Today in Washington

The House convenes at 11 a.m. 

The Senate will meet at 3 p.m.

The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 9 a.m. in Delaware. Bidenwill arrive at the White House at 11:10 a.m. He plans to meet with his Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access at 2:15 p.m. to mark the 51st anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

The vice president heads to Milwaukee in battleground Wisconsin today for a speech at 12:15 CT at IUPAT District Council 7 about reproductive rights, which the White House says will kick off Harris’s national “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour. Harris returns to Washington this evening.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Africa this week, beginning in Cabo Verde and then traveling to Côte d’Ivoire today. He meets this morning with Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva in Praia and visits an MCC infrastructure modernization funding recipient in Cabo Verde. In the evening in Côte d’Ivoire, Blinken attends a match of the Côte d’Ivoire-Equatorial Guinea Men’s Africa Cup of Nations with Ivorian Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé, Ivorian Vice President Tiémoko Meyliet Koné and Ivorian Foreign Minister Kacou Houadja Léon Adom.

The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 1 p.m. Included will be Jennifer Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council.


Some lawmakers worry about whether Congress will meet the next government funding deadline in March or risk a partial shutdown. Appropriators say spending talks continue. The Hill’s Aris Folley digs into some of the budgeting details.

The House is out of session and the Senate is in this week. Senators continue to explore potential legislative changes that would gain sufficient support to both tighten border security and back new funding to assist Ukraine. Leaders have said for weeks they’re “close” to a deal that could achieve both. Senators have not seen any legislative language.

There’s a “crisis” and “catastrophe” at the U.S. southern border, which necessitates the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, House Republicans continue to argue. A GOP impeachment inquiry aimed at Biden is more uncertain amid the historically slim Republican majority in the House. The Republican impeachment inquiry barrels ahead amid internal House turmoil over a host of controversies. It’s an election year — and some Republicans say they’re skeptical.

HT / The Hill