House Democrats will introduce a budget resolution Monday that starts the process for the Senate to use a legislative tool called budget reconciliation to pass President Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package with 51 votes, meaning no Republicans would need to support it if the Democratic caucus stuck together. But Democratic leaders also made sure to underscore Tuesday that they would prefer to pass the COVID-19 package with Republican support, through the regular legislative process.

"The work must move forward, preferably with our Republican colleagues but without them if we must," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a news conference. "Time is of the essence to address this crisis." Biden's package includes $1,400 direct payments, a hike in the child tax credit, an extension of emergency jobless benefits set to expire March 14, billions for vaccine distribution and schools, and a $15 national minimum wage, among other provisions.

Ending the legislative filibuster is off the table for now, and using the reconciliation process comes with limitations. Many Democrats, skeptical that any Republicans would support even a smaller stimulus package, see it as the only viable option. But a handful of moderates from both parties are urging Biden to make a deal. One Senate Democrat could thwart the legislation.

"I'll guarantee you I can sit down with my Republican friends and find a pathway forward," said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who organized a meeting between bipartisan Senate moderates and Biden's team on Sunday. "Let me try first." Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) disagreed. "People can talk to whoever they want to talk to, but this country faces enormous crises," he said. "Elections have consequences. We're in the majority, and we've got to act."

Starting the ball rolling for budget reconciliation leaves plenty of time for bipartisan talks. "If we're going to use reconciliation, we have to go forward with it pretty soon, but that doesn't prevent a negotiated package as well," said House Budget Chairman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.). "At worst, it's Plan A and at best it's Plan B." Peter Weber

Ana Liss became the third former aide to accuse New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) of inappropriate workplace behavior. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Saturday night, Liss said that during her tenure as a policy and operations aide in the Cuomo administration between 2013 and 2015, the governor asked her about her dating life, called her sweetheart, touched her lower back at a reception, and once kissed her hand when she rose from her desk.

Two other former aides, Charlotte Bennett and Lindsey Boylan, have accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, and New York Attorney General Letitia James is overseeing an investigation into the matter. Liss did not appear to directly allege sexual harassment, but she did describe Cuomo's behavior toward her as inappropriate and patronizing, explaining that the governor never asked her about her work. "I wish that he took me seriously," Liss, who won a competitive fellowship to work on economic development programs in the Cuomo administration, told the Journal.

Liss said she never filed a formal complaint, but she did ask for a transfer to another office before leaving the state government altogether in 2015. She said her experience working for Cuomo prompted her to begin mental health counseling, and another fellow who worked in the administration at the same time told the Journal he noticed Liss became more withdrawn over time.

Meanwhile, Cuomo is also under fire after reporting revealed his office manipulated COVID-19 death statistics in nursing homes last year, and on Saturday, the editorial board of The Times Union, the newspaper that serves Albany and the New York capital region, called for his resignation over the matter. Read more at The Wall Street Journal and The Times Union. Tim O'Donnell

President Biden was unsurprisingly pleased after the Senate passed his administration's COVID-19 stimulus plan Saturday, but the final version of the bill — which will be up for one more House vote next Tuesday before it reaches Biden's desk — looks a little different than the initial proposal. There's a lower cap on direct payment eligibility, and $300 weekly jobless benefits, rather than $400. Plus, a gradual minimum wake hike is absent. Biden, though, told reporters Saturday that he doesn't think those compromises "fundamentally altered the essence of what I put in the bill in the first place."

The president said he also doesn't believe congressional progressives are "frustrated" with scaling back parts of the bill, pointing out that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called the plan "the most significant piece of legislation to benefit working people in the modern history of this country." Biden didn't go into detail about why he's ok with all of the changes, but he did argue that the smaller weekly unemployment payments even out because they were extended further into the year. Tim O'Donnell

It's difficult to tell exactly how many cases of the so-called U.K. variant of the novel coronavirus, or B.1.1.7, are in the United States because the country hasn't conducted enough genomic sequencing yet to get a real read. But data analysis from Helix, a lab testing company, estimates B.1.1.7 accounted for more than 20 percent of new cases in the U.S. this week, The New York Times reports. That's concerning because the variant is highly transmissible, but scientists are fairly encouraged by what they're seeing so far.

Take Florida, for instance. The Sunshine State is believed to have the highest share of B.1.1.7 COVID-19 cases at an estimated 30 percent. Yet, Florida has not experienced a resurgence in overall infections. "I am encouraged by the declining case counts in the most heavily affected states," Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist from Johns Hopkins University, told the Times. "I've been watching Florida closely, which has the highest share of B.1.1.7. Case counts have plateaued there in recent days, but are not resurging. The longer we can hold the line, the more time we have to roll out vaccines, which will protect individuals, particularly those at highest risk of severe illness, and slow transmission overall."

That doesn't mean the U.S. is in the clear. There's concern that some states are easing their coronavirus restrictions too quickly, and the U.K. variant isn't the only variant in the U.S. (though it's by far the most common), but there is hope that a combination of increased vaccinations, higher levels of natural immunity, and other mitigation efforts will help the country avoid a sharp spike like the U.K. saw at the end of 2020. Read more at The New York Times. Tim O'Donnell

President Donald Trump is not pleased with Republican fundraisers who are using his name and likeness without his permission, and his lawyers are taking action, Politico reports.

The Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee all received cease-and-desist letters from lawyers Friday representing Trump for using his name and likeness in fundraising emails and merchandise. Per Politico, Trump has always been sensitive about how his name has been used in relation to other political candidates, but it appears to have ramped up in this case because he doesn't want to be associated with Republicans who voted to impeach him.

This doesn't change the fact that Trump "remains committed to the Republican Party," an adviser told Politico, but "that doesn't give anyone — friend or foe — permission to use his likeness without explicit approval."

The committees didn't respond to Politico's request for comment, but GOP campaigners have reportedly said privately that it's incredibly difficult to refrain from using Trump's name because of his popularity, and they believe he should be more generous. Read more at Politico. Tim O'Donnell

President Biden is another step closer to signing his administration's COVID-19 relief bill into law.

The Senate on Saturday passed the $1.9 trillion stimulus plan along party lines with a 50-49 vote. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) was absent, so Vice President Kamala Harris was not needed to cast the tie-breaking vote on behalf of the Democrats, as expected. Democrats, despite having only a narrow majority in the upper chamber, were able to push the bill through thanks to a procedural tool called budget reconciliation, which allowed them to avoid Republican filibusters and pass the legislation with a simple majority.

The best chance for a surprise vote disappeared after Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), one of the most moderate voices in the GOP Senate, stood with her Republican colleagues and voted against the bill.

Because the Senate amended the package, it will now head back to the Democratic-majority House, where it's likely to get a second stamp of approval, before it gets to Biden's desk. Despite the extra step, it's on pace to get there before March 14, when the current iteration of enhanced unemployment benefits expires. Read more at The Washington Post and NPR. Tim O'Donnell

In a historic meeting, Pope Francis on Saturday sat down with Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a revered figure in the country.

Al-Sistani doesn't often appear in public, but when he does, his words have reverberated across Iraq, The Associated Press notes. So there's a sense that his statement following a "very positive" conversation with Francis calling on Iraq's religious authorities to help protect the country's Christian minority, who he said "should live like all Iraqis, in security and peace with full constitutional rights," could go a long way. Francis, who traveled to Iraq to show support for its dwindling Christian community, thanked al-Sistani for raising "his voice in defense of the weakest and most persecuted."

When Francis arrived at al-Sistani's home, the cleric reportedly stood to greet the pope. Al-Sistani reportedly normally remains seated for visitors, so the gesture appears to be significant.

In response to the interfaith meeting between the two religious leaders, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced that March 6 is now a National Day of Tolerance and Coexistance in Iraq. Read more at The Associated Press. Tim O'Donnell