Joe Biden talks coronavirus battle with Boris Johnson as US cases pass 25 million
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Joe Biden and Boris Johnson discuss Covid-19 recovery in a Saturday phone call three days after the inauguration.
The UK prime minister tweeted on Saturday: “Great to speak to President Joe Biden this evening."
Earlier Mr Biden told the US Conference of Mayors that his administration was focussing on the pandemic and economic growth.
“We also have to act now, with urgency and unity as the United States of America…We can do this together. I promise we’ll do everything we can to help," said Mr Biden.
It comes as former Trump administration officials are quietly lobbying congressional Republicans to convict Mr Trump in his impeachment trial next month, according to CNN.
The former officials are just some of the dozens of influential GOP figures in Washington who want the party to sever ties with the former president.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s up-to-the-minute coverage of all the latest news coming from the new Biden White House and beyond in US politics.
Senior Republicans quietly lobbying for Trump’s conviction
Senior Republicans in Washington have been quietly lobbying GOP lawmakers to impeach and convict Donald Trump, a report says.
The effort against the former president, which includes former top Trump administration officials, started in the wake of the 6 January attack on Congress, according to CNN.
Mr Trump was impeached for an unprecedented second time by the House for inciting the deadly Capitol riot, and now Nancy Pelosi will transmit the articles to the Senate on Monday for a trial.
Graeme Massie has more:
Senior Republicans quietly lobbying for Trump’s conviction in impeachment trial, reports say
Effort against ex-president reportedly includes former top Trump administration officials
Fauci tells Maddow he was ‘blocked’ from appearing on show by Trump administration
Dr Anthony Fauci has told Rachel Maddow he was previously “blocked” from appearing on her MSNBC show by the Trump administration.
“I’ve been wanting to come on your show for months and months … and it’s just gotten blocked. Let’s call it what it is,” Dr Fauci said. “Because they didn’t like the way you handled things.”
Dr Fauci added the Biden administration would show “more transparency” and that it would actually allow government experts onto TV.
Biden orders review of domestic extremism threat in US
President Joe Biden has directed his intelligence community to study the threat of domestic extremism in the US, an undertaking being launched weeks after a violent mob loyal to Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol.
The disclosure Friday by White House press secretary Jen Psaki is a stark acknowledgment of the national security threat that officials see as posed by American extremists motivated to violence by extremist ideology.
The involvement of the director of national intelligence, an office created after the 11 September 2001 attacks to prevent international terrorism, suggests that American authorities are examining how to pivot to a more concerted focus on violence from radical extremists at home.
Read more here:
Biden orders review of domestic extremism threat in US
President Joe Biden has directed his intelligence community to study the threat of domestic extremism in the United States
Fox News confuses satirical Time Magazine cover for fake news
Fox News presenter Harris Faulkner appeared to believe a satirical Time Magazine cover which depicts an Oval Office left in a state of chaos by Donald Trump was an attempt by the media outlet to dupe readers into thinking it was real.
“That’s not real, that picture isn’t real. Don’t we care about - I thought we were a nation that cared about the fact,” Ms Faulkner said, as you can see in the clip below.
You can read more on Fox’s bizarrely misplaced outrage here:
Fox host denounces Time’s satirical cover showing mess left by Trump
‘Its literally a drawing,’ says Twitter user
Senate finance committee approves Janet Yellen nomination to treasury secretary
The senate finance committee has approved former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s nomination by Joe Biden to become the first female treasury secretary.
The unanimous approval means Ms Yellen, a popular pick with progressives, will likely sail through the full Senate approval process.
Bidens left stuck outside White House on Inauguration Day after ‘petty’ final Trump act
The Bidens were momentarily left to wait outside the White House in an awkward moment on Inauguration Day, possibly as a result of a final “petty” act by the Trump administration.
On Wednesday, Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president at a ceremony at the US Capitol, following which the couple was given a military escort to their new home.
Later, as the Bidens walked up the steps to enter the executive mansion, pausing to wave before turning to enter, the much anticipated moment fell flat as the doors failed to open and the couple was left on the doorstep.
Read more here:
Bidens were left stuck outside White House on Inauguration Day after ‘petty’ final Trump act
‘There was a protocol breach when the front doors were not held open’
Biden to ‘meet with advisors’ but otherwise no public events scheduled for Saturday
Joe Biden’s daily schedule shows he has no public events pencilled in for Saturday, although he will meet with advisors at the White House.
Trump rejects ‘ex-presidents club’ — and the feeling is mutual
It's a club Donald Trump was never really interested in joining and certainly not so soon: the cadre of former commanders in chief who revere the presidency enough to put aside often bitter political differences and even join together in common cause.
Members of the ex-presidents club pose together for pictures. They smile and pat each other on the back while milling around historic events, or sit somberly side by side at VIP funerals. They take on special projects together. They rarely criticize one another and tend to offer even fewer harsh words about their White House successors.
Like so many other presidential traditions, however, this is one Trump seems likely to flout. Now that he's left office, it's hard to see him embracing the stately, exclusive club of living former presidents.
Read more:
Trump shuns ‘ex-presidents club’ — and the feeling is mutual
Donald Trump is shunning the “ex-presidents club” — and the feeling is mutual
Biden administration outlines ‘five actions’ it has already taken to ‘help Americans today’
Joe Biden has tweeted a video outlining his administration’s early efforts to combat the coronavirus and the subsequent economic fallout, which includes extending food stamps, pausing student loan payments, and extending a moratorium on evictions.
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