Biden says Olympians brought a bit of unity to weary nation
President Joe Biden praised Team USA for bringing a bit of unity to a pandemic weary nation as he hosted a White House celebration Wednesday with about 600 athletes from this year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing and the coronavirus-delayed Summer Games held in 2021 in Tokyo.
Bidens, Harris, Emhoff mark Hanukkah at White House
President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses marked a “family” celebration of Hanukkah at the White House Wednesday, with the first second gentleman and Jewish spouse of a vice president, Doug Emhoff, joining in lighting the menorah.
Jill Biden's travel shows breadth covered by first lady
Within the span of 36 hours this past week, Jill Biden went from clinking cups of beer with Doug Emhoff, the vice president's spouse, at a baseball game in Houston to joining the president in Florida to comfort families affected by the collapsed condominium building in Surfside.
In Pennsylvania, Biden showcases aid to small businesses
Salazar, a small business owner for 30 years, told Harris that help from the Small Business Administration has "kept me afloat but more is needed.”In Pennsylvania, meanwhile, Smith Flooring had 23 employees during peak times but currently is employing 12 workers. In Washington, the Senate confirmed Isabel Guzman, Biden’s pick to lead the Small Business Administration on Tuesday. It’s a sharp turn from the start of the Biden administration, when vaccination goals were relatively modest and Americans were warned the country might not return to normal until Christmas. AdThe Biden administration estimates that 400,000 small businesses have closed because of the pandemic and millions more are barely surviving. It recently qualified for a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan during a two-week window in which the Biden administration focused the program exclusively on helping businesses with 20 or fewer employees.
In Pennsylvania, Biden showcases aid to small businesses
Salazar, a small business owner for 30 years, told Harris that help from the Small Business Administration has "kept me afloat but more is needed.”In Pennsylvania, meanwhile, Smith Flooring had 23 employees during peak times but currently is employing 12 workers. In Washington, the Senate confirmed Isabel Guzman, Biden’s pick to lead the Small Business Administration on Tuesday. It’s a sharp turn from the start of the Biden administration, when vaccination goals were relatively modest and Americans were warned the country might not return to normal until Christmas. AdThe Biden administration estimates that 400,000 small businesses have closed because of the pandemic and millions more are barely surviving. It recently qualified for a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan during a two-week window in which the Biden administration focused the program exclusively on helping businesses with 20 or fewer employees.
Emhoff, VP Harris' husband, goes from top lawyer to teacher
(Erin Scott/Pool via AP)Vice President Kamala Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, is getting settled in a new job teaching law at Georgetown University amid a high-pressure moment in U.S. history. Emhoff said his wife tends to be interested in what happens in the class, since she is a lawyer, too. AdMarried to Harris since 2014, Emhoff left the Los Angeles office of the law firm of DLA Piper after Harris was elected with President Joe Biden. Emhoff said he's grateful to be able to support his wife in her new role. Emhoff said he's talking to administration experts to learn the issues and not just visiting museums and libraries in Washington.
Nation's first second gentleman makes first solo outing
(Nicholas Kamm/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Doug Emhoff, America's first second gentleman, highlighted food insecurity on his first solo public outing Thursday, saying it's “something everyone needs to be concerned about.”Emhoff said during the campaign that he would use his groundbreaking role to elevate the issue. “We’re seeing what we’re seeing on the news with lines of cars," Emhoff told reporters before leaving Kelly Miller Middle School in Washington. It operates a farm at the middle school and has partnered with other organizations to create mobile food distribution sites in some of Washington's less well-off neighborhoods. Asked what he learned during the roughly half-hour visit, Emhoff said it was “so amazing to see the passion, the way these folks are approaching it." “@MerriamWebster just added “Second Gentleman” to the dictionary.
The Latest: Biden signals limit on executive authority use
President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event to announce his choice of retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to be secretary of defense, at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)WASHINGTON – The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):6:10 p.m.Joe Biden has suggested he can’t go as far with executive authority as some of his most vocal supporters would like, declaring that he won’t violate the Constitution in a leaked recording of his call with civil rights leaders. Biden is urged to use executive action to promote police reform and is heard promising to use his presidential power to overturn “every single damn thing” that President Donald Trump did via executive action. Executive authority that my progressive friends talk about is way beyond the bounds.” He cited the specific example of assault-style weapons, saying it’d be unconstitutional to ban them with executive action. ___7 a.m.President-elect Joe Biden is heading to Georgia to campaign for the Democratic candidates in the state’s two critical U.S. Senate runoffs.
Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, poised to break stereotypes
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and her husband Doug Emhoff take the stage during a drive-in get out the vote rally, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, in Philadelphia. Doug Emhoff, the 56-year-old husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, will leave his private law practice by Inauguration Day to focus on his role at the White House, a spokesperson said Tuesday. While Emhoff built a career as a high-profile entertainment lawyer in Southern California, he's been most visible to voters as Harris' supportive husband. When Harris began her term in the U.S. Senate in 2017, Emhoff moved to DLA Piper, which had a presence in Washington and Los Angeles, where Harris and Emhoff split their time. John Bessler, the husband of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is also a lawyer, called Emhoff a “modern man" for dedicating time to Harris' political career over his own.
The Latest: Lincoln Project taking on GOP-linked law firms
WASHINGTON – The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):5:45 p.m. The Lincoln Project has announced plans to launch an advertising campaign against two law firms over their role representing President Donald Trump and the Republican Party in their voter fraud-related lawsuits. President Donald Trump would have to authorize Biden to receive that brief. ___11:20 a.m.U.S. defense officials said James Anderson, the top policy adviser at the Pentagon, submitted his resignation Tuesday, a day after President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Trump’s firing of Esper comes as he has refused to concede his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
WATCH LIVE: President-elect Biden addresses nation alongside Vice President-elect Harris
– President-elect Joe Biden will deliver remarks from Wilmington, Delaware at 8 p.m. Saturday alongside Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. A presidential candidate requires at least 270 electoral votes to win the election. Biden, resting at 264 electoral votes early Friday morning, was projected to win the state of Pennsylvania as of 11:25 a.m., according to The AP. With its 20 electoral votes up for grabs, Pennsylvania placed Biden at 284 electoral votes -- enough to call the race nearly four days after Election Day. The AP also projected that Biden won the state of Nevada on Saturday, bringing his electoral vote total to 290.
Douglas Emhoff to campaign for Joe Biden, wife Kamala Harris in Michigan Sunday
All rights reserved)Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, is scheduled to visit Michigan on Sunday. Emhoff is set to attend a canvass launch at 1 p.m. in Ann Arbor, and then another at 2:30 p.m. in Madison Heights. On Saturday, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama visited Detroit and Flint. READ: Presidential candidates make final push for Michigan last weekend before Election DayPresident and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is also focusing campaign efforts toward Michigan voters in the final days leading up to the election. Then on Monday, the president will be in Traverse City before holding a rally at the Grand Rapids based Gerald R. Ford International Airport.
VP Debate Takeaways: Pandemic looms over a more civil fight
(AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool)WASHINGTON – In normal times, vice presidential debates don't matter much. Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday faced considerable pressure to boost coronavirus-stricken President Donald Trump's flagging reelection hopes as he trails in national and battleground state polls. Here are key early takeaways from the only vice presidential debate ahead of the Nov. 3 Election Day. Pence and Harris repeatedly dodged and sidestepped queries from debate moderator Susan Page, answering questions however they wanted. __THE FLIES HAVE ITWhile the debate was comparatively tame, there were moments that stood out, especially on social media.
Jill Biden, Doug Emhoff team up in final campaign stretch
Jill Biden, left, wife of Democratic presidential candidate former vice president Joe Biden, and Doug Emhoff, center, husband of Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., greet supporters in passing cars during a campaign stop, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff are both from New Jersey. And now they're building a team as the better halves of the Joe Biden campaign. “Don’t you think the American people love seeing people in government who respect one another and are friends with one another?” Jill Biden said as she campaigned in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday. Jill Biden has become one of the campaign’s main surrogates for Latino outreach and, as a teacher herself, often holds events focused on teachers and education. Jill Biden has made sure to call and check in on him after a busy week.