Articles Tagged with ''covid-19''

Tom Vilsack, set to take a historic second stint as agriculture secretary, is pledging to make climate change and racial justice top priorities for the Agriculture Department, assuring senators that he understands the times and challenges have changed since he left the government four years ago.

House Democrats have launched an investigation into coronavirus outbreaks in meat processing plants and the Trump administration’s alleged failure to adequately protect workers.

Democrats are threatening to go it alone on the next COVID aid package if Republicans won’t make a deal on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion plan.

Tom Vilsack gets a chance this week to outline his vision for a second stint at the Agriculture Department in which he will be expected to play a major role in carrying out President Joe Biden’s climate policy and racial justice agenda.

Responding to an executive order issued by the Biden administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued guidance for companies to help stop the spread of COVID at workplaces and said it was looking at setting an emergency standard for COVID-19.

The State Department agreed Thursday to give H-2A workers from South Africa an exemption from the U.S. travel ban taking effect on Saturday.

The Senate Agriculture Committee has scheduled a confirmation hearing next Tuesday for Ag Secretary-nominee Tom Vilsack.

Agriculture groups are planning to appeal to the Biden administration for an exemption from the upcoming South Africa travel ban to allow H-2A workers to get to the United States to start work on U.S. farms.

The Senate is set to confirm Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen while formally starting an impeachment trial that threatens to slow down progress on President Joe Biden’s agenda.

Joe Biden took office at noon Wednesday as the 46th president of the United States, appealing to the nation to end its “uncivil war” and reach across partisan and urban-lines to address the “cascading crises” facing the country, starting with the COVID-19 pandemic.