• No committee hearings are scheduled Monday.

• The Senate is expected to vote on the nomination of Denis McDonough for secretary of veterans affairs on Monday evening.

News

• The Associated Press reported that Biden was considering instructing the Department of Justice to halt new executions. When asked about a moratorium on Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “The President has spoken about his opposition to the death penalty in the past, but I don’t have anything to predict for you or preview for you in terms of additional steps.”

• The Biden administration suspended three asylum cooperatives agreements established by the Trump administration with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras on Saturday. Under these agreements, asylum seekers from the region were expected to seek refuge in these Central American countries before applying for asylum in the U.S. 

• Under the Biden administration, the United States will return to the United Nations Human Rights Council as an observer. Trump withdrew from the council three years ago, citing bias against Israel and other issues.

• Biden said he did not expect a $15 minimum wage to be in the final COVID-19 economic relief bill, although it was in his initial proposal.

Transition in Context

Vice President Kamala Harris (D) cast her first two tie-breaking votes as president of the Senate on Friday. Both were related to the economic relief bill.

Vice President Mike Pence (R) cast 13 tie-breaking votes during his four years in office, the most since the Van Buren administration in the nineteenth century. As vice president in the Obama administration, Biden did not cast any tie-breaking votes.

The following chart shows the number of tie-breaking votes cast by vice presidents over the past four decades.

What We're Reading

• Boston Globe: Elizabeth Warren’s influence in Washington rises as allies take Biden administration posts
• CNN: Biden administration works to clean house of Trump appointees
• Politico: 'A big promise': Biden's climate spending pledge faces early test