Third Stimulus Bill Signed – President Biden on Thursday signed the American Rescue Plan bill, the third coronavirus relief package, into law on Thursday. The bill includes numerous progressive features, including sending direct payments of $1,400 to most Americans, extending enhanced unemployment benefits, and providing billions in federal aid to state and local governments. Democrats, some of who are untruthfully calling the bill bipartisan – despite it having gained no Republican support – are now calling it one of the most progressive legislative packages in US history, and claim that it will help lift millions of children out of poverty. Republicans have slammed the bill, arguing that it is loaded with pork and billions in spending that have nothing to do with coronavirus relief.
Calls Grow to Fix Border Crisis – Pressure is growing on the Biden administration to fix the growing crisis at the United States’ southern border as hundreds of thousands of migrants, excited by President Biden loosening former President Trump’s hardline border policies, stream into the US. According to reports, over 100,000 illegal migrants crossed into the United States in February alone, with many more expected in the coming days and weeks. Additionally, detention centers holding unaccompanied child migrants are nearing capacity, prompting some Democrats, such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, to publicly call for Biden to fix the situation.
Biden Aides Discuss Iran with Israel – Top US and Israeli aides spoke by secure video conference this week, in the first official US-Israel discussions on Iran and regional issues, as President Biden seeks to rejoin the 2015 Iran nuclear deal without antagonizing Israel. The meeting was led by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and his Israeli couterpart, Meir Ben-Shabbat. In a statement, National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said that “the two sides shared perspectives on regional security issues of mutual interest and concern, including Iran, and expressed their common determination to confront the challenges and threats facing the region.”
Biden Orders States to Make All Adults Eligible for Vaccine – In a primetime address regarding the coroanvirus pandemic, President Biden ordered US states to make all adults eligible to receive a Covid vaccine by May 1st. Despite optimism growing in the fight against coroanvirus, the president warned that Americans could still see significant pain and death in the coming months until the US reaches a high level of herd immunity, especially against variant strains that are currently spreading. This week the US began averaging fewer than 50,000 new Covid cases per day for the first time in 5 months, and coronavirus deaths plummeted.
Garland Confirmed to Lead DOJ – Merrick Garland was confirmed by the 70-30 Senate to be the nation’s Attorney General, putting him atop the Department of Justice. In his first speech at the DOJ, Garland stressed his independence from the White House. “The only way we can succeed and retain the trust of the American people is to adhere to the norms that have become part of the DNA of every Justice Department employee,” Garland said, referencing complaints that the Justice Department had become politicized during the Trump administration. “Those norms require that like cases be treated alike. That there not be one rule for Democrats, and another for Republicans; one rule for friends and another for foes; one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless; one rule for the rich and another for the poor; or different rules, depending upon one’s race or ethnicity,” Garland added.
