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WILMINGTON, Delaware: President-elect Joe Biden said Friday’s “bleak” jobs report (Dec. 4) shows that the economic recovery is stalling and warned that the looming “dark winter” would exacerbate the pain unless The US Congress passes a coronavirus relief bill immediately.
“The situation requires urgent action,” Biden said in a statement. “Americans need help and they need it now.”
A government report earlier in the day showed the job market slowed in November amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Biden, the former Democratic vice president, offered his support for an emerging bipartisan package of about $ 908 billion that has garnered the tentative support of members of both parties in Congress.
But he said the bill would be “just the beginning” and vowed to push for additional relief once he takes office in January.
The president-elect has focused heavily on the pandemic and the economy during the transition, following a campaign in which he made President Donald Trump’s mishandling of the coronavirus a central issue.
He is expected to name Jeff Zients, his transition co-chair 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.
Earlier this week, he unveiled his economic team, led by his candidate for Secretary of the Treasury, former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen.
But he faces increasing pressure from congressional allies and human rights groups to make ethnically diverse elections for the remaining seats in his administration.
Biden was scheduled to meet with the board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a long-standing black civil rights organization, Tuesday 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, issued a statement on Friday urging “President Biden and his transition team to closely examine the voting power of Latinos across the United States” and Make sure your top advisers reflect the diversity of the nation.
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Thursday, both publicly and privately, lobbied for Biden to appoint more Latino members to their top positions, underscoring reports that Biden’s team sidelined Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for a position. at the top of the Department of Health and Human Services after she turned down the job as Secretary of the Interior. Lujan Grisham is of Mexican-American descent.
Biden’s picks for the lead roles so far have included some groundbreaking picks, including Yellen, who would be the first female Treasury Secretary; Neera Tanden, who would be the first woman of color to head 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.
Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence was visiting Georgia on Friday, where he was receiving a briefing on the pandemic at the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before attending a rally with Republican senators. Americans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who face January runoff elections that will determine control of the United States Senate.
Trump, a Republican who has yet refused to budge to Biden, is scheduled to head a rally with Perdue and Loeffler on Saturday.
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