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Biden outlines loan program help for ‘mom-and-pop’ businesses; GOP opposition to Tanden grows

On Feb. 22, President Biden announced changes to the Paycheck Protection Program, a subsidized loan program for small businesses. (Video: The Washington Post, Photo: Saul Loeb/The Washington Post)
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February 22, 2021 at 9:12 p.m. EST

President Biden announced plans Monday to help “mom-and-pop businesses” benefit from a loan program crafted by Congress, saying they had been “muscled out of the way by bigger companies.” Later, Biden held a candle-lighting ceremony at the White House to mark the grim milestone of 500,000 deaths from the coronavirus, noting that more Americans have died in a single year than in World Wars I and II and the Vietnam War combined.

“Today, we mark a truly grim, heartbreaking milestone,” Biden said. He noted that the United States has lost more lives to the virus “than any other nation on Earth.”

Earlier Monday, on Capitol Hill, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Biden’s nomination of federal Judge Merrick Garland as attorney general, while the nomination of Neera Tanden to lead the White House budget office faces further peril.

Here’s what to know:

  • Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit seeking $1.3 billion in damages from MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell and his company after he repeatedly echoed then-President Donald Trump’s baseless accusations of widespread voter fraud involving Dominion.
  • Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) announced their opposition Monday to the nomination of Tanden to lead the Office of Management and Budget.
  • Merrick Garland said Monday that his first briefing and top priority if confirmed would center on the sprawling investigation into the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, as he more broadly vowed to stamp out the rising threat of domestic terrorism.
  • With millions of Texans grappling with water restrictions, spiking energy bills and other havoc left behind by last week’s winter storm, White House officials said Sunday that Biden is “eager” to visit and could head there as soon as this week.
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Here's what to know:

Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit seeking $1.3 billion in damages from MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell and his company after he repeatedly echoed then-President Donald Trump’s baseless accusations of widespread voter fraud involving Dominion.
Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) announced their opposition Monday to the nomination of Tanden to lead the Office of Management and Budget.
Merrick Garland said Monday that his first briefing and top priority if confirmed would center on the sprawling investigation into the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, as he more broadly vowed to stamp out the rising threat of domestic terrorism.
With millions of Texans grappling with water restrictions, spiking energy bills and other havoc left behind by last week’s winter storm, White House officials said Sunday that Biden is “eager” to visit and could head there as soon as this week.

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