[ad_1]
WILMINGTON, Delaware – President-elect Joe Biden said Friday’s “bleak” employment report shows the economic recovery is stalling and urged the United States Congress to pass a coronavirus relief bill immediately and make a follow-up with “hundreds of billions of dollars” in more aid in January.
“If we don’t act now, the future will be very bleak. Americans need help and they need it now. And they need more early next year,” said Biden, who will take office on January 20.
A government report on Friday showed the job market slowed in November as the COVID-19 pandemic eclipsed its spring levels. A record 179,124 new infections are reported each day, and more than 276,000 Americans have died from the disease.
Biden, the former Democratic vice president who defeated Republican President Donald Trump in the November election, offered support for an emerging bipartisan package of around $ 908 billion in COVID-19 spending that has drawn tentative support from members of both parties in The congress.
Biden said he would push for more relief once he’s in office.
“Any package passed in the lame duck session will not be enough overall. It is critical but it is only the beginning. Congress will have to act again in January,” Biden told reporters in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
“We are looking at hundreds of billions of dollars,” he said.
Biden said he hoped Republicans would join with Democrats in providing further relief from the coronavirus because “they’re going to find there is an overwhelming need.” He sidestepped questions about whether he has spoken with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell about the negotiations.
The president-elect said he would not make the vaccines being developed for COVID-19 mandatory, but he hopes the public will develop confidence in them over time.
Biden has largely focused on the pandemic and the economy during the transition, following a campaign in which he made Trump’s mishandling of the coronavirus a central issue and vowed to make the pandemic his top priority in the White House. .
He is expected to name Jeff Zients, co-chair of his transition and former economic aide to the Obama administration, as his coronavirus “czar” to coordinate the government’s response to the pandemic and oversee an ambitious vaccine distribution effort, according to one person. familiar with importing.
He also said plans for his inauguration next month were being developed with security in mind given the pandemic. Don’t expect the traditional parade or crowds, he said, though there could be a public swearing-in ceremony along with more virtual activity across the country.
Pressure for diversity
Biden, who unveiled his economic team earlier this week, faces increasing pressure from congressional allies and advocacy groups to make ethnically diverse selections for the remaining posts in his administration.
Biden was scheduled to meet Tuesday with the board of directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a longtime black civil rights organization, to discuss criticism that his cabinet elections lacked the representation he promised. during a campaign driven by black voters. .
The League of United Latin American Citizens, another prominent civil rights group, released a statement on Friday urging Biden and his transition team to review the influence of Latino voters and ensure that their top advisers reflect the diversity of the nation. .
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Thursday lobbied for Biden to appoint more Latino members to their top positions, underscoring reports that Biden’s team marked Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for a position at the top of the Department of Health and Services. Humans after she turned down the post of Secretary of the Interior. Lujan Grisham is of Mexican-American descent.
When asked about the pressure, Biden said he was still in the process of selecting his cabinet.
“It will be the most diverse cabinet based on race, color and gender that has ever existed in the United States,” Biden said.
Biden’s picks for top jobs so far have included some groundbreaking picks, including former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, who would be the first Secretary of the Treasury; Neera Tanden, who would be the first woman of color to lead the Office of Management and Budget; and Cecilia Rouse, who would be the first black woman to oversee the Council of Economic Advisers.
Transition spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters Friday that Biden would announce more positions early next week, including members of his public health team.
Biden said he would visit Georgia to campaign for Democratic candidates in two January 5 runoff elections that will decide which party controls the US Senate, but did not give a timeline for his trip.
Vice President Mike Pence visited Georgia on Friday, where he received a briefing on the pandemic at the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and joined a rally by Republican candidates, U.S. Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
Trump, a Republican who has still refused to give in to Biden, is scheduled to lead a rally with Perdue and Loeffler on Saturday.
Trump suffered further setbacks in his legal efforts to overturn the election results when judges in Nevada and Wisconsin on Friday dismissed or refused to act on lawsuits filed on his behalf.
The Trump campaign filed a new lawsuit in Georgia state court to invalidate Biden’s election victory there, alleging fraud and wrongdoing. Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has said his office found no evidence of widespread fraud. —Reuters
