BRIAN DEESE

President Joe Biden’s top economic adviser is expressing confidence the White House’s $1.85 trillion domestic policy package will quickly pass the House this week.

President Joe Biden’s and congressional Democrats’ push for a 10-year, $3.5 trillion package of social and environmental initiatives has reached a turning point.

Despite a long night of frantic negotiations, Democrats remain unable to reach an immediate deal to salvage President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion government overhaul, forcing leaders to call off promised votes on a related public works bill.

At the first meeting of a new White House council on U.S. economic conditions, participants are highlighting at least 18 actions taken to help consumers and potentially lower prices.

President Joe Biden’s administration is moving at home and abroad to try to address concerns about rising energy prices slowing the nation’s recovery from the pandemic-induced recession.

The White House is pressing state and local governments to swiftly adopt policies to protect renters after an eviction moratorium expired over the weekend.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are calling on the Biden administration to immediately extend the nation’s eviction moratorium.

The Biden administration's order will argue that the biggest companies in the tech sector are wielding their power to box out smaller competitors.

President Joe Biden is trying to sell Americans on the economic benefits of the $973 billion infrastructure package under consideration in Congress, declaring there is an urgent need for a “generational investment."

President Joe Biden will look to sell voters on the economic benefits of the $973 billion infrastructure package when he travels to Wisconsin on Tuesday.

President Joe Biden has announced a bipartisan agreement on a pared-down but still huge infrastructure plan.

President Joe Biden is pursuing “multiple paths forward” as he looks to muscle his big infrastructure package through Congress.

President Joe Biden is portraying the May jobs report as a jumping off point for more spending on infrastructure and education.

While President Joe Biden pitches his infrastructure plan to the American public, the real work of delivering his legislative agenda takes place behind the scenes.

President Joe Biden says he's doubling U.S. emergency spending to help communities prepare for hurricanes and other extreme weather events.

President Biden signed an executive order Thursday that aims to safeguard families, businesses, and the government from the financial fallout of a changing climate.

President Joe Biden is directing federal agencies to develop a comprehensive strategy to identify and manage financial risks to government and the private sector posed by climate change.

The federal government will develop and publish an assessment of its climate change risk exposure to help guide the president's budget projections.

White House officials are seeking to quell any anxiety about inflation and the pace of hiring.

Stamp duty holidays and low mortgage rates push borrowing to the highest levels since records began.

The phasing out of single-use plastics gathers pace with big companies adopting alternatives.

NEW YORK – A man who said he was abused by Kevin Spacey as a teen must reveal his identity if he wants to proceed with a lawsuit, a judge ruled Monday. Manhattan Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote that the man, who is in his 50s and identified in court papers as C.D., could not proceed anonymously because he’d spoken to people about Spacey’s alleged abuse since the 1990s. “The evidence suggests ...

President Joe Biden is proposing to nearly double the tax rate that the highest-earning Americans pay on profits made from stocks and other investments.

The White House National Economic Council Director said the tax increase will only apply to 0.3 percent of taxpayers, or about 500,000 households.

President Joe Biden will call for free preschool for all three- and four-year-old children as part of his American Families Plan.

Biden's top economic advisor, Brian Deese, defended a plan to raise the capital gains tax as neither too large a burden nor a barrier to investment.

President Joe Biden used a virtual meeting with corporate leaders about a global shortage of semiconductors to push for his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan.

Biden hopes to pass an infrastructure plan by summer, which could mean relying solely on the slim Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate. “Ninety-one Fortune 500 Companies, including Amazon, pay not a single solitary penny in income tax,” Biden said. “Wall Street didn’t build this country," Biden said. The new construction could keep the economy running hot, coming on the heels of Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. But we have to get it done.”AdDemocratic leaders embraced Biden’s plan Wednesday.

WASHINGTON – At least one group in America is unlikely to get any money from President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan — his own top aides. Most of Biden’s senior West Wing advisers made far more than the threshold that would qualify them for direct payments from the president’s COVID-19 relief bill, according to White House financial disclosure forms released Saturday. Others in the West Wing — whose positions don't require Senate confirmation — have had deep ties to the business world. He was listed as having a salary of $1.8 million, according to his disclosure form. Brian Deese, head of the national economic council, was previously global head of sustainable investing at BlackRock, according to his disclosure.

President Joe Biden's closest advisors have ties to big business and Wall Street, with some making millions of dollars in their careers leading up to entering the White House, new financial disclosures show. These disclosures were provided by the White House to CNBC early Saturday morning after requesting the documents a day earlier. A White House spokesperson did not return a follow up request for comment. His new financial disclosure form shows that Sullivan, from 2017 until last year, was a member of the Microsoft advisory council. The report says Sullivan was on the "policy advisory council advising the president of Microsoft on key policy developments."

Republicans call the massive COVID-19 relief package making its way through Congress a “liberal wish list.” Increasingly, Democratic lawmakers and the Biden administration have chosen to own that. Republicans hope the size and sprawling nature of the measure will, over time, boomerang on Democrats. The fact that even many of the less-debated provisions in the bill are consequential bolsters their case, Democrats say. The economy had a growth spurt in 2018, but by 2019, growth returned to roughly the same level as before the tax bill. As employment declined and many companies went out of business, their unionized workers’ pension plans started heading for insolvency.

“Yellen is uniquely poised," said Brian Deese, director of Biden’s National Economic Council. "She has as much experience and expertise of addressing the challenges of our time as any living economic policymaker today. AdYellen juggled parenting with her work as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1980s, helping to build her son’s pinewood derby car as a colleague fed economic data into a computer. It’s an argument cultivated from years of research that fully blossomed during Yellen’s time as Fed chair. She said Yellen values differences of opinion and diversity because that helps her get a fuller sense of the economy.

Airline officials are talking to the Biden administration about support for incentives to use cleaner fuels for airplanes. United Airlines said CEO Scott Kirby asked administration officials to support incentives for sustainable aviation fuel and technology to remove carbon from the atmosphere. A United Nations aviation group has concluded that biofuels will remain a tiny source of aviation fuel for several years. Some environmentalists would prefer the Biden administration to impose tougher emissions standards on aircraft rather than create breaks for biofuels. “We stand ready to work in partnership with the Biden administration.”

Lucy Nicholson | ReutersSenate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also said that the push for a raised federal minimum wage will continue. "We are not going to give up the fight to raise the minimum wage to $15 to help millions of struggling American workers and their families. It's also possible that Vice President Kamala Harris could overrule the parliamentarian's decision, as the president of the Senate. "The president and vice president both respect the parliamentarian's decision and the process," he said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." Working people shouldn't have to cross their fingers that their employers will do the right thing by raising their minimum wage.

The White House has been reaching out to executives in several industries to rally support for the Biden administration's $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan, according to people familiar with the matter. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty ImagesWith these calls, Biden officials are looking to create a coalition to back the president's relief plan, said the people familiar with the matter. The administration is also consulting with business leaders, along with lawmakers and other stakeholders, to find ways to potentially improve the legislation, the White House official said. Some of the leaders with whom the White House has engaged are opposed to certain aspects of Biden's plan. The raising of the minimum wage is part of Biden's Covid relief plan.

President Joe Biden meets Republican lawmakers to discuss a coronavirus relief package, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, in Washington. From left, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. AdRepublicans are tapping into bipartisan urgency to improve the nation's vaccine distribution and vastly expand virus testing with $160 billion in aid. Psaki said earlier Monday there is “obviously a big gap” between the $1.9 trillion package Biden has proposed and the $618 billion counteroffer. Biden himself has been on the phone to some of the Republicans, the official said.

The meeting to be hosted by Biden would amount to the most public involvement for the president in the negotiations for the next round of virus relief. Though Biden is wanting “a full exchange of views," Psaki reiterated that the president remains in favor of moving forward with a far-reaching relief package. But Cedric Richmond, a senior Biden adviser, said the president “is very willing to meet with anyone to advance the agenda." Under the Biden plan, families with incomes up to $300,000 could receive some stimulus money. “I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it.

A new president may overturn a predecessor's order by issuing another executive order effectively canceling it. BOTH SIDES DO IT; BOTH SIDES COMPLAINTo be sure, modern presidents from both parties have been heavy users of executive orders — and have been criticized by the opposition party. Not surprisingly, some Republicans have complained about Biden’s early reliance on executive orders. As his presidency plays out, an overreliance on executive orders could undercut that argument. HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROWThe experiences of both Trump and Obama underscore the fleeting nature of executive orders.

"The president put forward a plan, we're now engaging with members of Congress from both parties to consult with them." White House officials including Deese held a call Sunday with several moderate Democratic and Republican senators to discuss possible changes to Biden's original plan. It also calls for $1,400 stimulus checks, which compromise about $1 trillion of the total $1.9 trillion proposed. He later clarified that he wants to ensure that any new round of stimulus is directed only to those who need it. The debate over another round of stimulus checks comes as millions of Americans remain unemployed thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic and the recession it sparked last year.

At least a dozen senators met for an hour and 15 minutes in a virtual call with White House National Economic Council director Brian Deese and other senior White House officials. Many hope to approve a relief package before former President Donald Trump's trial, which is set to begin in two weeks, overtakes Washington’s attention. Senators also wanted more data on how the White House reached the $1.9 trillion figure. “It was about how can we work together to help the people of this country.”White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients and White House legislative affairs director Louisa Terrell also joined the call. “We’re going to continue to push because we can’t wait,” said White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

White House economic adviser says "decisive action" needed for recovery At a White House briefing Friday, National Economic Council director Brian Deese said "decisive action" is needed to avoid "falling into a very serious economic hole" amid the coronavirus pandemic. Watch a portion of his remarks.

The U.S. will have to dig itself out of a much deeper economic hole if more economic relief doesn't happen and soon, warned National Economic Council Director Brian Deese on Friday. Outlining new executive actions by President Joe Biden, Deese said more relief is needed from Congress. Without decisive action, we risk falling into a very serious economic hole, even more serious than the crisis we find ourselves in," Deese said. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the White House is keen on a big package, which is certain to meet opposition from Republicans on the Hill. It's meant to "address the core issues of the crisis," Psaki said, adding, "right now, we are having a discussion about the big package."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki and National Economic Council director Brian Deese held a press briefing on President Joe Biden's second full day in office to discuss economic relief plans. Deese said "decisive action" is needed to prevent further financial fallout from the pandemic. Deese addressed criticism from some Republicans that the federal government has already provided sufficient relief through its previous $900 billion COVID-19 economic relief package. Psaki said during her first press briefing on Wednesday that Mr. Biden's "clear preference is to move forward with a bipartisan bill." The press secretary answered questions on Friday about the Senate's undertaking of an impeachment trial while COVID relief package negotiations are ongoing.

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden spoke about his plans for the U.S. economy Friday afternoon. Biden’s White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, held a press briefing with National Economic Council director Brian Deese a couple of hours before the president is set to speak. The president was expected to speak at 2:45 p.m.

WASHINGTON – The White House held a press briefing on how the Biden administration will be handling the U.S. economy Friday afternoon. White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, was joined by National Economic Council director Brian Deese. They were scheduled to begin speaking at 12:30 p.m.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy in the State Dining Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, in Washington. “This can help tens of millions of families — especially those who cannot provide meals for their kids,” Biden said. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a Thursday briefing that the proposal has support ranging from democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Psaki stressed that Biden wants any deal to be bipartisan and that the process of meeting with lawmakers to talk through the plan is just beginning. Biden must balance the need for immediate aid against the risk of prolonged negotiations.

President Joe Biden signed two executive orders Friday designed to reduce hunger and bolster workers' rights during the coronavirus pandemic, as his administration pushes Congress to pass another sweeping coronavirus relief package. One White House measure urges the federal government to offer any relief it can through "existing authority," National Economic Council Director Brian Deese told reporters Thursday night. The other calls for "empowering federal workers and contractors." The orders set out multiple tools to offer aid during the pandemic, while Biden tries to nudge his $1.9 trillion proposal through Congress. He called on agencies to review which federal workers make fewer than $15 per hour.

Mr. Biden has proposed a COVID-19 relief package that includes funds to support vaccine distribution efforts, extend unemployment benefits and expand federal aid to families, small businesses and communities. The White House's plan, which Mr. Biden said he plans to Congress soon, includes additional $1,400 direct payments to most Americans, on top of the $600 payments approved in December under the previous Congress. The new group of senators overlaps with members of the so-called 908 Coalition, a group of lawmakers who crafted a bipartisan $908 billion relief proposal last December after months of stalemate in Congress. That proposal formed the basis for negotiations over the relief package that passed alongside an omnibus spending bill late last month. Senators in the group include:

President Joe Biden's allies in the business community have been meeting to craft a set of proposals, including a potential carbon tax, to help pay for an expected $2 trillion infrastructure plan. Some of the ideas are on course to be brought to Biden administration officials, along with congressional leaders. The people on the calls have discussed several ideas to pay for the plan, including a carbon tax, the person said. A carbon tax is a "fee imposed on the burning of carbon-based fuels (coal, oil, gas)," according to the Carbon Tax Center. Along with pushing for large-scale upgrades to bridges and roads, Biden's plan has a heavy focus on clean energy technologies.

Dissent from either party carries weight for Biden, who entered the White House on Wednesday with a razor-thin majority in Congress. The party has not made final decisions on what parts of Biden's plan it will include in legislation, though funds for vaccine distribution are a priority. Deese cited the jobless claims data in pushing for Biden's relief plan on Thursday, saying the economy is "moving in the wrong direction." Biden's plan faces obstacles in the Senate. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who will soon take over the Senate Budget Committee, has urged Democrats to use reconciliation to pass economic relief.

WASHINGTON – An arcane battle over emergency Federal Reserve powers foiled efforts on Saturday to lock down an agreement on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package. The deadlock was just the latest stumble in a partisan, months-long fight over pandemic relief and the lack of progress is backing lawmakers once again up against a government shutdown deadline Sunday night. Lawmakers on both sides said a provision by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., that would curb emergency Federal Reserve powers was the sticking point. At issue are Fed emergency programs, launched amid the pandemic this spring, that provided loans to small and mid-size businesses and bought state and local government bonds. Under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law passed after the Great Recession, the Fed can only set up emergency programs with the support of the treasury secretary.

Brian Deese, deputy director of the White House National Economic Council, speaks in the White House briefing room in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, April 17, 2012. WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday announced that Brian Deese, currently the head of sustainable investing at BlackRock, will be the director of the National Economic Council. Deese is a former deputy director of the National Economic Council, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, and senior advisor to President Obama. After working on Obama's 2008 campaign, Deese joined the White House as a member of the National Economic Council and was later promoted to deputy director. Through Deese, Biden will likely seek to advance a climate-friendly agenda using economic policy as a vehicle.

WASHINGTON – The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):9:55 p.m.President-elect Joe Biden says it is important that President Donald Trump attend his inauguration only in the sense that it would demonstrate the nation’s commitment to a peaceful transfer of power between political rivals. ___8:45 p.m.Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have made a fresh push for President-elect Joe Biden to nominate New Mexico Gov. But $207.5 million came in after Election Day as Trump repeatedly – and falsely – claimed President-elect Joe Biden won due to voter fraud. Gina Raimondo has knocked down talk that she is in the running for President-elect Joe Biden’s secretary of health and human services. ___12:25 p.m.President-elect Joe Biden has tapped former Obama administration senior economic adviser Brian Deese to be director of the National Economic Council.