Biden news: Congress passes $1.9 trillion Covid bill as president says US to share surplus vaccines
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Your support makes all the difference.Congress has passed the $1.9 trillion (£1.37 trillion) coronavirus relief bill. Joe Biden will sign it into law on Friday afternoon. The package will provide a direct payment of $1,400 (£1,009) to most Americans.
GOP representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and Senator Lindsey Graham have decried the bill as racist towards white people. As high a figure as 75 per cent of Americans approve of the bill according to polls, including 59 per cent of Republicans.
“It’s a remarkable, historic, transformative piece of legislation which goes a very long way to crushing the virus and solving our economic crisis,” House SpeakerNancy Pelosi said on Tuesday.
Speaking after the passage of the bill, Mr Biden, announcing a further order of 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, said if the US had surplus vaccines they would be shared with other countries that need the extra doses.
Meanwhile, it was announced that the US and China will meet in Anchorage, Alaska on 18 March, the first such meeting between the Biden administration and the People’s Republic. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will attend with NSA Jake Sullivan.
Morning, and welcome to The Independent’s rolling US politics coverage.
Don Jr shares picture of his father in Trump Tower as New York visit sparks protests
Donald Trump Jr has posted a picture of his father staring out of Trump Tower after his visit to New York sparked protests.
Demonstrators with cards reading “arrest Trump”, “indict Trump”, and “Florida man go home” gathered outside the Fifth Avenue building.
Namita Singh reports:
Don Jr shares photo of his father staring out of Trump Tower as New York visit sparks protests
Protesters carried signs that read ‘arrest Trump’, ‘indict Trump’, and ‘Florida man go home’
Congress set to approve $1.9 tn Covid relief bill on Wednesday
A landmark $1.9 tn coronavirus relief bill is expected to be approved by Congress on Wednesday, president Joe Biden’s 50th day in office.
The package includes a $1,400 stimulus check for most Americans, extended emergency unemployment benefits and money for schools, state and local governments.
The bill has been attacked as too wide ranging by Republicans. “It’s not focused on Covid relief. It’s focused on pushing more of the far-left agenda,” claimed prominent Republican congressman Steve Scalise.
House set to vote on virus relief, Biden on cusp of triumph
Congress is poised to approve a landmark $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill
Biden’s North Korea review expected in ‘next month or so’
The Biden administration will finish its North Korea policy review “within the next month or so”, a senior official has said.
Speaking to Reuters, the unnamed administration staffer said: “We are involved and engaged in a highly intense strategic review. Our expectations are that it will be done in within the next month or so.”
However, they refused to say what its outcome was likely to be.
Following Donald Trump’s steps towards Pyongyang, Antony Blinken, Mr Biden’s secretary of state, said the US’ new approach to North Korea could include more sanctions.
Biden’s signature will not appear on stimulus checks
Unlike his predecessor Donald Trump, Joe Biden will not put his signature on stimulus checks.
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: “This is not about him — this is about the American people getting relief.”
There were allegations last year that Mr Trump’s desire to have his signature on checks delayed payments, something the IRS denied at the time.
Chris Riotta has the details:
Biden’s signature will not appear on next round of stimulus checks
President ‘didn’t think that was a priority or a necessary step’ to include his signature, press secretary says
South Korea increases contribution for US troops
South Korea will pay an additional 13.9 per cent towards to the cost of the 28,500 US troops stationed in the country this year, the government has announced.
The increase, which takes the contribution in 2021 to 1.18 trillion won ($1.03 billion), comes after former president Donald Trump accused Seoul of “free-riding” on US military support.
Jeong Eun-bo, South Korea’s chief negotiator, said: “It provided a chance to reaffirm the importance of the alliance and the need for stable stationing of U.S. Forces.”
White House refuses to call border crossing increase a ‘crisis'
More than three times as many unaccompanied children are in custody at the US border than two weeks ago, according to a New York Times report.
Asked whether the spike in crossings was a “crisis”, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday: “Look, I don’t think we need to sit here and put new labels on what we have already conveyed is challenging, what we have conveyed is a top priority for the president.”
Three days after their arrival at the border, the Department of Health and Human Services assumes care for the children. It is currently housing 8,100 minors while they await processing and sponsorship.
My colleague Griffin Connolly reports:
White House refuses to label the surge in unaccompanied children crossing the border a ‘crisis’
Biden administration instead stressing humanitarian reasons for uptick in border crossings
Biden to hold virtual meeting with leaders of Australia, India and Japan
President Joe Biden will hold a virtual meeting with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan on Friday, as part of his administration’s attempt to balance China’s power in the region.
The leaders of the “Quad” countries will discuss topics ranging “from the threat of COVID, to economic cooperation and, of course, to the climate crisis,” according to the White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
A senior Biden official told Reuters separately: “This sends a very strong signal of common cause and purpose. And the goal here is basically to introduce the Quad as a new feature of regular diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific.”
An in-person meeting between the four leaders is expected to take place later this year.
Alaska becomes first state to offer Covid vaccine to anyone over 16
Alaska has become the first US state to offer coronavirus vaccinations to anyone over the age of 16 who lives or works there.
“I couldn’t be prouder of Alaska’s response,” state governor Mike Dunleavy said in a statement on Tuesday evening.
The Pfizer jab will be administered to over 16s while the Johnson & Johnson and Moderna vaccines will be given to over 18s, the state government has said.
Shweta Sharma reports:
Alaska becomes first US state to offer Covid vaccine to anyone over 16
Alaska is one of the leading state in the US in its vaccine drive
Germany hopes for joint US sanctions against China and Russia
Germany hopes the US will agree to joint sanctions against China and Russia over human rights abuses, the country’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.
Speaking at event run by the Brookings Institution, Heiko Mass expressed optimism for the future of the partnership between the US and Germany.
“I hope that we will be able to return to a common trans-Atlantic position on targeted sanctions, something that was not possible over the last four years,” he said.
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