“We have to level the playing field, no one can outcompete the American worker if the playing field is level,” Raimondo told reporters during the daily White House press briefing. “The fact is China’s actions are uncompetitive, coercive, underhanded, they have proven they will do whatever it takes, and so I plan to use all the tools in my toolbox as aggressively as possible to protect American workers and businesses from unfair Chinese practices.”
Telecommunications giant Huawei and social media platform TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is Chinese, became major focuses of the former Trump administration’s efforts to take a stance against China.
By Jordain Carney and Juliegrace Brufke - 03/01/21 06:01 AM EST
The Senate is expected to take up a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill this week, after a key official dealt a blow to hopes of using the legislation to increase the minimum wage.
The House passed the COVID-19 legislation over the weekend with language included that would hike the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025.
But that language is expected to be stripped out in the Senate after the parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, advised key offices that the language does not comply with budget rules that govern reconciliation, the process lawmakers are using to bypass the 60-vote legislative filibuster.
“I’m proud to announce we have finished naming our Cabinet members, saving the best for last,” Biden said while announcing his economic team in Wilmington, Del. “This Cabinet, that I promised you and I’ve fulfilled that promise, looks like America.”
Biden touted Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo
ADVERTISEMENT
The president-elect noted that as governor she created a program to help minority-owned and women-owned businesses access capital, worked with employers to design skills-training programs and put Rhode Island on the path to achieving 100 percent renewable energy.
“She knows what her fellow governors, Democrats and Republicans alike, are dealing with,” Biden said.