Biden news: Trump ‘got vaccine while president’, as New York AG set to probe Cuomo harassment claims

Democrats are proposing new taxes for ultra-wealthy Americans with assets of $50m or more.

The “Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act”, led by Elizabeth Warren and others, would see a 2 per cent annual tax applied to the net worth of households and trusts between $50m and $1bn.

Assets above $1bn would be subject to a 1 per cent annual surtax, according to the plan, which was unveiled on Monday and whose co-sponsors include Bernie Sanders.

“As Congress develops additional plans to help our economy, the wealth tax should be at the top of the list to help pay for these plans because of the huge amounts of revenue it would generate,” Ms Warren said in a statement reported by CNN.

Over the weekend, top Democrats abandoned a plan to use US tax policy as an incentive for businesses to more than double the minimum wage to $15 per hour as part of Joe Biden‘s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, a source familiar with the negotiations told Reuters.

The proposal would have complicated the passage of a bill to fight the pandemic and boost the economy through the Senate, where Democrats do not expect much if any Republican help, even though polls indicate a majority of Americans - around 70 per cent - support the measure.

Kamala Harris may have to cast a tie-breaking vote in a chamber where Republicans control 50 seats and Democrats and their allies control the other 50. 

Even this outcome depends on all the Democrats staying united behind the first major bill to come through Congress in the Biden administration.

A video of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo pressuring a female journalist to eat a sausage has resurfaced as allegations of sexual misconduct roil his governorship.

The video is from the New York State Fair in 2016, where Mr Cuomo can be seen telling NewsChannel 9’s Beth Cefalu, “I want to see you eat the whole sausage,” after a now-former aide to Mr Cuomo hands a plate with sausage to the reporter. 

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CNN reports that the Biden administration is preparing to impose sanctions on Russia over the poisoning and jailing of opposition leader Alexey Navalny this week.

Citing two officials, the network reports that the sanctions will be imposed in coordination with the European Union.

The shape and timing of the sanctions will be worked out over the next few days.

Joe Biden wants to send a strong message on human rights and the importance of working in coordination with America’s allies — a departure from the previous administration’s stance on Russia.

One option being discussed is an executive order imposing sanctions for multiple assaults on US democracy and personnel, including the bounties placed on US troops in Afghanistan by Russia and the SolarWinds hack.

A portion of the security perimeter erected around the White House is coming down.

The first section to be dismantled is around St John’s Church on Lafayette Square, the site of the infamous tear gassing of peaceful protesters in June 2020.

Congressman Ro Khanna and 22 of his colleagues have called on the White House to challenge the Senate Parliamentarian’s decision and allow the $15 minimum wage to be included in the Covid-19 relief bill.

Sahil Kapur of NBC News reports that the vice president has the power to do this as president of the Senate, and it would take 60 votes to overrule her decision — there is historical precedent to do this, but it has never been done before relating to the Byrd Rule.

The Byrd rule is enforced when a Senator raises a point of order during consideration of a reconciliation bill or conference report. If the point of order is sustained, the offending title, provision, or amendment is deemed stricken unless its proponent can muster a 3/5 (60) Senate majority vote to waive the rule.

The White House has rejected the idea.

Bloomberg reports that a beachfront mansion owned by a company linked to Donald Trump is up for sale for $49m just three years after it was acquired for $18.5m from his sister Maryanne Trump Barry.

The eight-bedroom house is across the street from the Mar-a-Lago Club where the former president and first lady are currently residing.

The house comes with a membership to the club and features an oceanfront balcony, pool, library, and sunroom.

Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has revealed she’s “deeply concerned” after the decline Covid-19 cases and deaths stalled amid new variants spreading through the United States. 

“I remain deeply concerned about a potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic,” she said during a White House coronavirus briefing on Monday.

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Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a tweet on Monday morning that he sees being labelled by the New York Times as the “worst secretary of state in history” as a badge of honour.

Mr Pompeo spoke at CPAC on Saturday in an attempt to woo the pro-Trump Republican Party base with an eye to a future political career and perhaps a White House run in 2024.

The conference agenda was replete with potential presidential candidates for 2024, from Ted Cruz to Kristi Noem to former president Donald Trump.

Polling shows there is still a solid block of support for Mr Trump having a second run at the White House.

At Monday’s White House Covid-19 briefing, Dr Anthony Fauci emphasised that the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine shows 85 per cent efficacy against severe illness globally, including in the United States.

He said that in trials the vaccine “did extremely well when it came to preventing serious disease.”

The White House Covid-19 response team is driving home the message: Get whichever vaccine is available to you as soon as possible.

The Biden administration’s Covid Czar Jeff Zients said the first Johnson & Johnson doses will be delivered as early as tomorrow, with deliveries allocated proportionally based on states, tribes & territories’ population, as was done with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The US is back to giving 1.7 million shots per day in the seven-day average — the level prior to the disruption caused by the winter storms.