Biden Administration

The US has announced sanctions against Russian entities and expelled 10 Russian diplomats in response to a hacking attack and election interference.

President Joe Biden's executive order "sends a signal that the United States will impose costs in a strategic and economically impactful manner on Russia if it continues or escalates its destabilising international action," the White House said.

President Joe Biden introduced The American Jobs Plan – a roughly $2 trillion infrastructure package – on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The plan included spendings for the modernisation of infrastructure such as roads, bridges and rail systems, affordable housing, manufacturing, community-based care for the elderly as well as clean energy.

"It's not a plan that tinkers around the edges," Biden said in a speech in Pittsburgh. "It's a once-in-a-generation investment in America, unlike anything we've seen or done since we built the interstate highway system and the space race decades ago. In fact, it's the largest American jobs investment since World War II."

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Friday five White House staffers were "no longer employed" over their use of marijuana as part of a vetting process for security clearance, as the Biden administration comes under fire over reports that numerous young staffers have been penalized for past marijuana use (including in states where it’s legal) even though they were told they wouldn’t be.

Rachel Levine was confirmed as assistant secretary of health by the US Senate on Wednesday, making her the first openly transgender to be confirmed as a federal official. The vote was 52-48, with only two Republicans (Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski) joining the Democrats.

Former Florida senator Bill Nelson is poised to be nominated to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) by President Joe Biden. Nelson, a three-term US senator and one-time astronaut, would succeed Trump appointee Jim Bridenstine.

The news was followed by criticism as many had hoped Biden would nominate a woman for this position. “Given how many qualified and talented women were rumored to be in consideration, he’s putting great trust in his former Senate colleague,” so Lori Garver, a former deputy administrator of NASA.

The United States will reach the Biden administration's goal to administer 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses on Friday, President Joe Biden said.

"I am proud to announce that tomorrow, 58 days into our administration, we will have met my goal of administering 100 million shots to our fellow Americans," so Biden. "That's weeks ahead of schedule. Even with the setbacks we faced during the winter storms."

Biden said he was "in the process" now of determining when the forces will leave. At that time, there were more than 12,000 troops there, down from a peak of more than 100,000 in 2011. The New York Times reported last week that there were as many as 1,000 more Special Operations forces also in the country.

Former President Donald Trump agreed with the Taliban last year to pull U.S. troops from the country in exchange for commitments on peace talks and other issues. Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan had warned in December that the lack of cooperation on transition issues with the Trump administration could lead to a delay in the withdrawal.

In a 51 to 40 vote, the US Senate confirmed Deb Haaland as secretary of the interior on Monday, making her the first Native American cabinet member.

"The historic nature of my confirmation is not lost on me, but I will say, it is not about me. Rather, I hope this nomination would be an inspiration for Americans -- moving forward together as one nation and creating opportunities for all of us," Haaland said during her confirmation hearing.

The United States Senate confirmed President Joe Biden’s nominee US Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland as Attorney General with a 70-30 vote. Garland, who was previously nominated for the Supreme Court by former President Barack Obama, will oversee the US Department of Justice.

Economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria looks set to become the first woman, and moreover the first black woman, to head the World Trade Organization (WTO). Trump had previously blocked her appointment, but Biden has now come out clearly in favor of Okonjo-Iweala. While Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is making history simply by being the first woman - and from Africa to boot - to head the WTO, says Nigeria's Amara Nwankpa, she is not only bringing "diversity and inclusion" to the international stage.

During her second term as finance minister, Okonjo-Iweala was "seen as a driving force behind the development of reform programs that helped improve government transparency and stabilize the economy", according to the US business magazine Forbes, which ranked her among the top 50 Power Women worldwide in 2015. Okonjo-Iweala will thus "bring to the new job impressive negotiating skills and leadership to address key issues facing the planet today", finds Amara Nwankpa of the Nigerian Public Policy Initiative.

President Joe Biden announced an end to the United States support for Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen on Tuesday.

"This war has to end. We are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen including relevant arms sales," so Biden. "At the same time, Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks and UAV strikes and other threats from Iranian supplied forces in multiple countries. We are going to continue to help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its people."

The US Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Alejandro Mayorkas to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the first Latino and immigrant to lead the department. Mayorkas will play a central role in the Biden administration's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, national security threats and immigration policies.

The US Senate confirmed Pete Buttigieg as transportation secretary on Tuesday, making him the first Senate-confirmed LGBTQ secretary. Buttigieg will oversee aviation safety, railroads, transit, highways and other transportation fields.

President Joe Biden is set to create a taskforce to reunite families separated at the US-Mexico border by the Trump administration. Biden signed three executive orders on Tuesday as a first step to reform the U.S. immigration system and reversed several of the former administration's policies.

"I’m not making new law, I’m eliminating bad policy," Biden said.

President Joe Biden has signed a presidential memorandum on Thursday reversing a ban on federal funds going to domestic and international aid groups that give access and information to abortions.

Biden said the memorandum would "reverse my predecessor's attack on women's health access" and that the measure "relates to protecting women's health at home and abroad, and it reinstates the changes that were made to Title X and other things making it harder for women to have access to affordable health care as it relates to their reproductive rights."

Duma, Russia's lower house of Parliament, has voted to ratify an extension of the New Start nuclear arms control treaty by five years, one of the last major pacts between Russia and the US.

US President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing the Justice Department not to renew contracts with privately operated correctional facilities. The move is part of a series of actions Biden wants to take to address structural racism and promote equal treatment for all U.S. citizens. The White House pointed out that among the more than two million prisoners currently in the U.S., a disproportionate number are members of minority groups.

President Joe Biden said on Monday that he believes the Covid-19 vaccines will be available for every American by spring but anticipates a "logistical challenge that exceeds anything we've ever tried in this country."

"I think it'll be this spring. I think we'll be able to do that this spring," Biden said, adding that he thinks "by summer, we will be well on our way to heading toward herd immunity."

Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will be Treasury Secretary in the new U.S. administration. The Senate confirmed the economist on Monday with 84 to 15 votes.

For the first time in the history of the United States, the influential ministry is thus led by a woman. Yellen had also easily cleared the first hurdle last week when her nomination was unanimously approved in the Senate Finance Committee.

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order on Monday, reversing a Trump-era ban prohibiting transgender Americans to join the military. The order states that the government "immediately prohibits involuntary separations, discharges and denials of reenlistment or continuation of service on the basis of gender identity or under circumstances related to gender identity."

"Today, I repealed the discriminatory ban on transgender people serving in the military. It’s simple: America is safer when everyone qualified to serve can do so openly and with pride," so Biden on Twitter.