Today is the 34th day of the Biden presidency. Here's the latest.
Get caught up with the latest headlines, Cabinet updates, policy progress and more:
***
TOP STORY
Big factor in COVID votes: Would Dems sink first Biden goal?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic leaders have a potent dynamic on their side as Congress preps for its first votes on the party’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill: Would any Democrat dare cast the vote that scuttles new President Joe Biden’s leadoff initiative?
Democrats' wafer-thin 10-vote House majority leaves little room for defections in the face of solid Republican opposition, and they have none in a 50-50 Senate they control only with Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote. Internal Democratic disputes remain over issues like raising the minimum wage, how much aid to funnel to struggling state and local governments and whether to extend emergency unemployment benefits for an extra month.
Yet with the House Budget Committee planning to approve the 591-page package Monday, Democrats across the party's spectrum show little indication they're willing to embarrass Biden with a high-profile defeat a month into his presidency. Read more:
OTHER TOP HEADLINES
***
CABINET UPDATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's nomination of Neera Tanden to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget was thrown into doubt Monday as key moderate Republican senators said they would vote against confirming her.
***
POLICY PROGRESS
A closer look at Biden's immigration bill
Intro
President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats have proposed a major immigration overhaul that would offer an eight-year pathway to citizenship to the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally.
The legislation reflects the broad priorities for immigration changes that Biden laid out on his first day in office, including an increase in visas, more money to process asylum applications and new technology at the southern border.
It would be a sharp reversal of Trump administration policies, and parts are likely to face opposition from a number of Republicans. Biden has acknowledged he might accept a more-piecemeal approach if separate major elements could be approved.
Green cards to farm workers, young people who arrived in US as children
The bill would immediately provide green cards to farm workers, those with temporary protected status and young people who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children.
Path to citizenship
For others living in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2021, the plan establishes a five-year path to temporary legal status, if they pass background checks, pay taxes and fulfill other basic requirements. Then, after three years, they can pursue citizenship.
Raise current per-country caps
The plan would raise the current per-country caps for family and employment-based immigrant visas.
Eliminate penalty on returns
It would eliminate the penalty barring those immigrants who live in the U.S. without authorization and who then leave the country from returning for three to 10 years.
Provide support for processing asylum seekers
It also would provide resources for more judges, support staff and technology to address the backlog in processing asylum seekers.
Boost economic development, tackle corruption in Latin American countries
The plan includes $4 billion spread over four years to try to boost economic development and tackle corruption in Latin American countries, to try to address some of the root causes of migration to the U.S.
Expand transnational anti-drug task forces in Central America
The bill would expand transnational anti-drug task forces in Central America and enhances technology at the border. And it would try to reduce the burden at the border by setting up refugee processing in Central America, to try to prevent some of the immigrant caravans that have overwhelmed border security in recent years.
Remove 'alien' from federal law
Biden's proposed bill, if passed, also would remove the word "alien" from US immigration laws, replacing it with the term "noncitizen." The change, an administration official said, is "to better reflect the President's values on immigration."
US code currently defines "alien" as "any person not a citizen or national of the United States." Officials in the past have pointed to the term's prevalence in US laws to defend their word choices.
But the term "illegal alien," long decried as a dehumanizing slur by immigrant rights advocates, became even more of a lightning rod during the Trump era -- with some top federal officials encouraging its use and several states and local governments taking up measures to ban it.
Biden's to-do list
***
PHOTOS
The first month of the Biden presidency
Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, as their children Ashley and Hunter watch.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)
President Joe Biden speaks during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)
FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2021, file photo President Joe Biden speaks during a virtual swearing in ceremony of political appointees from the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
President Joe Biden speaks about the coronavirus in the State Dinning Room of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2021, file photo President Joe Biden signs executive orders after speaking about the coronavirus in the State Dinning Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks with Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during a press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A portrait of former President Abraham Lincoln President hangs in the State Dining Room of the White House as Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
First lady Jill Biden surprises National Guard members outside the Capitol with chocolate chip cookies, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
First lady Jill Biden tours Whitman-Walker Health, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
President Joe Biden departs after attending Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin listens as President Joe Biden speaks before signing an Executive Order reversing the Trump era ban on transgender individuals serving in military, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Vice President Kamala Harris participates in a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in Washington, as his wife Charlene Austin holds the Bible. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden answers questions from reporters in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to participate in a swearing-in ceremony with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, left, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Vice President Kamala Harris receives her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the National Institutes of Health, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Vice President Kamala Harris, right, ceremonially swears-in Antony Blinken, left, as Secretary of State, next to his wife Evan Ryan, Wednesday Jan. 27, 2021, in Harris' ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, right, listens as President Joe Biden delivers remarks on climate change and green jobs, in the State Dining Room of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Vice President Kamala Harris, left, President Joe Biden, center, and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry walk off after an event on climate change and green jobs, in the State Dining Room of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden signs a series of executive orders on health care, in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on health care, in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the spouse of Vice President Kamala Harris, right, speaks with Christopher Bradshaw, executive director of Dreaming out Loud, a nonprofit organization focused on food security and economic opportunity, during a visit to Kelly Miller Middle School in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. (Nicholas Kamm/Pool via AP)
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris meet Republican lawmakers to discuss a coronavirus relief package, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, in Washington. From left, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden speaks with Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, right, in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden pay their respects to the late U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick as an urn with his cremated remains lies in honor on a black-draped table at center of Capitol Rotunda, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, in Washington. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Pete Buttigieg, with his hand on the Bible held by Chasten Buttigieg, is sworn in as Transportation Secretary by Vice President Kamala Harris in the Old Executive Office Building in the White House complex in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
President Joe Biden hands a challenge coin to a member of the U.S. Air Force as he walks to Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Biden is spending the weekend at his home in Delaware. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Fans watch a broadcast of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden before the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
President Joe Biden departs after attending Mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church as snow falls, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
President Joe Biden tours the African Americans in Service Corridor at the Pentagon with Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Dr. Barney Graham, left, speaks as President Joe Biden listens during a visit to the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, in Bethesda, Md. Kizzmekia Corbett, an immunologist with the Vaccine Research Center at the NIH, right, and NIH Director, second from right, listen. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden boards Air Force One, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, en route to Camp David. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Hagerstown Regional Airport, Monday, Feb. 15, 2021, in Hagerstown, Md., after spending the weekend with first lady Jill Biden and family at Camp David. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden talks with audience members as he waits for a commercial break to end during a televised town hall event at Pabst Theater, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden participates in a virtual event with the Munich Security Conference in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
