USA TODAY’s policy of the 2020 election and the transition of President-elect Joe Biden continues this week as he presents his possible options for positions in his administration and states continue to certify the vote count.
President Donald Trump paved the way for Biden’s team to use federal resources and download data during the transition, although Trump has not yet officially conceded the race.
Be sure to refresh this page to get the latest choice and transition data.
The husband of White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, Sean Gilmartin, attended a press conference at the White House on Wednesday without wearing a mask and reportedly refused to cover his face after a member of the press asked him to do so.
While McEnany informed reporters for about 30 minutes, Gilmartin’s condition can be noticed at the back of the room without a mask.
Gilmartin approached through New York Times photographer Doug Mills, who had “politely” told Gilmartin that facial covers are necessary in news areas.
The pool reporter who covered the occasion for various media outlets then reported, “A white house staff member who with Gilmartin said in disbelief, ‘Kayleigh’s husband?” ».
Gilmartin and the member then left the meeting room in combination as Mills “reformulated the mask regulations and said it doesn’t matter who [Gilmartin] is. “
The white space data room group, the White House Correspondents Association, has a masking policy for those present.
Savannah Behrmann
Service personnel and a restaurate restorer told President-elect Joe Biden moving stories about how they fought the coronavirus pandemic for most of the year, urging the federal government to spend unemployment benefits, fitness insurance, and homework safety.
Karen Coffee, a waitress in Comerica Park, a detroit Tigers baseball house, described in tears how her last day of paintings on March 8 and it is not known when she will return. Federal pandemic unemployment benefits ran out in July and he was unable to pay for fitness insurance.
“It’s just a fight for us,” Coffee told Biden in a virtual assembly for his transition on Wednesday. “It’s bad and we want help. “
Daniel Jacobs said he and his spouse owned a group of 3 Wisconsin restaurants, a bakery and a kiosk where the Milwaukee Bucks play, which were particularly reduced during the pandemic. He said 80% of his 90 workers were full-time when the virus arrived, but now he has only 26 full-time workers and 12. He faces a winter in Wisconsin without an indoor meal and exhaustion of small business emergency loans and federal unemployment benefits.
“I’m worried about the long run of our business,” Jacobs said. “We want a grant and we want it now. “
Jessica Gavin, a machinist in Atlanta, said the absence of the $ 600 a week of federal unemployment left her and her colleagues with state advantages of $ 365 a week, making it difficult to pay for housing, utilities and money. food.
“It’s very touching,” Gavin said, a lot of other people are hungry. Many other people cannot pay their bills ».
Biden replied that there isn’t much he can do for 50 days until he joins the workplace on January 20 and even then, he’ll want congressional approval for the most of his proposals.
Congress is a $900 billion commitment on emergency expenses, which would come with $300 in annual federal unemployment benefits and $288 billion in small business loans, but the outlook is uncertain. Biden said whether approved or not, it would only be a “low payout” compared to what he would pursue next year.
“This is not a political game,” Biden said. ” It affects us all. We want now. “
Biden’s goals for next year are to avoid crisis deportations through federal subsidies, increase weekly federal unemployment benefits through $600, and expand access to fitness insurance through federal subsidies.
“I don’t need you to give up hope. I promise you, wait. We’re going to get ahead,” Biden. Va said to be very tough for the next 50 to 70 days, unless the House acts one way or another, the Senate acts and adopts some of the documents. “
– Bart Jansen
Democratic leaders announced Wednesday their $908 billion relief proposal for the stimulus of the coronavirus, a monumental measure that can sign an agreement looming on the horizon after months of stagnation.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat for California, and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, DN. Y. , said Tuesday’s proposal through a bipartisan organization of lawmakers in the Senate and House deserves to be used as a framework for a Democrats deal. Republicans and the house Blanca. De suddenly, a smaller package was a big replacement in the position Democrats have taken for months, it’s not easy to bill for expansive relief worth close to $2 trillion.
“While we made a new offer to Chief McConnell and Chief McCarthy on Monday, in a spirit of commitment, we believe that the bipartisan framework presented by senators deserves to be used as a basis for rapid bipartisan and bicameral negotiations,” Democrats said in a statement. “Of course, we and others will propose improvements, however, the need for action is rapid and we believe that with intelligent religious negotiations we can succeed in an agreement. “
Coronavirus aid: Competition aid proposals for COVID-19 as Congress rushes to deliver aid
Meanwhile, Republicans have excluded spending on dollar bills as non-initials and have smaller packages approaching $500 billing. On Wednesday, Senator John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, noted that the House could simply mix the proposal with some other Republican that the White House has been executing, applauded the willingness of both sides to give in to lawsuits to pass a bill at the end of the line.
“They’ve moderated and I think that would help us find a solution,” Thune, R-SD.
House majority leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat for Maryland, said in a call to a reporter the previous Wednesday that he and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican for Ky. , had spoken about a possible deal and hoped to complete anything until the end of the week in the hope of having a bill in a position to vote on Wednesday or Thursday next week.
Hoyer admitted that the moment is “optimistic,” especially after months of disputes, but stated that the House only consults for about 10 more days and said there is an urgent need for relief as COVID-19 instances and hospitalizations continue to increase.
The bipartisan proposal supported through Democratic leaders includes, among provisions:
Christal Hayes
President-elect Joe Biden plans to meet online Wednesday with staff and small business owners to discuss the economic crisis as part of their arrangements to take office.
Biden expressed his desire for more federal stimulus spending on Tuesday as he introduced his economics team, adding his possible options to lead the Treasury Department and the White House Office of Management and Budget. Biden said he’s looking for a “solid” package “now,” but it would be “just the beginning. “
Customers for Congress to approve more spending before Biden takes on January 20, in the so-called “lame duck” consultation, are dubious because of the differences between how much Democrats and Republicans should spend and what.
A bipartisan senators’ organization proposed a $900 billion package on Tuesday. The arrangements come with investments for local governments and an extension of the federal unemployment benefits Democrats have sought, as well as an extension of a lending program to keep the small businesses Republicans have been afloat for.
But Biden, a former vice president and senator, said that whether the package is approved or not, more spending will be made early next year, and encouraged the progression of federal regulations to advise companies and schools on how to reopen safely.
“This is an American tragedy and it is imperative that we act urgently,” Janet Yellen, biden’s secretary of the Treasury, said Tuesday about the economic crisis. “Inaction will produce a recession that reinforces itself and will cause even more devastation. We threaten without the legal responsibility to solve deeper structural problems, inequalities, stagnation of wages, especially for staff who do not have university education.
The assembly of workers and small business owners with Biden on Wednesday describes how the crisis has hurt them.
The economy recovered about 55% of the 22 million jobs lost in the spring, 130,000 small businesses closed permanently, Yelp estimates. The deficit has already tripled to a record $3. 1 trillion this year.
Biden will be enrolled in the virtual roundtable in Wilmington, Delaware, one of the series he is conducting as he prepares to take office. In the past he met with frontline medical staff on the “increase” of coronavirus cases, leading Democratic congressman on the prospect of new emergency stimulus spending and leaders of national unions and companies.