BRAD SCHNEIDER

Top congressional Democrats are trying to craft legislation financing President Joe Biden’s multitrillion-dollar agenda of bolstering the economy and helping families.

Ilhan Omar Democrats Israel FILE - In this April 20, 2021, file photo Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., speaks in Brooklyn Center, Minn., during a news conference at the site of the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright by a police officer during a traffic stop. A group of Jewish House Democrats are accusin Omar of likening the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban. House Democratic leaders and a dozen Jewish Democratic lawmakers complained that those remarks drew a false and damaging equivalence between the two countries and the hard-line groups. Even so, several Democrats said any GOP effort to strip Omar of her committee assignments would be defeated, despite Democrats' narrow majority. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Tuesday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., should remove Omar from the committee.

House Democrats and Republicans are backing away from a tit-for-tat battle over punishing firebrand lawmakers from the other party.

Greene apologized Monday for her remarks comparing COVID-19 public health measures to the Holocaust.

Greene spoke to reporters in a news conference at the holocaust memorial museum.

Rep. Ilhan Omar is moving to deescalate a bitter fight with Jewish Democratic lawmakers over the Middle East.

Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, one of the first two Muslim women in Congress, has been a controversial figure since being elected in 2018.

Republicans trying to drive a wedge between Democrats and chip away at President Joe Biden’s support are zeroing in on the violence in the Middle East.

Internal Democratic disputes remain over raising the minimum wage, how much aid to funnel to struggling state and local governments and whether to extend emergency unemployment benefits another month. The issue that's provoked the deepest divisions is a progressive-led drive to boost the federal minimum wage to $15 hourly over five years. More ominously, the Senate parliamentarian is expected to rule soon on whether the minimum wage provision must be tossed from the bill. Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., his chamber's chief minimum wage sponsor, said Democrats must “act boldly” and approve a package with the minimum wage increase. AdRepublicans said the measure's higher minimum wage and increased unemployment benefits would cost jobs or discourage people from seeking work, and said much of the spending was wasteful.

AdPresident Joe Biden moved swiftly to declare domestic extremism an urgent national security concern, tasking the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to create a threat assessment. The Justice Department has not said publicly if it intends to seek any additional powers, or whether it even needs new ones to deal with domestic extremism. Though there is no federal law that explicitly charges crimes as domestic terrorism, prosecutors have successfully used other statutes to cover conduct that might reasonably be seen as terrorism, including at the Capitol. Ad“Surveillance tactics and the eye of our law enforcement have always been trained on communities of color. Particularly Black communities,” Nelson said.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also said it was "insane" for Democrats who have since tested positive for COVID-19 to blame Republicans. Greene spoke after Democratic Representatives Brad Schneider, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Pramila Jayapal all tested positive for COVID-19. Greene told Fox News she tested negative for COVID-19 on January 4 and said that Americans should not be forced to wear a mask. "Several Republican lawmakers in the room adamantly refused to wear a mask...even when politely asked by their colleagues," Schneider said. Jayapal noted in her statement that "several Republicans not only cruelly refused to wear a mask but mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one."

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – This time the fury enveloping the U.S. Capitol comes not from an insurgent mob but from within. The anger on display is searing — Democrat against Republican; Republican against Republican; legislators of both parties against the catastrophic security failure that left top leaders of the government vulnerable to last week's violence as well as to the coronavirus in their ranks. Shaken members, long accustomed to protective bubbles, inquired whether they can expense their own bulletproof vests to taxpayers (yes they can). McCarthy had joined most House Republicans in December in supporting a lawsuit to block Biden’s election, and again last week in two votes against certifying Biden’s win. In their oath of office, lawmakers vow to defend the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – This time the fury enveloping the Capitol comes not from an insurgent mob but from within. The anger on display is searing — Democrat against Republican; Republican against Republican; legislators of both parties against the catastrophic security failure that left top leaders of the government vulnerable to last week's violence as well as to the coronavirus in their ranks. Shaken members, long accustomed to protective bubbles, inquired whether they can expense their own bulletproof vests to taxpayers (yes they can). McCarthy had joined most House Republicans in December in supporting a lawsuit to block Biden’s election, and again last week in two votes against certifying Biden’s win. In their oath of office, lawmakers vow to defend the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

Washington — A third House lawmaker has tested positive for COVID-19 after being exposed to the virus while in lockdown with some Republican members who refused to wear masks during the attack on the Capitol last week, bringing the total number who have so far tested positive to three. Congressman Brad Schneider announced he had tested positive for COVID-19 in a statement on Tuesday, and blamed Republicans for spreading the virus. Several Republican lawmakers in the room adamantly refused to wear a mask...even when politely asked by their colleagues," Schneider said. Left to right: Representatives Pramila Jayapal, Bonnie Watson Coleman, and Brad Schneider, who tested positive for COVID-19 after sheltering in place with other House members during the Capitol riot. Getty ImagesWatson Coleman, a 75-year-old cancer survivor, was the first to announce on Monday that she had tested positive.

In statements announcing their positive test results, Jayapal and Schneider slammed Republicans who refused to wear masks while sheltering on Wednesday. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., announced early Tuesday that she had tested positive for Covid-19, becoming the second lawmaker to contract the virus after the riot. At least three Democratic lawmakers have tested positive for Covid-19 since being placed in lockdown last week during the siege of the Capitol. At least six House Republicans were filmed refusing to wear masks while in lockdown, according to a video posted online by Punchbowl News. Schneider also called for those who don't wear masks to be removed from the House floor.

Those who tested positive were among dozens of lawmakers who were whisked to a secure location when pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the Capitol on Wednesday. Some members of Congress huddled for hours in the large room, while others were there for a shorter period. It's not certain where and when lawmakers caught the illness, but the Capitol’s attending physician notified all House lawmakers of possible virus exposure and urged them to be tested. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey said Monday that she had tested positive for COVID-19. Jayapal also called on the House sergeant at arms to remove any lawmaker from the House floor who declines to wear a mask.

Brad Little says people 65 and over will be able to get the coronavirus vaccine starting Feb. 1. Overall, Illinois has reported more than 1 million cases and 17,743 deaths. Ontario reported 2,903 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, including eight new cases of a variant from the United Kingdom. ___MADRID — Spain is reporting 25,438 coronavirus cases and more than 400 deaths for the second day in a row. Italy added 14,242 coronavirus infections on Tuesday, increasing the tally to 2.3 million cases.