White House national security spokesman John Kirby says President Joe Biden is “deeply concerned" about the unauthorized release of classified documents on Israel’s preparation for a potential retaliatory attack on Iran.

The United States is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents that assess Israel’s plans to attack Iran and note that Israel continues to move military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1.

U.S. officials say the Biden administration believes it has won assurances from Israel that it will not strike Iranian nuclear or oil sites as it looks to strike back following Iran’s missile barrage earlier this month.

President Joe Biden has signed a temporary government spending bill that keeps agencies operating into December, after Congress punted key spending decisions until after the November election.

A new tourist stop in Washington is offering visitors the next best thing to being in the Oval Office.

President Joe Biden has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the United States presses Israel and Hamas to agree to a “bridging proposal” that could lead to a cease-fire in the war in Gaza.

The Philippines has agreed to temporarily host a U.S. immigrant visa processing center for a limited number of Afghan nationals aspiring to resettle in America.

President Joe Biden has signed a proclamation to establish a national monument to commemorate the 1908 race riot in Springfield, Ill.

President Joe Biden has signed into law a bill strengthening oversight of the crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons after The Associated Press exposed systemic corruption and abuse in the prison system.

President Joe Biden delivered a solemn Oval Office address Wednesday that laid out in the clearest terms yet why he abandoned his reelection campaign.

Two Democratic senators are requesting a meeting with Chief Justice John Roberts after reports that two separate flags carried by rioters at the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol had flown outside of houses owned by Justice Samuel Alito.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has visited Michigan to meet with the state's large Iraqi community and update them on escalating tensions in the Middle East.

President Joe Biden’s latest plan for student loan cancellation is moving forward as a proposed regulation, offering him a fresh chance to deliver on a campaign promise and energize young voters ahead of the November election.

President Joe Biden's administration is launching a program that will help 50 countries identify and respond to infectious diseases, with the goal of preventing pandemics like the COVID-19 outbreak.

President Joe Biden called on the House to immediately take up the Senate-passed supplemental legislation for Ukraine and Israel funding on Monday as he hosted Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala in the Oval Office.

President Joe Biden is signing an executive order aiming to better protect Americans’ personal data on everything from biometrics and health records to finances and geolocation from foreign adversaries like China and Russia.

President Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign is now on TikTok, even though he has expressed national security concerns over the platform and banned it on federal devices.

President Joe Biden has invited the top four congressional leaders and other lawmakers to the White House on Wednesday as members have struggled to reach agreement on aid for the Ukraine war.

President Joe Biden is gathering leaders from 10 other countries across the Americas in the U.S. capital to discuss the tightening of supply chains and address migration issues.

President Joe Biden is trying to increase trade with Latin America.

The Biden administration is giving temporary legal status to Afghan migrants who have already been living in the country for a little over a year.

Former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined in an interview aired Sunday to answer questions about whether he watched the Capitol riot unfold on television.

President Joe Biden’s administration is hosting state legislators from 41 states to the White House on Wednesday for discussions on how legislatures can make child care more affordable for families.

Israel’s figurehead president Isaac Herzog sought to use an Oval Office meeting on Tuesday to assure President Joe Biden that Israel remains committed to democracy.

President Joe Biden has welcomed Sweden’s prime minister at the White House in a show of solidarity as the United States presses for the Nordic nation’s entry into NATO.

Should he prevail, he would be 82 years old when sworn in for a second term.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Ukrainians are “making progress, making advances,” with their counteroffensive against Russian forces.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will host a Juneteenth concert in a “celebration of community, culture and music.”.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says he won’t support a fellow GOP senator’s blockade of military nominees, backing Democrats and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin who have said that the holdup is harming national security.

President Joe Biden is aiming to showcase the Democratic coalition rallying around his reelection bid.

President Joe Biden has honored the nation’s best teachers.

President Alberto Fernández of Argentina has used a White House meeting to spotlight the economic strain his country faces as he looks for President Joe Biden to back Argentina’s effort to renegotiate with the International Monetary Fund on terms of $44 billion debt.

President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are meeting Friday as they work to complete a plan that the White House hopes will turn the page on a spat between the U.S. and European Union over electric vehicle tax credits.

The White House says lawyers for President Joe Biden found more classified documents at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, than previously known.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s dramatic visit to Washington is a moment for the White House to demonstrate to Russia’s Vladimir Putin that the United States will sustain its commitment to the war for “as long as it takes.”.

The rapper formerly known as Kanye West was escorted out of the California headquarters of athletic shoemaker Skechers Wednesday after he showed up unannounced.

The White House is reaching out to local governments.

President Joe Biden met with family members of WNBA star Brittney Griner and another American detained in Russia, Paul Whelan.

President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping could meet in person for the first time since Biden took office, a senior administration official says.

In an abrupt change of course, the White House is now declining to comment on the frequency of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 testing regimen.

As the war in Ukraine evolves, so do the needs of the Ukraine military.

The Summit of the Americas is only one week away, and it's still unclear if Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will be attending.

President Joe Biden has hosted Italian Premier Mario Draghi at the White House as the U.S. works to maintain trans-Atlantic unity over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Key members of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council say they plan to use $14 million from the Bezos Earth Fund to make sure the Biden administration follows through on its Justice40 initiative, a commitment that 40% of benefits from all climate and environment investment go to disadvantaged communities.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has now essentially given up on his quixotic bid to sell off the presidential jet, and will rent it out for weddings or coming-of-age parties.

President Joe Biden says he's asking Congress for $2.6 billion for foreign aid programs that promote gender equality around the world.

The Biden administration has announced the release of $14 billion to the Army Corps of Engineers to fund 500 projects aimed at easing the supply chain problem.

President Joe Biden expressed concerns on Monday to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed about detentions and civilian killings in the conflict in the country's Tigray region, while commending Abiy for the recent release of several political prisoners.

The woman who co-founded Preservation Hall in New Orleans has died.

President Joe Biden says the nation owes the families of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School nine years ago “more than our prayers.

President Joe Biden says the United States is considering a diplomatic boycott of next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing over China's human rights abuses.

President Joe Biden faced fierce blowback from fellow Democrats and refugee advocates for considering keeping his predecessor’s record-low cap of 15,000 for admitting refugees this budget year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is easing mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings.

The government's key COVID-19 relief program for small businesses has run out of money.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says President Joe Biden’s massive proposed spending on infrastructure, families and education won’t fuel inflation because the plans would be phased in gradually over 10 years.

President Joe Biden’s opening months in office have been a whirlwind period of activity during the pandemic and the start of an economic recovery.

President Joe Biden’s administration announced an increase Tuesday in the number of temporary seasonal workers who will be allowed to work in the U.S. this year as the U.S. economy recovers from the pandemic.

President Joe Biden says the conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd “can be a giant step forward” for the nation in the fight against systemic racism.

The Biden administration is privately weighing how to handle the upcoming verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, including considering whether President Joe Biden should address the nation.

President Joe Biden's first address to a joint session of Congress will look like no other in recent memory.

U.S. officials say President Joe Biden will withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America that were coordinated from that country.

President Joe Biden has released a $1.5 trillion wish list for his first federal budget.

President Joe Biden has released a $1.5 trillion wish list for his first federal budget.

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden outlined a huge $2.3 trillion plan Wednesday to reengineer the nation’s infrastructure in what he billed as “a once-in-a-generation investment in America” that would undo his predecessor’s signature legislative achievement — giant tax cuts for corporations — in the process. Biden hopes to pass an infrastructure plan by summer, which could mean relying solely on the slim Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate. “Ninety-one Fortune 500 Companies, including Amazon, pay not a single solitary penny in income tax,” Biden said. “Wall Street didn’t build this country," Biden said. But we have to get it done.”AdDemocratic leaders embraced Biden’s plan Wednesday.

President Joe Biden speaks before signing the PPP Extension Act of 2021, in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, March 30, 2021, in Washington. Raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% would generate some $700 billion over 10 years, one of the people said. Biden promised on the campaign trail not to raise individual taxes on those earning less than $400,000 but new details on the individual tax hikes were scant at Tuesday's briefing. It wants to see progress on the new legislation by Memorial Day and have it passed over the summer, White House officials said. AdBiden's approach is about “making an investment in America,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

FILE - In this March 17, 2021 photo, President Joe Biden speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Biden intends to nominate three African American prosecutors to run the U.S. attorneys offices in New York, including the first Black man to run the Southern District of New York. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden is expected to nominate three prosecutors to run the U.S. attorney’s offices in New York state, including the first Black man to run the Southern District of New York in Manhattan and the first Black woman to head the Western District in Buffalo. Ross, a longtime federal prosecutor, is expected to run the office in the Buffalo-based Western District. Brooklyn federal prosecutors have been examining the state’s handling of COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes in a probe that drew public attention after a top aide to New York Gov.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)BALTIMORE – To pay out his coronavirus relief package, President Joe Biden must spend an average of $3.7 billion every day for the rest of this year. Schools and state and local governments also might spread out spending to well after most of the country is vaccinated. “To do that, we’re going to need your input and advice.”The Biden package also introduces about $140 billion in temporary tax credits. First is the reduction in child poverty promoted by the Biden team through the tax credits and other aid. But the spending in the Biden package also reflects how much has changed after the nation went into lockdown a year ago.

President Joe Biden arrives to speak about the COVID-19 pandemic during a prime-time address from the East Room of the White House, Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON – The Latest on President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package (all times local):8:30 p.m.President Joe Biden is urging Americans to “stick with the rules" as he wraps up his address to the nation on the one-year anniversary of the beginning of coronavirus pandemic. __8:05 p.m.President Joe Biden is delivering a somber but optimistic message on the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden says, “We all lost something, a collective suffering, a collective sacrifice.”Ad__6:40 p.m.President Joe Biden is planning to announce during his prime-time address Thursday night that he’ll deploy 4,000 additional U.S. troops to support coronavirus vaccination efforts. The officials say the president will also say that there is a good chance Americans will be able to safely gather in small groups by July 4.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)BALTIMORE – To pay out his coronavirus relief package, President Joe Biden must spend an average of $3.7 billion every day for the rest of this year. Schools and state and local governments also might spread out spending to well after most of the country is vaccinated. “To do that, we’re going to need your input and advice.”The Biden package also introduces about $140 billion in temporary tax credits. First is the reduction in child poverty promoted by the Biden team through the tax credits and other aid. But the spending in the Biden package also reflects how much has changed after the nation went into lockdown a year ago.

President Joe Biden walks to the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, March 9, 2021, in Washington. Biden is returning to the White House after visiting W.S. Known as the “Quadrilateral Security Dialogue,” representatives for the four member nations have met periodically since its establishment in 2007. She added that the leaders are expected to discuss everything from the threat of COVID-19 to economic cooperation between the nations and climate policy. Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will all participate in the summit.

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting about cancer in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, March 3, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)President Joe Biden called out Republican governors in Texas and Mississippi for “Neanderthal thinking” in deciding to relax their mask mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions. The governors of both states announced Tuesday they would lift their states’ mask mandates and other restrictions on businesses and gatherings aimed at stopping the spread of the virus. Biden called it a “big mistake” while speaking in the Oval Office on Wednesday during a meeting with lawmakers, who each wore a mask. He said, “I hope everyone has realized by now, these masks make a difference.”Biden added: “We are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease” and said “the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime, everything’s fine, take off your mask, forget it.”AdRelated Stories:

About half of the money covered comes from two widely used grants: the State Homeland Security Program and the Urban Area Security Initiative. AdThat translates into at least $77 million to address domestic extremism, funds that Mayorkas said can be used to improve intelligence sharing across state lines, training and public awareness. AdConcerns about domestic extremism have been mounting in recent years. DHS listed domestic violent extremism, particularly by white supremacists, as among the top threats facing the nation late last year, and in January for the first time used a national terrorist advisory to warn about domestic extremism. In the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection, Republicans and Democrats in Congress have called for increased focus on domestic extremism.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday intended to boost manufacturing jobs by strengthening U.S. supply chains for advanced batteries, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals and semiconductors. There are 12.2 million manufacturing jobs in the United States, down from 17 million in 2000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. AdBiden's team declined to say how many manufacturing jobs could be created, only that the benefits would extend past factory work. AdThe chip shortage has cost the global auto industry the production of about 1 million vehicles, according to IHS Markit. Moody's predicts that the chip shortage will cost Ford and General Motors about one-third of their pretax earnings this year.

He went on to say that by the end of July his administration can deliver 600 million doses for Americans. But “it's one thing to have a vaccine available, the problem was how to get to people's arms.”The Pfizer plant Biden toured, near Kalamazoo, produces one of the two federally approved COVID-19 shots. "I would’ve gotten there some way.”AdWhite House adviser Slavitt said the 6 million doses delayed won’t spoil and the vaccine is “safe and sound” under refrigeration. Slavitt said about 1.4 million doses were being shipped Friday as the work of clearing the backlog begins. The Virginia Department of Health reported that it was expecting delays on about 90% of its expected 120,000 doses this week and warned that delays could cascade into next week.

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with labor leaders in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON – Immigration enforcement in the U.S. would be more targeted under President Joe Biden than under his predecessor, with authorities directed to focus on people in the country illegally who pose a threat, according to guidelines released Thursday. The guidelines set a new course for U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, which drew fierce criticism under President Donald Trump for arresting and removing anyone in the country illegally regardless of criminal history or community ties. Under Biden, ICE would primarily apprehend and remove people who pose a threat to national security, committed crimes designated as “aggravated” felonies or recently crossed the border. AdTrump, whose administration took hundreds of measures to restrict both legal and illegal immigration, early on directed ICE to apprehend anyone who was in the country illegally.

The agency oversees government health insurance programs covering more than 1 out of 3 Americans and is a linchpin of the health care system. CMS also plays a central role in the nation’s $4 trillion health care economy, setting Medicare payment rates for hospitals, doctors, labs and other service providers. The agency also sets standards that govern how health care providers operate. “She is well-respected and liked by the department veterans who have worked with her in the past.”Years ago, Brooks-LaSure worked with Biden's nominee to run HHS, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. AdUnder Biden, Brooks-LaSure will be expected to grow Obamacare enrollment by promoting HealthCare.gov and trying to persuade holdout states to adopt Medicaid expansion.

FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2021 file photo, President Joe Biden signs a series of executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Biden campaigned on raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour and attached a proposal doing just that to the $1.9 trillion coronavirus pandemic relief bill. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden is extending a ban on housing foreclosures to June 30 to help homeowners struggling during the coronavirus pandemic. The White House says more than 10 million homeowners are behind on mortgage payments and Biden's actions are to help keep people in their homes amid “a housing affordability crisis” triggered by the pandemic. The actions announced Tuesday don’t address a federal moratorium through March 31 on evictions of tenants who’ve fallen behind on rent.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON – The Biden administration is moving to roll back Medicaid work requirements in its latest effort to undo a controversial Trump-era policy. Federal health officials planned Friday to inform 10 states that they would revoke permissions granted by the Trump administration to impose such requirements, according to a Biden official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans. Officials were also set to withdraw the past administration’s invitation for states to apply for approval for work requirements. AdThe Trump administration allowed states to require “able-bodied” adults drawing Medicaid benefits to work, volunteer or study. Before the pandemic, nearly 20 states had tried to implement requirements after the administration invited them in 2018 to submit such proposals.

As part of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus package, Biden wants to send $350 billion to state and local governments and tribal governments. But state governments have shed 332,000 jobs since the outbreak began to spread last February, and local governments have cut nearly 1 million jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Congress provided $150 billion in direct assistance to state and local governments in an earlier relief package signed into law last March. Rep. James Comer, the ranking Republican, said states still have money to spend from the relief package Congress passed last March. Ad“Despite this surplus, California is still receiving an additional $41.2 billion in taxpayer dollars from this $350 billion slush fund,” Comer said.

From left, David Schoen, Bruce Castor and Michael van der Veen, lawyers for former President Donald Trump, arrive at the Capitol on the third day of the second impeachment trial of Trump in the Senate, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)WASHINGTON – The Latest on former President Donald Trump's second Senate impeachment trial (all times local):4:30 p.m.House Democrats prosecuting President Donald Trump’s impeachment have wrapped up their opening arguments. Read more:— Trial highlights: Harrowing footage, focus on Trump’s words— ‘Distressing and emotional’: Senators relive horror of riotAd— Did someone say impeachment? ___2 p.m.Lawyers for former president Donald Trump are planning to begin and wrap up their defense in his impeachment trial in less than a day, using far fewer than their allotted argument hours. The rules for the trial gave both sides two days for arguments, lasting up to eight hours each day.

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with lawmakers on investments in infrastructure, in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, in Washington. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said later that “the footage was just a reminder of how shocked and saddened” Biden was on the day rioters stormed the Capitol. It also reflects a belief among White House aides that the chattering classes in Washington and on Twitter are often far removed from the realities of everyday Americans. With the Senate occupied by impeachment, White House legislative affairs staffers were working with House committee members on the COVID-19 legislation. Engel suggested that Biden continue to focus his message on Americans, rather than wade into fights on Capitol Hill.

Yankee Stadium opened as a COVID-19 vaccination site Friday, drawing lines of people from surrounding neighborhoods in the Bronx. President Joe Biden has called for setting up 100 mass vaccination centers around the country within a month. One of the five new military teams will go to a vaccination center opening in California. AdMilitary troops will staff one of the two California centers, FEMA and Pentagon officials said. Training other medical personnel to give the vaccination shots, he said, would potentially provide more.

The reversal of policy also comes as a rebuke to Saudi Arabia. Saudi state media focused on that part of Biden's announcements Thursday. The Houthis have launched multiple drone and missile strikes deep into Saudi Arabia. The weeks-old Biden administration has made clear that shifting its stance toward the Yemen war, and toward Saudi Arabia over the Yemen offensive and other rights abuses, was a priority. A career foreign service member, he has served in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other countries in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen listens during a meeting with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned of “tough months ahead” with COVID-19 continuing to flare, making it critical that Congress pass President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion relief package. In her first public interview since becoming Treasury secretary last week, Yellen said that Biden is willing to cooperate with Republicans to pass the measure on a bipartisan basis. “This is really an urgent need and we need to act big,” Yellen said Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America. “We've got some tough months ahead” until we get control of the pandemic.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas looks on as President Joe Biden signs an executive order on immigration, in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, in Washington. The agency's action was revealed Wednesday as Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, sued to stop newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas from carrying out Biden's 100-day moratorium on deportations. It's not clear what has happened with the agreements signed elsewhere. The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. The agreements would remain in place for eight years unless Homeland Security moves to challenge them by Feb. 17, which is 30 days after Cuccinelli signed them.

(AP Photo/Omar Akour)WASHINGTON – The Biden administration is preparing to notify Congress and others that it will dramatically increase U.S. admissions of refugees. Former President Donald Trump had drastically reduced the refugee admissions cap to only 15,000 before he left office. AdThe sources said Biden would not necessarily override the record low cap of 15,000 that Trump set for the current budget year. “We hope that President Biden will substantially raise the refugee admissions goal immediately, as he consistently committed to on the campaign trail," said Sunil Varghese of the New York-based International Refugee Assistance Project. The Trump administration had put in place extreme background checks that had brought the program to a standstill, advocates say.

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)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Monday threatened new sanctions on Myanmar after its military staged a coup and arrested the civilian leaders of its government, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Biden assailed the country's army for the coup, calling it a “direct assault on the country’s transition to democracy and rule of law.” The coup in Myanmar, also known as Burma, has also been roundly condemned internationally. “The United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy,” Biden said in a statement. She had lived under house arrest for years as she tried to push her country toward democracy and then became its de facto leader after her National League for Democracy won elections in 2015.

President Joe Biden smiles after signing 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)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden made his first major foray outside the White House on Friday with a visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to meet with wounded soldiers. Biden has a long and personal history with the hospital, which treats thousands of military service members, veterans and their families. The students participate in a peer support program in which they help other military students settle into a new school. AdBiden’s early visit to Walter Reed marks one of his first departures from the gated White House campus.

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 and aides showed touches of prickliness Thursday over growing scrutiny of the new president’s heavy reliance on executive orders in his first days in office. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that Biden’s early reliance on executive action is at odds with the Democrat’s pledge as a candidate to be a consensus builder. Biden and aides, including top White House economists, have said that they believe executive action is a pale substitute for legislative action. But McConnell was far more understanding of Trump’s decision to use executive orders to get around Congress at various points in the Republican’s presidency.

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)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Thursday rescinded a regulation that barred U.S. foreign aid from being used to perform or promote abortions. His decision, while expected, was cheered by abortion-choice advocates and some humanitarian groups and denounced by anti-abortion groups. Critics of Trump's policies say they had hurt women’s reproductive health care and contributed to poverty worldwide. Abortion-rights groups and Democratic lawmakers hailed it as key to improving women's lives, while anti-abortion groups denounced it as immoral and unnecessary.

President Bill Clinton works at his desk in the Oval Office, with First Daughter Chelsea Clinton in 1994. Between each administration, presidents are allowed to make slight tweaks to the decor in the Oval Office, such as swapping in another rug or hanging different artwork on the walls. We went back and looked at how the Oval Office has changed over the years, going all the way back to Ronald Reagan. (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)President Ronald Reagan leaving the Oval Office in 1989. (Photo by Howard L. Sachs/CNP/Getty Images)Bill ClintonPresident Bill Clinton delivers his weekly radio address from the Oval Office in 1995.

Longtime political analyst Henry Flores said he thought the bust behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office appeared familiar. Flores said the bust of Cesar Chavez was among President Joe Biden’s cherished family photos as he signed more than a dozen executive orders on Thursday. Flores said he asked himself what kind of message was the newly-inaugurated President trying to send. We welcome you in.”Biden has made Latino issues a top priority to start off his new administration, Flores said. If not, Flores said Republicans could pay a price for not supporting Biden’s Latino agenda.

One directive calls for a addressing health care inequities in minority communities hard hit by the virus. “We didn’t get into this mess overnight, and it will take months to turn this around,” Biden said. “Defeating the virus requires a coordinated nationwide effort.”Biden officials say they’re hampered by lack of cooperation from the Trump administration during the transition. Biden is ordering FEMA to reimburse states for the full cost of using their National Guards to set up vaccination centers. As part of his COVID-19 strategy, Biden will order the establishment of a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force to ensure that minority and underserved communities are not left out of the government’s response.

A memo signed by all members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also reminded military members that Joe Biden was duly elected as the next president and will be sworn in to office on Jan. 20. The memo was unusual in that the military leadership, including Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, felt compelled to remind service members that it is wrong to disrupt the constitutional process. The Joint Chiefs memo did not allude directly to the question of military involvement. "The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection. “As service members, we must embody the values and ideals of the nation.

It also resurfaces a question with no certain answer: What would happen if a military commander determined, based on legal judgment, that a president's nuclear launch order was illegal? Trump has given no indication he is considering using nuclear weapons, but Pelosi expressed worry that an “unhinged” president might start a war. “He answered her questions regarding the process of nuclear command authority,” Butler said, declining to reveal details. The current arrangement in which sole authority to order a nuclear launch rests with the president is not written in law. Also in November 2017, the Air Force general who was commanding Strategic Command at the time raised the possibility of having to refuse an illegal launch order.

It also resurfaces a question with no certain answer: What would happen if a military commander determined, based on legal judgment, that a president's nuclear launch order was illegal? Trump has given no indication he is considering using nuclear weapons, but Pelosi expressed worry that an “unhinged” president might start a war. “He answered her questions regarding the process of nuclear command authority,” Butler said, declining to reveal details. The current arrangement in which sole authority to order a nuclear launch rests with the president is not written in law. Also in November 2017, the Air Force general who was commanding Strategic Command at the time raised the possibility of having to refuse an illegal launch order.

In addition, because lawmakers linked the pandemic relief bill to an overarching funding measure, the government would shut down on Dec. 29. Lawmakers spent months in a stalemate over pandemic relief funds, even as COVID-19 cases soared across the country. Republicans have been reluctant to spend more on pandemic relief and only agreed to the big year-end package as time dwindled for a final deal. Several Senate Republicans, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have begun to gingerly break with Trump and acknowledge his defeat to President-elect Joe Biden, a step Trump has refused to take. Shortly after castigating the relief bill, Trump challenged McConnell and Sen. John Thune, the No.

He and his allies have discussed a range of other possibilities, including members of Trump's family and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. Trump also commuted the sentences of five other people, including former Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas. Trump also announced pardons for two people entangled in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Trump has granted about 2% of requested pardons in his single term in office — just 27 before Tuesday's announcement. Bush, another one-term president, granted 10% of requests.

FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2010, file photo President Barack Obama, center, walks out of the Oval Office of the White House with former Presidents Bill Clinton, left, and George W. Bush, right, to deliver remarks in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)NEW YORK – Just a month after publication, Barack Obama's “A Promised Land” is well on its way to becoming the best-selling president memoir in modern times. Crown announced Wednesday that sales have topped 3.3 million copies in the U.S. and Canada, within range of Bill Clinton's “My Life” and George W. Bush's “Decision Points,” both of which have sold between 3.5 million and 4 million. “A Promised Land," the first of two planned volumes, cover Obama's election in 2008 and much of his first term. Previous works, written before he became president, include the million sellers “Dreams from My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope.”

Trump led Tuesday's White House event celebrating “Operation Warp Speed,” his administration's effort to produce and distribute safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19. Pfizer developed its vaccine outside of “Operation Warp Speed,” but is partnering with the federal government on manufacturing and distribution. Trump administration officials insist that such plans have been developed, with the bulk of the work falling to states and local governments to ensure their most vulnerable populations are vaccinated first. The Food and Drug Administration’s panel of outside vaccine experts is to meet Thursday to conduct a final review of the Pfizer vaccine, and it will meet later this month on the Moderna version. Plans call for distributing and then administering about 40 million doses of the two companies’ vaccines by the end of the year — with the first doses shipping within hours of FDA clearance.