The Senate is out. The House met at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business and is finishing consideration of the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act.
This afternoon, the President will host H.E. Suga Yoshihide, Prime Minister of Japan, for an Official Working Visit as well as for an expanded bilateral meeting which will be followed by a press conference. Concerns about the competition posed by China will be front and center in the talks. It is President Biden’s first in-person visit with a foreign leader at the White House since he took office, and it sends a signal about how Biden plans to work through alliances to counter China. To that end, he and Suga are set to announce a $2 billion commitment to support alternative 5G networks that are beyond or outside of the network of China telecommunications giant Huawei. Biden’s predecessor, former President Donald Trump, had banned Huawei from buying U.S. technology and blocked U.S. firms from buying Huawei components, citing national security concerns. The Biden administration is still reviewing that policy and has not yet made clear whether it will keep the bans in place.
Of note, President Biden will address a joint session of Congress on April 28th, the eve before his 100th day in office. The White House says that there will be a limited number of members and senators attending the address on the House floor and social distancing measures will be in place due to COVID. Earlier this week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) invited Biden to make the address in a letter released publicly earlier that day.
