The House Budget Committee on Monday advanced President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill in a party line vote of 19-16. Now the package heads to the House Rules Committee, where amendments will be considered. A floor vote is expected by Friday or Saturday and the package will then be sent to the Senate where the parliamentarian’s ruling on the inclusion of the $15 minimum wage is now expected Wednesday. Democrats are weighing several options to try to save the wage hike and make it more palatable for moderates in their own party including dropping the $15 minimum wage push to possibly $11 or $12.
For today, the House will consider six bills under suspension of the rules including H.R. 546 – Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act.
The Senate will meet today at 11:30 a.m. and will vote on the nomination of Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Then, at 2:15 p.m., senators will debate the nomination of Tom Vilsack to be secretary of Agriculture, followed by a confirmation vote. Work on two other nominees will begin today with Deb Haaland, President Biden’s Interior nominee who will testify before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee at 9:30 a.m and at 10:00 a.m. Javier Becerra testifies before the Senate HELP Committee during his confirmation hearing to be HHS Secretary. The Senate Judiciary Committee will continue to work on Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination to be attorney general with a hearing from an expert witness panel. Five years after failing to give him a hearing as a Supreme Court nominee, Republican senators were generally cordial in their questioning in the first day of his hearing yesterday.
Also today in the Senate, a bipartisan group of senators is pressing ahead with a series of investigative hearings to scrutinize the security breakdowns that failed to prevent the deadly pro-Trump rampage on January 6th. The inquiry begins with a joint hearing of two Senate committees to question the officials who were in charge of securing the Capitol during the attack, when Capitol Police officers and members of the District of Columbia’s police force called in as reinforcements were overrun as the vice president, speaker and members of the House and the Senate were gathered inside. The meeting of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Rules and Administration Committee will be the first time the public has heard from the top two security officials at the Capitol on the day of the assault, both of whom resigned after the breach. Paul D. Irving, the former House sergeant-at-arms, and Michael C. Stenger, the former Senate sergeant-at-arms, have come under scrutiny amid reports that they did not act swiftly enough.
President Biden on Monday announced policy changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The changes are meant to target coronavirus relief to the smallest businesses and minority-owned firms. The Small Business Administration, will institute a 14-day period beginning Wednesday and running through March 9 allowing only companies with fewer than 20 employees to apply for assistance through the PPP and will change the loan calculating formula for sole proprietors, independent contractors and self-employed individuals to more easily secure forgivable PPP loans. Of note, the SBA will eliminate restrictions preventing individuals with prior non-fraud felony convictions or those who are delinquent on their federal student loans from receiving funds through the PPP and issue new guidance clarifying that noncitizen small-business owners who hold green cards or are in the U.S. on a visa can obtain PPP loans.
Today, President Biden will welcome Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a delegation of Canadian officials to the White House in a virtual session due to COVID-19 constraints that will try to recreate some of the ceremonial flourishes of an in-person visit to Washington. Biden and Trudeau plan to discuss the public health and economic crises caused by the pandemic, as well as shared goals on addressing climate change, addressing racism and discrimination, and other issues. The meeting will start as it would if they were sitting down together in the Oval Office. Biden and Trudeau will deliver brief remarks to reporters as they begin their meeting with Vice President Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, and their Canadian counterparts. Later, they’ll be joined by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and other top White House officials, for an expanded session.
Adam S. Olsen, Washington, D.C.
