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Biden administration continues vaccination push with five new mass vaccination sites in Texas and New York

The Biden administration is partnering with Texas and New York to open additional vaccination centers as it continues its push to vaccinate every American amid the coronavirus pandemic. Three new major community vaccination centers will open in the cities of Dallas, Arlington and Houston in Texas, Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients announced Wednesday. Together, these

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More than 11 million people could lose pandemic unemployment benefits if Congress doesn’t act soon

An estimated 11.4 million workers will lose their unemployment benefits between mid-March and mid-April unless Congress passes its next coronavirus relief package in coming weeks, a new study has found. Out-of-work Americans will start running out of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits next month. Some 4 million people will see their

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Harris to start ‘regular’ lunches with Blinken in bid to beef up foreign policy chops

Vice President Kamala Harris will have her first private lunch with Secretary of State Antony Blinken Wednesday, meetings that are expected to continue with regularity, according to two administration officials. The meetings, which will be worked around their schedules and Covid-19 regulations, continue a tradition of vice presidents in close collaboration with their administration’s secretary

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Trump impeachment defense team scrambling to make new videos to bolster case

President Donald Trump’s legal team is scrambling to collect and produce more videos to bolster their impeachment trial arguments after a rambling debut performance that enraged the former president and dismayed Republicans, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The move to use more videotape — and lean away from in-person arguments — amounts

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House stimulus bill would expand eligibility for Affordable Care Act subsidies

The latest House coronavirus relief legislation would make more people eligible for Affordable Care Act subsidies for two years, temporarily fulfilling one of President Joe Biden’s campaign promises. The bill, introduced this week by House Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Richard Neal, would make the federal premium subsidy more generous and would eliminate the

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Warner and Rubio urge Biden administration to designate a leader on SolarWinds hack response

The top lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee urged the Biden administration on Tuesday to designate a leader to address the US government response to the massive hacking campaign that targeted government agencies and private-sector companies. “The federal government’s response so far has lacked the leadership and coordination warranted by a significant cyber event,” wrote

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Defense Dept. failing to track and prevent sexual harassment and assault of civilian workforce, watchdog warns

The Department of Defense has failed to adequately track and prevent cases of sexual harassment and sexual assault involving its civilian workforce, the Government Accountability Office is warning in a new report, despite taking such measures for service members. The department’s guidance on sexual harassment and assault “only captures a fraction of reported incidents involving

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Bill Cassidy joins five other Republican senators who broke ranks to vote that Trump’s impeachment trial is constitutional

Six Republicans joined all of their Democratic colleagues on Tuesday to vote that the impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump is constitutional, with Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy emerging as the sole Republican to switch his vote after an initial vote on constitutionality last month. The 56-44 final vote marked the closing chapter of Tuesday’s

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Merrick Garland, Biden’s pick for attorney general, has confirmation hearing set for February 22

President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general, Judge Merrick Garland, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 22 and 23 for his confirmation hearing. The dates were announced by Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, who said in a joint news release that the committee will vote

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Biden budget nominee Tanden apologizes for past criticism of Republicans and expresses regret over tweets

President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, apologized on Tuesday for some of the criticism she has previously directed at congressional Republicans and expressed regret over past tweets during a Senate confirmation hearing. Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio questioned Tanden at the Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing

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Covid-19 vaccines to be sent directly to community health centers to target ‘hard-to-reach populations’

The Biden administration will send some of the Covid-19 vaccine supply directly to community health centers starting next week as part of an effort to reach underserved areas, White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients announced Tuesday. “Community health centers are an important part of our broader strategy to ensure we are reaching everyone with

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