Tag Archives: Biden Administration

Reuters reports: The Biden administration confirmed Monday that it will scrap the Trump administration’s changes to the U.S. citizenship test, which made the exam longer and more difficult. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will revert back to using an exam created in 2008, the agency said in a policy alert. Immigrants must pass an English proficiency test and a civics …

The Associated Press reports: It sounded so ambitious at first blush: 100 million vaccination shots in 100 days. Now, one month into his presidency, Joe Biden is on a glide path to attain that goal and pitching well beyond it to the far more ambitious and daunting mission of vaccinating all eligible adults against the coronavirus by the end of …

Bloomberg News reports: Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general, is pledging he’ll take the lead in prosecuting participants in the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. “If confirmed, I will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol on January 6 — a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone …

NPR reports: President Biden on Friday gave his first speech since taking office aimed at an international audience. Making the case for his plans to turn the page on former President Donald Trump’s “America First” ethos, Biden declared: “America is back” to the virtual crowd at the Munich Security Conference — a who’s who of global national security officials. “The …

The Washington Post reports: White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that the Biden administration is supplying emergency power generators to Texas and is prepared to move diesel to the state, where about 3 million people remain in the dark amid a barrage of winter storms that have overwhelmed the electric grid. At a daily press briefing, Psaki said …

The Associated Press reports: FEMA opened its first COVID-19 mass vaccination sites Tuesday, setting up in Los Angeles and Oakland as part of an effort by the Biden administration to get shots into arms more quickly and reach minority communities hit hard by the outbreak. Snow and ice across much of the U.S., meanwhile, forced the cancellation of many vaccination …

Axios reports: The Biden administration is urging officials to use more inclusive terms for immigrants, including replacing the word “alien” with “noncitizen,” Axios has learned. Why it matters: The Trump administration referred to unauthorized immigrants as “illegal aliens,” and described border crossings as an “invasion.” The new terms point to President Biden’s more welcoming immigration stance overall. According to an …

The Washington Post reports: It is a sweepstakes that comes along every four or eight years — intense jockeying in public and private as the well-heeled and well-connected seek coveted positions that come with lavish housing, a staff of chefs and an expectation that the U.S. envoy will put the digs to use for parties. With its mix of famous …

The Washington Post reports: President Biden is expected to announce Thursday afternoon that his administration has secured deals for another 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccine as promised last month, according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss it. The president is scheduled to tour the National Institutes of Health on Thursday afternoon and …

The Hill reports: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced Thursday that it will use the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender. The federal agency announced in a memorandum that it will invoke the sweeping 1968 housing law to penalize those who refuse to rent, sell or advertise housing to …

The Miami Herald reports: The Biden administration is considering whether to impose domestic travel restrictions, including on Florida, fearful that coronavirus mutations are threatening to reverse hard-fought progress on the pandemic. Outbreaks of the new variants — including a highly contagious one first identified in the United Kingdom, as well as others from South Africa and Brazil that scientists worry …

CNN reports: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will quarantine for 14 days after a member of his security detail tested positive for Covid-19, department chief of staff Laura Schiller said in a statement. Schiller’s statement says the agent has been in “close contact” with Buttigieg as recently as Monday morning. Buttigieg tested negative Monday and has not shown any symptoms, the …

The New York Times reports: A coalition of civil liberties and human rights groups urged the Biden administration on Monday to drop efforts to extradite the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from Britain and prosecute him, calling the Trump-era case against him “a grave threat to press freedom.” The coalition sent a letter urging a change in course before a Friday …

The Hill reports: White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday indicated former President Trump hasn’t asked for an intelligence briefing days after President Biden said he didn’t think his predecessor should receive one. Psaki said intelligence officials will make any decision on whether former President Trump will receive intelligence briefings. Asked to clarify, Psaki later said that she was …

TIME Magazine reports: The Biden administration is set to announce this week that it will reengage with the much-maligned U.N. Human Rights Council that former President Donald Trump withdrew from almost three years ago, U.S. officials said Sunday. The decision reverses another Trump-era move away from multilateral organizations and agreements. U..S. officials say Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a …

The Associated Press reports: Asserting a broad reset of American foreign policy, President Joe Biden said Thursday that he would halt the withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed in Germany, end support for Saudi Arabia’s military offensive in Yemen and make support for LGBTQ rights a cornerstone of diplomacy. In his first visit to the State Department as president, Biden called …

Politico reports: While Trump would call friends and allies seemingly at random, Biden has a list of phone calls scheduled for him. While Trump didn’t mind aides and outside allies wandering into the Oval Office, Biden has a handful of gatekeepers who control access to the room. While Trump would sometimes spend days tweeting and watching television, Biden fills his …

Axios reports: White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that the U.S. Space Force “absolutely” has the “full support of the Biden administration.” Why it matters: After President Biden’s election, some advocated that the incoming administration disband the newest branch of the military, first established by President Trump. What’s happening: “We are not revisiting the decision to establish the …

Politico reports: The Biden administration said Tuesday it will begin distributing a limited number of Covid-19 vaccine doses directly to retail pharmacies across the nation. Many pharmacies are already administering vaccine doses that have been allocated to states. Under the new program, the federal government would ship doses directly to pharmacies. The new pharmacy initiative — which is aimed at …

ABC News reports: The Senate is poised to approve Pete Buttigieg to be transportation secretary, the first openly gay person ever confirmed to a Cabinet post, tasked with advancing President Joe Biden’s wide-ranging agenda of rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and fighting climate change. Buttigieg’s nomination was set for a final vote Tuesday in the full Senate, after the 39-year-old former …