evacuate the approximately 300 U.S. citizens remaining in Afghanistan who want to leave before President Joe Biden’s Tuesday deadline, senior Biden administration officials said Sunday, as another U.S. drone strike against suspected Islamic State militants underscored the grave threat in the war’s final days. “This is the most dangerous time in an already extraordinarily dangerous mission these last couple of days,” America’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said not long before confirmation of that airstrike in Kabul, the capital. The evacuation flow of Americans kept pace even as a new State Department security alert issued hours before the military action instructed people to leave the airport area immediately “due to a specific, credible threat.” Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that for those U.S. citizens seeking immediately to leave Afghanistan by the looming deadline, “we have the capacity to have 300 Americans, which is roughly the number we think are remaining, come to the airport and get on planes in the time that is remaining. We moved out more than that number just yesterday. So from our point of view, there is an opportunity right now for American citizens to come, to be admitted to the airport and to be evacuated safely and effectively.” Sullivan said the U.S. does not currently plan to have an ongoing embassy presence after the final U.S. troop withdrawal. But he pledged the U.S. “will make sure there is safe passage for any American citizen, any legal permanent resident” after Tuesday, as well as for “those Afghans who helped us.” But untold numbers of vulnerable Afghans, fearful of a return to the brutality of pre-2001 Taliban rule, are likely to be left behind. Blinken said the U.S. was working with other countries in the region to either keep the Kabul airport open after Tuesday or to reopen it “in a timely fashion.” He also said that while the airport is critical, “there are other ways to leave Afghanistan, including by road and many countries border Afghanistan.” The U.S., he said, is “making sure that we have in place all of the necessary tools and means to facilitate the travel for those who seek to leave Afghanistan” after Tuesday. There also are roughly 280 others who have said they are Americans but who have told the State Department they plan to remain in the country or are still undecided. According to the latest totals, about 114,000 people have been evacuated since the Taliban takeover on Aug. 14, including approximately 2,900 on military and coalition flights during the 24 hours ending at 3 a.m. on Sunday. Members of Congress criticized the chaotic and violent evacuation. “We didn’t have to be in this rush-rush circumstance with terrorists breathing down our neck,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah. “But it’s really the responsibility of the prior administration and this administration that has caused this crisis to be upon us and has led to what is without question a humanitarian and foreign policy tragedy.” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the U.S. policy in Afghanistan, with 2,500 troops on the ground, had been working. “We were, in effect, keeping the lid on, keeping terrorists from reconstituting, and having a light footprint in the country,” he said. U.S. officials said the American drone strike hit a vehicle carrying multiple Islamic State suicide bombers, causing secondary explosions indicating the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material. A senior U.S. official said the military drone fired a Hellfire missile at a vehicle in a compound between two buildings after individuals were seen loading explosives into the trunk. The official said there was an initial explosion caused by the missile, followed by a much larger fireball, believed to be the result of the substantial amount of explosives inside the vehicle. The U.S. believes that two Islamic State group individuals who were targeted were killed. In a statement, U.S. Central Command said it is looking into the reports of civilian casualties that may have been caused by the secondary explosions. An Afghan official said three children were killed in the strike. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. It was the second airstrike in recent days the U.S. has conducted against the militant group, which claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing Thursday at the Kabul airport gate that killed 13 U.S. service members and scores of Afghans struggling to get out of the country and escape the new Taliban rule. The Pentagon said a U.S. drone mission in eastern Afghanistan killed two members of IS’ Afghanistan affiliate early Saturday local time in retaliation for the airport bombing. In Delaware, Biden met privately with the families of the American troops killed in the suicide attack and solemnly watched as the remains of the fallen returned to U.S. soil from Afghanistan. First lady Jill Biden and many of the top U.S. defense and military leaders joined him on the tarmac at Dover Air Force Base to grieve with loved ones as the “dignified transfer” of remains unfolded, a military ritual for those killed in foreign combat. Sullivan said earlier that the U.S. would continue strikes against IS and consider “other operations to go after these guys, to get them and to take them off the battlefield.” He added: “We will continue to bring the fight to the terrorists in Afghanistan to make sure they do not represent a threat to the United States. In a joint statement, the U.S. and about 100 other nations said they are committed to ensuring that their citizens, employees, Afghans, and others at risk will be able to travel freely from Afghanistan. The statement said the Taliban had made assurances that “all foreign nationals and any Afghan citizen with travel authorization from our countries will be allowed to proceed in a safe and orderly manner to points of departure and travel outside the country.” The 13 service members were the first U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan since
‘Orange skies’: Joe Biden raising federal pay to fight wildfires
The Biden administration said Wednesday it is hiring more federal firefighters — and immediately raising their pay — as officials ramp up response efforts in the face of a severe drought that is setting the stage for another destructive summer of intense wildfires across the West. President Joe Biden announced the moves during a virtual meeting with governors from Western states and as a huge swath of the Pacific Northwest endures one of the worst heat waves in recent memory. Temperatures in Portland, Oregon, soared to a record 116 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, a fact Biden cited as “a wake-up call to the rest of the public” about the realities of climate change. “The truth is we’re playing catch-up″ on preparing for extreme heat and wildfires, Biden said, calling federal efforts “under-resourced″ compared with the deadly threat posed by climate change and extreme drought. “That’s going to change and we have to do it,″ Biden told the governors. “We can’t cut corners when it comes to managing our wildfires or supporting our firefighters. Right now we have to act and act fast.″ Recalling horrific scenes from wildfires in California and other states last year, Biden said, “Orange skies look like end-of-days smoke and ash.″ Biden’s plan would ensure that no one fighting wildland fires is making less than $15 per hour and would add or convert to full-time nearly 1,000 firefighters across a host of agencies. “Because of climate change, wildland firefighting is no longer a seasonal endeavor,″ the White House said in a statement. “With fire seasons turning into fire years, it is imperative to have a year-round workforce that is available to respond at any time … and is available to undertake preventive actions” such as cutting down small trees and brush that serve as fuel to fires that are increasing in size and intensity. Western states have been parched by severe drought and record heat that has burned more than 2,300 square miles (5,900 square kilometers) this year. That’s ahead of the pace in 2020, which saw a near-record 15,000 square miles (40,000 square kilometers) burned, killing dozens of people and destroying more than 17,000 homes and other structures. “Climate change is driving a dangerous confluence of extreme heat and prolonged drought,″ Biden said. “We’re seeing wildfires of greater intensity that move with more speed.” Biden has expressed dismay at the starting pay for federal firefighters, which is significantly lower than at many local and state fire agencies. Pay for new federal firefighters typically starts at $13 per hour. The pay raise will come in the form of retention incentives and by providing additional bonuses to those working on the front lines. More experienced permanent firefighters could also be eligible for a 10% retention incentive. Temporary firefighters will be eligible to receive some incentive pay under the plan. Wednesday’s meeting included eight Western governors, including six Democrats and two Republicans. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said he was pleased to be working with the White House, rather than as “sparring partners,″ as he described his state’s relationship with the Trump administration. “We were debating raking policies″ in forests, Newsom said, referring to comments by then-President Donald Trump that the state should “rake” its forests to reduce the risk of wildfires. With climate change, the wildfire seasons are only to get worse, Newsom and other governors said. “The hots are getting hotter, the dries are getting drier,” Newsom said. Three Republican governors, Greg Gianforte of Montana, Brad Little of Idaho, and Doug Ducey of Arizona, said they were disappointed at their exclusion from the White House meeting. “It is critical to engage governors fully and directly to have a productive discussion about how the federal government can improve its wildfire response and prevention efforts,″ Gianforte and Little wrote in a letter to Biden. A White House spokesman said the invited governors represented “a cross-section of states impacted by wildfires” and said Biden will continue to work with governors from both parties on the issue. The meeting with the governors came as the White House released a memo confirming its commitment to a clean energy standard, tax credits, and 500,000 charging stations for electric vehicles, among other climate goals as officials pursue a two-track approach on infrastructure. A memo by climate adviser Gina McCarthy and White House senior adviser Anita Dunn also pledges at least $10 billion to conserve and restore public lands and waters, address environmental injustice and create a Civilian Climate Corps to complete projects related to climate change and clean energy. The memo responds to criticism from environmental groups and other progressives who are frustrated that many climate-related initiatives were cut out of a bipartisan infrastructure plan announced last week. “We know more work needs to be done, which is why President Biden will continue championing″ the nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a separate, larger plan Biden and fellow Democrats aim to approve along party lines, the memo said. On wildfires, administration officials have pledged to work with Congress to find a permanent fix to increase firefighter pay and convert more seasonal wildland firefighters to year-round workers. The U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department combine to employ about 15,000 firefighters. Roughly 70% are full-time and 30% are seasonal. Those figures used to be reversed, but have changed as fire seasons have grown longer and more severe. Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat who has pushed the administration to ramp up its wildfire response, said Congress “can and should bolster these efforts” with legislation to lift a cap on overtime pay, create a permanent firefighting workforce and expand work to remove hazardous fuels to lessen fire risk. “The ongoing infrastructure debate in Congress gives us an essential chance to get this and other wildfire prevention efforts done,″ Wyden said. The meeting with governors came as Arizona marked the eighth anniversary of a 2013 wildfire that killed 19 members of an elite firefighting team. First lady Jill Biden, visiting a middle school in Phoenix, said
Jill Biden touts vaccine in poorly inoculated Mississippi
First lady Jill Biden visited one of the states least vaccinated against COVID-19 on Tuesday, encouraging residents of Mississippi to get their shots and telling them, “The White House, our administration — we care about you.” “I’m here today to ask all of the people who can hear my voice, who can see my face, to get their shot,” Biden said after visiting a clinic at Jackson State University, one of the largest historically Black universities in the country. She was scheduled to visit another vaccination clinic in Nashville with country singer Brad Paisley later Tuesday. Mississippi and Tennessee have consistently ranked among the U.S. states with the fewest number of residents vaccinated against COVID-19, along with Alabama. Approximately 30% of Mississippi’s total population is fully vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health. The first lady said she wanted to visit states like Mississippi and Tennessee because the current vaccination rates are “just not enough.” “That’s why the White House said, ‘Jill, please, can you go to Mississippi?’ Because the president, the White House, our administration, we care about you, we care about the people of Mississippi. We want them to be safe. We want them to be healthy.” Mississippi’s U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who was present at Tuesday’s event in the state capital, said it’s important for Biden to be in Mississippi “given the demographics of the population that is most vulnerable.” Mississippi is among the states in the U.S. with the highest number of chronic health conditions that can make people more vulnerable to COVID-19, such as diabetes and heart disease. Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs has said the biggest issues he sees driving vaccine hesitancy are misinformation and a cultural refusal to prioritize preventative care measures. President Joe Biden had set a vaccination goal of delivering at least one shot to 70% of adult Americans by July Fourth, a target the White House administration acknowledged Tuesday he will likely fall short of. As of Tuesday, 54% of Americans had been vaccinated with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Increased participation in states like Mississippi and Tennessee will be essential to boosting the nation’s overall vaccine rate. Many residents remain hesitant, however. Angel Devine of Jackson said Tuesday that she has chosen not to get the COVID-19 vaccine so far because she doesn’t like needles, and she’s worried that the shot won’t be effective against variants. She said she is now considering it, not because of the first lady’s visit, but because she has been urged to by her 18-year-old daughter, who is heading off to the University of Southern Mississippi to study nursing. “She wants to get it, and she wants me to get it with her,” she said. “I’m still concerned, but it does want me to take it a little more. We’ll have to wait and see.” Dobbs has said family pressure is one of the most powerful motivating factors to get people to take the vaccine. Glenda McHenry, 78, of Pearl, a city outside Jackson, said she has family members who are still waiting to get the shot, but she got hers months ago. She said she wanted to spend time with her three grandchildren without being concerned about them passing the virus to her, or vice versa. “I did have some worries at first — just really not knowing what it was going to do to you,” she said, of the vaccine. “But I just felt it was the thing to do. It was important to be able to spend time with those kids.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
First lady Jill Biden set to visit Alabama after cancellation
First lady Jill Biden is set to visit Alabama to promote her husband’s pandemic recovery plan, the White House said Thursday. Biden will land in Birmingham on Friday morning and visit an early learning center in the city, an announcement said. She also is scheduled to speak at a YMCA center. While actor Jennifer Garner was supposed to accompany Biden, she isn’t making the trip because of the possibility of severe weather in the state, the White House said. The two previously were scheduled to visit last month, but the trip was postponed of strong storms that left damage across the region. The first lady is promoting the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 package as a way to address childhood poverty. President Joe Biden signed the legislation last month. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Jill Biden and actress Jennifer Garner to visit Jasper Alabama as part of “Help is Here” tour
First Lady Jill Biden and actress Jennifer Garner are heading to Alabama to tour the Jasper Area Service Center in Jasper, Alabama, and visit the YWCA of Central Alabama in Birmingham. According to Al.com, the visit is set to explain how the recently passed federal stimulus plan will lower child poverty. It is part of the “Help is Here” tour planned by the Biden Administration, promoting the American Rescue Plan. According to the White House, part of the plan addresses childhood poverty and works toward the legislation’s goal of cutting childhood poverty in half, according to the White House. The $1.9 trillion relief package looks to expand the federal child tax credit for one year, a change that would expand benefits to more families. The package includes an allowance for most working and middle-class families to receive an expanded child tax credit worth up to $3,600 for each child under the age of 6 and $3,000 for each child ages 6 through 17. The administration claims the credit will lift millions of children out of poverty. 1 in 6 children in the United States live in poverty. If passed, the American Rescue Plan will expand the child tax credit and cut the child poverty rate in half. pic.twitter.com/firxhvvUky — The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 11, 2021 A report titled Alabama Kids Count indicates that children of color will make up the majority of the child population and the majority of the workforce by 2030. At the same time, Black and Hispanic children suffered average poverty rates of 41.9% and 42.6% between 2014 and 2018. The rate for white children was 16.5%. Stephen Woerner, the executive director of Voices for Alabama’s Children, said to WBHM, “Minority children are more likely to struggle in school. Minority children are more likely to live in poverty. And so as the workforce ages, we need these kids to be successful to be the next generation of workers.” Alabama ranks 47th in the nation in overall child well-being, ahead of Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Mexico. Garner, a philanthropist, is also on the board of Save the Children, a nonprofit organization that works to improve children’s lives around the globe. The first lady has also traveled to Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and New Jersey, highlighting the bill’s effect on schools. Jill Biden posted on Twitter, “Millions of American’s, including millions of children, don’t have enough food to eat. Some, because of the economic effects of covid, are experiencing hunger for the very first time in their lives.” Millions of Americans, including millions of children, don’t have enough food to eat. Some, because of the economic effects of COVID, are experiencing hunger for the very first time in their lives. — Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) March 22, 2021
Kamala Harris, Jill Biden on the road to promote aid plan
From a vaccination site in the desert West to a grade school on the Eastern seaboard, President Joe Biden’s top messengers — his vice president and wife among them — led a cross-country effort Monday to highlight the benefits of his huge COVID relief plan. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and their spouses have launched an ambitious tour this week to promote the $1.9 trillion plan as a way to battle the pandemic and boost the economy. The roadshow — dubbed the “Help is here” tour by the White House — began with Harris visiting a COVID-19 vaccination site and a culinary academy in Las Vegas and first lady Jill Biden touring a New Jersey elementary school. Biden himself heads out Tuesday. “We want to avoid a situation where people are unaware of what they’re entitled to,” Harris said at the culinary academy. “It’s not selling it; it literally is letting people know their rights. Think of it more as a public education campaign.” The White House is wasting no time promoting the relief plan, which Biden signed into law last week, looking to build momentum for the rest of his agenda and anxious to avoid the mistakes of 2009 in boosting that year’s recovery effort. Even veterans of Barack Obama’s administration acknowledge they did not do enough then to showcase their massive economic stimulus package. Biden stayed back in Washington for a day, declaring that “hope is here in real and tangible ways.” He said the new government spending will bankroll efforts that could allow the nation to emerge from the pandemic’s twin crises, health and economic. “Shots in arms and money in pockets,” Biden said at the White House. “That’s important. The American Rescue Plan is already doing what it was designed to do: make a difference in people’s everyday lives. We’re just getting started.” Biden said that within the next 10 days, his administration will clear two important benchmarks: distributing 100 million stimulus payments and administering 100 million vaccine doses since he took office. To commemorate those milestones, Biden and his top representatives are embarking on their most ambitious travel schedule of his young presidency, visiting a series of potential election battleground states this week. The sales pitch was leaving Republicans cold. Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell dismissed the target of doses that Biden set when he took office as “not some audacious goal” but just the pace that he inherited. And he mocked Biden’s talk of Americans working toward merely being able to gather in small groups by July 4th as “bizarre.” The Biden plan cleared Congress without any backing from Republicans, despite polling that found broad public support. Republicans argued the bill was too expensive, especially with vaccinations making progress against the virus, and included too many provisions not directly linked to the pandemic. After beginning the sales campaign with high-profile speeches, Biden will head to Pennsylvania on Tuesday and then join Harris in Georgia on Friday. Others on his team are visiting the electorally important states of Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and New Hampshire. The trip Monday marked Harris’ first official journey in office and included an unscheduled stop at a vegan taco stand as well as a coffee stand at the Culinary Academy Las Vegas. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “We want to take some time to engage directly with the American people and make sure they understand the benefits of the package and how it is going to help them get through this difficult period of time.” The White House has detailed a theme for each day, focusing on small businesses, schools, home evictions and direct checks to most Americans. Jill Biden was joined by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on a tour Monday of Samuel Smith Elementary School in Burlington, where she highlighted steps the school took to reopen. But her tour revealed the challenges ahead: In one classroom she visited, only two students were in attendance for in-person learning while the other 17 were virtual. The first lady sat down at a computer to say hello to the remote learners. “I just I love being here at a school again: Educators, parents and students, the entire school has come together to bring kids back to the classroom,” she said. “But even with your best efforts, students can’t come, they can’t come in every day, which means that their parents are still having to take time off of work or figure out childcare solutions. And this school, like schools across this country, can’t fully reopen without help.” The president on Monday also announced that he had chosen Gene Sperling, a longtime Democratic economic policy expert, to oversee the massive stimulus package, the role Biden himself had played for the 2009 economic rescue package. The goal, Biden said, is to “stay on top of every dollar spent.” “I learned from my experience implementing the Recovery Act just how important it is to have someone who can manage all the moving parts with efficiency, speed and integrity, and accountability,” said the president. The plan’s key features include direct payments of $1,400 for most single taxpayers, or $2,800 for married couples filing jointly, plus $1,400 per dependent — a total of $5,600 for a married couple with two children. The payments phase out for people with higher incomes. An extension of federal unemployment benefits will continue through Sept. 6 at $300 a week. There’s $350 billion for state, local and tribal governments, $130 billion for K-12 schools, and about $50 billion to expand COVID-19 testing, among other provisions. Restaurants and bars that were forced to close or limit service can take advantage of a new multibillion-dollar grant program, and the plan also has tens of billions of dollars to help people who have fallen behind on rent and mortgage payments. Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, joined his wife for the Western trip, visiting a food relief organization Monday in Las Vegas and participating in a listening session with the organization’s partners. In
Joe Biden marks nation’s Covid grief before inauguration pomp
Hours from inauguration, President-elect Joe Biden paused on what might have been his triumphal entrance to Washington Tuesday evening to mark instead the national tragedy of the coronavirus pandemic with a moment of collective grief for Americans lost. His arrival coincided with the awful news that the U.S. death toll had surpassed 400,000 in the worst public health crisis in more than a century — a crisis Biden will now be charged with controlling. “To heal we must remember,” the incoming president told the nation at a sunset ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial. Four hundred lights representing the pandemic’s victims were illuminated behind him around the monument’s Reflecting Pool. “Between sundown and dusk, let us shine the lights into the darkness … and remember all who we lost,” Biden said. The sober moment on the eve of Biden’s inauguration — typically a celebratory time in Washington when the nation marks the democratic tradition of a peaceful transfer of power — was a measure of the enormity of loss for the nation. During his brief remarks, Biden faced the larger-than-life statue of Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War president who served as more than 600,000 Americans died. As he turned to walk away at the conclusion of the vigil, he faced the black granite wall listing the 58,000-plus Americans who perished in Vietnam. Biden was joined by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who spoke of the collective anguish of the nation, a not-so-subtle admonishment of outgoing President Donald Trump, who has spoken sparingly about the pandemic in recent months. “For many months we have grieved by ourselves,” said Harris, who will make history as the first woman to serve as vice president when she’s sworn in. “Tonight, we grieve and begin healing together.” Beyond the pandemic, Biden faces no shortage of problems when he takes the reins at the White House. The nation is also on its economic heels because of soaring unemployment, there is deep political division and immediate concern about more violence following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Biden, an avid fan of Amtrak who took the train thousands of times between his home in Delaware and Washington during his decades in the Senate, had planned to take a train into Washington ahead of Wednesday’s Inauguration Day but scratched that plan in the aftermath of the Capitol riot. He instead flew into Joint Base Andrews just outside the capital and then motorcaded into fortress D.C. — a city that’s been flooded by some 25,000 National Guard troops guarding a Capitol, White House, and National Mall that are wrapped in a maze of barricades and tall fencing. “These are dark times,” Biden told supporters in an emotional sendoff in Delaware. “But there’s always light.” Biden, who ran for the presidency as a cool head who could get things done, plans to issue a series of executive orders on Day One — including reversing Trump’s effort to leave the Paris climate accord, canceling Trump’s travel ban on visitors from several predominantly Muslim countries, and extending pandemic-era limits on evictions and student loan payments. Trump won’t be on hand as Biden is sworn in, the first outgoing president to entirely skip inaugural festivities since Andrew Johnson more than a century and a half ago. The White House released a farewell video from Trump just as Biden landed at Joint Base Andrews. Trump, who has repeatedly and falsely claimed widespread fraud led to his election loss, extended “best wishes” to the incoming administration in his nearly 20-minute address but did not utter Biden’s name. Trump also spent some of his last time in the White House huddled with advisers weighing final-hour pardons and grants of clemency. He planned to depart from Washington Wednesday morning in a grand airbase ceremony that he helped plan himself. Biden at his Delaware farewell, held at the National Guard/Reserve Center named after his late son Beau Biden, paid tribute to his home state. After his remarks, he stopped and chatted with friends and well-wishers in the crowd, much as he had at Iowa rope lines at the start of his long campaign journey. “I’ll always be a proud son of the state of Delaware,” said Biden, who struggled to hold back tears as he delivered brief remarks. Inaugural organizers this week finished installing some 200,000 U.S., state, and territorial flags on the National Mall, a display representing the American people who couldn’t come to the inauguration, which is tightly limited under security and Covid restrictions. The display was also a reminder of all the president-elect faces as he looks to steer the nation through the pandemic with infections and deaths soaring. Out of the starting gate, Biden and his team are intent on moving quickly to speed distribution of vaccinations to anxious Americans and pass his $1.9 trillion virus relief package, which includes quick payments to many people and an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Biden also plans to unveil a sweeping immigration bill on the first day of his administration, hoping to provide an eight-year path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status. That would be a major reversal from the Trump administration’s tight immigration policies. President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden arrive at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland Tuesday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Some leading Republican have already balked at Biden’s immigration plan. “There are many issues I think we can work cooperatively with President-elect Biden, but a blanket amnesty for people who are here unlawfully isn’t going to be one of them,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is often a central player in Senate immigration battles. Many of Biden’s legislative ambitions could be tempered by the hard numbers he faces on Capitol Hill, where Democrats hold narrow majorities in both the Senate and House. His hopes to press forward with an avalanche of legislation in his first 100 days could also be slowed by an impeachment trial of Trump. As
Joe Biden chooses an all-female senior White House press team
President-elect Joe Biden will have an all-female senior communications team at his White House, reflecting his stated desire to build out a diverse White House team as well as what’s expected to be a return to a more traditional press operation. Biden campaign communications director Kate Bedingfield will serve as Biden’s White House communications director. Jen Psaki, a longtime Democratic spokeswoman, will be his press secretary. In a different area of the White House operation, Biden plans to name Neera Tanden, the president and CEO of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress, as director of the Office of Management and Budget, according to a person familiar with the transition process granted anonymity to speak freely about internal deliberations. Four of the seven top communications roles at the White House will be filled by women of color, and it’s the first time the entire senior White House communications team will be entirely female. President Donald Trump upended the ways in which his administration communicated with the press. In contrast with administrations past, Trump’s communications team held few press briefings, and those that did occur were often combative affairs riddled with inaccuracies and falsehoods. Trump himself sometimes served as his own press secretary, taking questions from the media, and he often bypassed the White House press corps entirely by dialing into his favorite Fox News shows. In a statement announcing the White House communications team, Biden said: “Communicating directly and truthfully to the American people is one of the most important duties of a President, and this team will be entrusted with the tremendous responsibility of connecting the American people to the White House.” He added: “These qualified, experienced communicators bring diverse perspectives to their work and a shared commitment to building this country back better.” Bedingfield, Psaki and Tanden are all veterans of the Obama administration. Bedingfield served as communications director for Biden while he was vice president; Psaki was a White House communications director and a spokesperson at the State Department; and Tanden served as a senior adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and helped craft the Affordable Care Act. Others joining the White House communications staff are: — Karine Jean Pierre, who was Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ chief of staff, will serve as a principal deputy press secretary for the president-elect. She’s another Obama administration alum, having served as a regional political director for the White House office of political affairs. — Pili Tobar, who was communications director for coalitions on Biden’s campaign, will be his deputy White House communications director. She most recently was deputy director for America’s Voice, an immigration reform advocacy group, and was a press staffer for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Three Biden campaign senior advisers are being appointed to top communications roles: — Ashley Etienne, a former communications director for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will serve as Harris’ communications director. — Symone Sanders, another senior adviser on the Biden campaign, will be Harris’ senior adviser and chief spokesperson. — Elizabeth Alexander, who served as the former vice president’s press secretary and his communications director while he was a U.S. senator from Delaware, will serve as Jill Biden’s communications director. After his campaign went virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic, Biden faced some of his own criticism for not being accessible to reporters. But near the end of the campaign, he answered questions from the press more frequently, and his transition team has held weekly briefings since he was elected president. The choice of a number of Obama administration veterans — many with deep relationships with the Washington press corps — also suggests a return to a more congenial relationship with the press. As head of the OMB, Tanden would be responsible for preparing Biden’s budget submission and would command several hundred budget analysts, economists and policy advisers with deep knowledge of the inner workings of the government. Her choice may mollify progressives, who have been putting pressure on Biden to show his commitment to progressive priorities with his early staff appointments. She was chosen over more moderate voices with roots in the party’s anti-deficit wing such as Bruce Reed, who was staff director of President Barack Obama’s 2010 deficit commission, which proposed a set of politically painful recommendations that were never acted upon. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Biden adds Obama administration veterans to top staff
President-elect Joe Biden is adding four Obama-Biden administration veterans to his top ranks as he continues to build out his White House team. Cathy Russell, who was Jill Biden’s chief of staff during the Obama administration, will serve as director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, evaluating applicants for administration roles. Louisa Terrell, who served as a legislative adviser to the president in the Obama administration and worked as deputy chief of staff for Biden in the Senate, will be director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. Terrell has already been engaged in Capitol Hill outreach as part of Biden’s transition team. Carlos Elizondo, who was social secretary for Jill Biden during the Obama administration, will reprise his role and serve as social secretary for the incoming first lady. And Mala Adiga will serve as her policy director. Her role hints at what Biden may focus on as first lady — Adiga previously worked as a director for higher education and military families at the Biden Foundation and also advised Jill Biden on policy during the Obama administration. The announcements come just a few days after Biden unveiled his first major round of top White House staff, including the appointment of his current campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, to serve as deputy chief of staff, and campaign co-chair Rep. Cedric Richmond as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Late last week, he announced that longtime aide Ron Klain will serve as his chief of staff. While the new hires give a sense of the White House that Biden is beginning to build, he has yet to appoint someone to fill the role of COVID-19 coordinator, which Klain announced this week, or name individuals for key communications roles. His team has thousands more staff-level roles to fill when it takes over the administration in January, and they’re currently reviewing applications and reaching out to potential candidates for key roles. Biden has indicated he plans to make and announce some of his Cabinet picks around Thanksgiving, and he said Thursday he’s already made his decision for treasury secretary. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
