White House readies infrastructure plan as part of recovery goals
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will lay out the first part of his multitrillion-dollar economic recovery package this week, focusing on rebuilding roads, bridges and other infrastructure, followed by a separate plan in April addressing child and health care.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed Sunday that the administration’s plans to split the package into two legislative proposals, part of an effort to get support from congressional Republicans. But she adds that “we’ll work with the Senate and House to see how it should move forward.”
Biden will release details in a speech Wednesday in Pittsburgh about his proposal for federal investments in physical infrastructure, an issue that has drawn Republican support despite wariness over a pricey package so soon after passage of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan.
Democrats, meanwhile, have been aiming for a broader package that could include policy changes on green energy, immigration and other issues — as well as make permanent some of the just-passed COVID-19 assistance such as child tax credits. Many are ready to bypass Republicans, if they have to.
Psaki told “Fox News Sunday” that the White House had yet to settle on its legislative strategy, “but I will say that I don’t think Republicans in this country think we should be 13th in the world as it relates to infrastructure.”
“Roads, railways, rebuilding them, that’s not a partisan issue,” she said.
A separate proposal later in April then “will address a lot of issues that American people are struggling with — child care, the cost of health care,” Psaki said.
Border dispute: White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined to provide a specific date for when the media will get access to Border Patrol facilities temporarily holding thousands of migrant children seeking to live in the United States, but said Sunday the Biden administration was committed to transparency and “we’re working to get that done as soon as we can.”
More than 16,000 unaccompanied children were in government custody as of Thursday, including about 5,000 in substandard Customs and Border Protection facilities.
Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been calling on the administration to open the facilities to the cameras, asserting that the current policy is designed to keep the public from “fully realizing” what is happening at the border.
Republican officials are also blaming the Biden administration for actions they say are leading more people from Central America to seek entry into the United States. “It’s not a crisis, it’s a complete loss of sovereignty down there,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said.
U.S. authorities reported encounters with more than 100,000 migrants on the southern border in February, the highest since a fourmonth streak in 2019.
White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said the surge was cyclical.
Indonesian church attacked:
Two attackers believed to be members of a militant network that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group blew themselves up outside a packed Roman Catholic cathedral during a Palm Sunday Mass on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, wounding at least 20 people, police said.
Rev. Wilhelmus Tulak, a priest at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in Makassar, said he had just finished celebrating Palm Sunday Mass when a bang shocked his congregation. Hesaid the blast went off at 10:30 a.m. as a first batch of churchgoers was walking out of the church and another group was coming in.
He said security guards at the church were suspicious of two people on a motorcycle who wanted to enter the building and when they went to confront them, one of the pair detonated explosives.
Police later said both attackers were killed and evidence collected at the scene indicated one of the two was a woman. The wounded included four guards and several church
goers, police said.
Mozambique battle: Rebels fought the Mozambican army Sunday for the fifth consecutive day for control of the strategic northern town of Palma, as reports came in that dozens of civilians have been killed and bodies were littering the streets.
The fate of scores of foreign energy workers was also unknown.
Some of the dead had been beheaded, according to HumanRights Watch. An attempt by expatriate workers to flee to safety came under heavy fire, causing many deaths, according to local reports.
The attacks in Palma started Wednesday just hours after the French energy company Total announced that it would resume work outside the town on its huge natural gas project at Afungi, near Mozambique’s northeastern border with Tanzania.
Earlier rebel attacks prompted Total in January to suspend work on the project to extract gas from offshore sites.
New York marijuana: New York is poised to join a growing number of states that have legalized marijuana after state lawmakers reached a deal to allow sales of the drug for recreational use.
The agreement reached Saturday, which is expected to be signed into law in the coming days, would expand the state’s existing medical marijuana program and set up a a licensing and taxation system for recreational sales.
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration has estimated legalization could eventually bring the state about $350 million annually.
The legislation would allow recreational marijuana sales to adults over the age of 21, and set up a licensing process for the delivery of cannabis products to customers.
Individual New Yorkers could grow up to three mature and three immature plants for personal consumption, and local governments could opt out of retail sales.
Slovakia shuffle: Slovakia’s prime minister said Sunday that he will step down to clear the way for a Cabinet reshuffle that will defuse a political crisis triggered by a secret deal to buy Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
Prime Minister Igor Matovic said he proposed swapping posts with Finance Minister Eduard Heger from his Ordinary People party and Heger said, “I accept the challenge.”
The political crisis erupted when a secret deal came to light three weeks ago involving Slovakia’s agreement to acquire 2 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.
Slovakia is part of the 27-nation European Union, which has not yet authorized the Russian vaccine.