President also urges Senate to pass bills to close background checks loopholes

• Biden team turns focus to $3tn infrastructure plan
• Senate confirms Boston mayor Marty Walsh as labor secretary
• Photos show migrants held in overcrowded Texas facility
• Biden strikes new tone but Mexico remains US’s wall against migrants

11.39pm GMT

Americans can now sign up for health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) until 15 August. The window to sign up for insurance through the program normally closes on 15 February, but the Department of Health and Human Services has initially moved the deadline to May, before extending it to the summer.

The extension will give Americans who lost health coverage during the pandemic more time to sign up, and allow more Americans to take advantage of new federal subsidies to reduce insurance premiums granted via the coronavirus relief package.

11.20pm GMT

Asked about the push from senators Tammy Duckworth and Mazie Hirono for Joe Biden to appoint more AAPI to his administration, and the senators’ pledge to vote against Biden nominees until the president pays heed, Biden dodged:

“We have the most diverse cabinet in history. We have a lot of Asian Americans that are in the cabinet and in sub-cabinet levels,” he said, according to the White House press pool reports.

Continue reading...

Read More