House Democrats handed Pres. Joe Biden his first major legislative victory on Wednesday passing a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill dubbed the American Rescue Plan. Passed by a vote of 220-211, there wasn't a single Republican who voted in favor of the bill. In it is a third stimulus check for $1400, expanded healthcare, and a child tax credit. It's a sigh of releif for American depending on federal unemployment benefits sscheduled to expire on March 14. Biden says he will sign the measure into law on Friday. On Thursday he will have his frst official address marking to a year since the pandemic was declared and the progress that has been made despite massive loss.
Biden has directed the US Department of Health and Human Services to purchase an additional 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine. That will be enough for every American to get the shot if needed.
In other White House news. . .VPOTUS Kamala Harris swore in Marcia Fudge as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday afternoon. Flood is the successor to Dr. Ben Carson and former US representative of Ohio. She won the Senate confirmation in a vote of 66-34.
Meanwhile, the POTUS has unfinished buisness at the border. There is not enough personnel to hande the influx of undocumented immigrant teens. Biden's relaxed immigration policies have encouraged a record number of border crosssings. Immigartion workers have seen this before. When there is a glimmer of humanitarian hope, says Southern Border Coordinator Roberta Jacobson, "Surges tend to respond to hope, and there was significant hope for a more humane policy after four years of pent-up demand."
The state of Texas is 100% re-opened and masks are not required -- except in businesses like Kroger and Target who are keeping the mask-wearing mandate.