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48 million family caregivers give everything to help older loved ones. They give time and energy, too often giving up their jobs and paying over $7,000 a year out of pocket. With a new Congress, it’s time to act on the Credit for Caring tax credit.
PRESENTED BYBY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN THE TOPWe interviewed White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain last night as part of a three-part virtual event series about the first 100 days of Joe Biden’s Washington. (Side note: People are still very much into virtual events. This thing was huge). Sign up here for the rest of the series. Klain made some news, and we wanted to flag it for you here: → Klain said Shalanda Young is under consideration to be the director of the Office of Management and Budget. “She’s certainly a very serious candidate for the lead position in OMB. … I think the most urgent way to fill our needs in OMB would be to get Shalanda confirmed as deputy … and then the president will have an announcement about who his nominee will be. I think Shalanda Young is very much on that list. She is an enormously talented person. We’re grateful to have her as part of the team. And she is definitely under consideration for the top post.” → We asked Klain about the immigration detention facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border, and whether criticism of the Biden administration here is fair. “Look, I think we inherited a real mess. We inherited the facilities we have. We are committed to a policy that follows the rule of law and that is humane. And we are doing our best to surge capacity to the border, particularly for these children who arrived here without parents, to house them in a way that is safe, to house them in a way that’s humane and help ultimately reunite them with either family they have in this country or sponsors who are willing to take them in in this country. That takes time and that is not something you can do overnight. → When should we expect the Biden administration to get its border policies in order: “I hope people will look at what we are trying to do and judge us based on our actions. I think that we’re also open for suggestions, ideas. It’s a hard problem. I’m not going to deny that this is one of the most vexing problems we face and it is a very difficult situation. But I will tell you we had some of the president’s senior advisers down there over the weekend. We are focused on this like a laser.” → How does the White House define infrastructure? “I think we view infrastructure as the kind of investments this country needs to get ready to succeed in this century to beat China in the global economy, to create the kinds of jobs we need. Not just building the infrastructure but then the jobs that that infrastructure powers in terms of bringing products to market, and it includes things as the president has said like hundreds of thousands of charging stations for the new generation electrical vehicles that are going to be on the road here in the years to come. It includes investments in power transmission for clean power and it obviously includes things like roads and bridges and all these other things. “But we need a 21st-century infrastructure to compete in a 21st-century global economy. I think that’s really at the top of Joe Biden’s agenda. Way back in January we laid it out the rescue plan and we said rescue first and then recovery and the key part of recovery is being globally competitive. And infrastructure is a key part of being globally competitive.” → Klain also refused to entertain anything short of a $15 minimum wage. Watch the full interview A note: The FAA has alerted VIP movement near Camp David for the weekend, which means it’s nearly certain President Joe Biden will be there. We want you! A reminder that we are looking for all chiefs, legislative directors, staff directors and comms staffers to register to participate in The Canvass, a monthly survey we are starting to hear directly (and anonymously) from the aides who are critical to what happens on Capitol Hill. Sign up here. PRESENTED BY GOOGLE Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls committing $25 million in funding to organizations supporting economic empowerment COVID-19 has exacerbated gender inequity, and organizations around the country are working to support economic empowerment for women and girls. In total, selected organizations will receive $25 million in funding and other support from Google. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Spending on Covid tops $5.5 trillion The House will pass the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan today, giving President Joe Biden his biggest legislative victory to date. Biden will sign the legislation into law several days before the March 14 deadline. The president will address the nation Thursday evening to talk about the Covid crisis. The American Rescue Plan is the sixth major Covid relief bill Congress passed over the last year. The price tag for all that legislation: More than $5.5 trillion. Again: $5.5 trillion on Covid relief. This is simply a staggering amount of money. It serves to highlight the absolutely unprecedented level of federal intervention in the last year. Roughly half of this spending has been funded by new debt. The United States has never spent this much on any emergency during its history — and it may continue. Biden is looking at a large-scale infrastructure package, as well. More than 500,000 Americans have died from Covid, and the emotional and physical toll of the pandemic is beyond measure. Yet there’s also no denying that the crisis has pushed the U.S. government into uncharted fiscal territory as well, with long-term ramifications for all of American society. Federal outlays topped more than $6 trillion for the first time during FY 2020. In June alone, the federal government shelled out more than $1.1 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. To put that in historical perspective, 1987 was the first time the U.S. government hit the $1 trillion annual spending mark; now the country has hit that mark in just 30 days. Total federal debt is nearly $28 trillion. Interest payments alone amounted to $345 billion during the last fiscal year, and that’s with historically low interest rates. We asked Speaker Nancy Pelosi this question: Does she know of any comparable federal government effort in the post World War II era? “I was asking myself that question in regard to the ‘Great Society,’” Pelosi said. “I just don’t know. I have to see.” Other points: → $5.5 trillion is more than the GDP of all but two countries: the United States and China. → World War II cost the U.S. government roughly $4 trillion in 2020 dollars. → Even before the American Rescue Plan becomes law, there’s still more $475 billion in appropriated funds that haven’t been spent. It will take years for all this Covid money to be doled out. And here’s a flashback to show how far we’ve come: In Feb. 2020, the Trump administration sent a request to Congress for $2.5 billion in supplemental funding to deal with the pandemic, which was only beginning to really hit the United States (or so we thought.). Only half of that was new money. Instead, the White House was planning to shift money from other programs to cover the rest of the request, including using hundreds of millions of dollars that was supposed to go to countering Ebola. “I think that we’re doing a great job,” then President Donald Trump said as he wrapped up a trip to India. THE OPENER: MERRICK GARLAND The Opener is your inside look at six of the most important figures in Joe Biden’s first 100 days. This week we profile nominee for Attorney General Merrick Garland. Check out his orbit and his political considerations are in today’s installment. The Senate will vote on Garland’s nomination today. THWACK! Schumer goes after Susan Collins If you cover the Senate or watch it closely, you’ll know that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) aren’t the best of friends. Last night, Schumer took a whack at Collins on Anderson Cooper’s "AC360" on CNN. Cooper asked Schumer if Democrats could’ve done more to win over Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on the Covid relief bill. Schumer: “No. We made a big mistake in 2009 and ‘10. Susan Collins was part of that mistake. We cut back on the stimulus dramatically and we stayed in recession for five years.” Of course, this is how a lot of Democrats view history. But it got a lot of people in Collins and GOP world’s attention, as Democrats look to work with Republican senators in the near future. Maybe Collins and Schumer should take the talking stick and talk through this one. PRESENTED BY GOOGLE The Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls will grant $25 million to organizations creating pathways to prosperity for women and girls. MOMENTS 9:50 a.m.: President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris will get their daily intelligence briefing. 11 a.m.: The Covid team will brief. 12:30 p.m.: Jen Psaki and Roberta Jacobson, the coordinator for the southern border, will brief, 3 p.m.: Biden will hold an event with the CEOs of Johnson & Johnson and Merck in the White House. 5 p.m.: Harris will hold a virtual swearing in ceremony for Marcia Fudge as HUD secretary. Her confirmation vote is today. WHAT THEY DO WITH POWER Whitehouse ramps up war on Federalist Society Getty Images Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island is stepping up his battle with the conservative Federalist Society. And this time, he’s got a subcommittee gavel and a friendly House Democrat who can issue subpoenas to help him. Whitehouse, who chairs the subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights for the Senate Judiciary Committee, is holding a hearing today entitled: “What’s Wrong with the Supreme Court: The Big-Money Assault on Our Judiciary.” Whitehouse’s target is the Federalist Society, which he says has been involved in a years’ long effort to gain control of the federal judiciary — especially the Supreme Court. It’s a topic Whitehouse has railed about for awhile, including during the confirmation hearing for now Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Whitehouse’s position is this: The Federalist Society and its co-chairman, Leonard Leo, select and push certain candidates for nomination as federal judges; the Judicial Crisis Network, an affiliated group, runs expensive TV ad campaigns paid for by “dark money” donations to help those candidates get confirmed to the bench; and then certain court cases are steered toward these judges by powerful special-interests who use federal courts to rein in government regulation. Whitehouse says tens of millions of dollars have been spent on this coordinated effort, which is designed to gain control of the third branch of government. “Tomorrow is kind of the scene-setter to look at the scope of the problem,” Whitehouse said Tuesday. “Then we’ll proceed to look at segments of the problem — the role of a private organization controlling judicial selections for our country, the secrecy problem of the ad campaigns from [Judicial Crisis Network.] And all of it relates to whether the people who are funding those operations have business before the court, because obviously that’s the ultimate problem.” Whitehouse said he’s working with Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who chairs the subcommittee on the Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet for the House Judiciary Committee, to try to determine who is funding these organizations. “Although we have difficulty getting subpoenas because of the [Senate] organizing resolution, he doesn’t,” Whitehouse said of Johnson. “So if we need to get subpoenas, we can work with our House colleagues to see if they’d be willing to pursue them.” The Rhode Island Democrat said he may offer legislation that would require judicial nomination ads to be treated like campaign ads, meaning their funding sources have to be disclosed to the Federal Election Commission. And Whitehouse wants to see who’s paying for “waves of amicus briefs” that get filed in federal courts. He sees these filings as legal stalking horses for special-interest groups searching for the right case to help their anti-regulatory initiatives. Finally, Whitehouse wants more oversight for gifts, travel and hospitality disclosures for Supreme Court justices. He’s pushing this with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Whitehouse insists this is a critical issue affecting the credibility of the federal courts, and now he’s in a place to make some noise about it. Republicans, of course, say the Federalist Society is free to push whatever political viewpoint it wants, and they note that JCN and other conservaitve groups are allowed to do what they do as well. “The truth of the matter is … his criticisms are applicable to both sides,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), ranking member of Whitehouse’s subcommittee. “This is Washington. If there weren’t double standards, there wouldn’t be any standards at all. You can’t just level the criticism against Republicans. Democrats do it too.” CLIP FILE NYT: “Trump, Hungry for Power, Tries to Wrestle Away G.O.P. Fund-Raising,” by Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman “For Chuck Schumer, a Dream Job Comes With Tall Orders,” by Luke Broadwater WaPo: “Maryland’s Hogan lifts caps on dining, retail and religious establishments,” by Rebecca Tan and Erin Cox “With congressional approval imminent, Biden prepares to send checks, but big stimulus challenges loom,” by Tony Romm, Jeff Stein and Rachel Siegel: “Over the coming weeks, the Biden administration must send another round of one-time checks to millions of families, rethink vast portions of the U.S. tax code and dole out much-needed sums to help cash-strapped Americans, seeking to swiftly blunt an economic crisis that has left millions without jobs and falling further behind financially.” “Alaska makes vaccines available to those 16 and older, becoming first state to remove eligibility requirements,” by Isaac Stanley-Becker WSJ: “Supreme Court Dismisses Immigrant Public-Charge Cases,” by Jess Bravin AP: “Biden’s first 50 days: Where he stands on key promises,” by Alexandra Jaffe LAT: “L.A. schools could reopen starting in mid-April under deal with teachers,” by Howard Blume “Facing recall, Newsom discusses ‘unthinkable’ pandemic challenges and offers hope for future,” by Phil Willon and Taryn Luna Politico: “House passes labor overhaul, pitting unions against the filibuster,” by Eleanor Mueller and Sarah Ferris DOWNTOWN MOVES The American Continental Group, which was seen as very close to the Trump administration because of its longtime partner David Urban (now at ByteDance), is adding some Democratic firepower. Kris Balderson is joining the firm as a strategic partner. Balderson was president of FleishmanHillard. Balderson has long ties to Hillary Clinton, having served as special representatives for global partnerships at the Global Partnership Initiative during her time as secretary of State. He also served as Clinton’s deputy chief of staff in the Senate. PRESENTED BY GOOGLE Applications are open for the $25 million Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls The Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls, which is providing $25M in grants and other support to organizations supporting economic empowerment, is now accepting applications. Interested organizations can submit their proposals, and an all-female panel of industry experts will assist Google in selecting organizations that will receive funding. In addition to funding, the best and boldest ideas will receive the opportunity for mentorship and additional support from Google. Enjoying Punchbowl News AM? 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Visit the archive48 million family caregivers give everything to help older loved ones. They give time and energy, too often giving up their jobs and paying over $7,000 a year out of pocket. With a new Congress, it’s time to act on the Credit for Caring tax credit.