A big moment for Biden

Follow Us Get the newsletter It's a pivotal moment for Joe Biden's presidency. The U.S. House is poised today to pass his signature $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus package, just days after the U.S. logged 500,000 deaths from the virus. The measure has sparked broad opposition from Republicans, despite outreach from the White House. That's prompting Democrats in the Senate, which will consider it next, to pursue a process that allows passage with just votes from their party. A ruling late yesterday by a Senate official dealt a major blow to prospects that the final legislation will include an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. That will agitate Democratic progressives, who've advocated strongly for the increase. Still, House passage would be a significant achievement for the White House, and come just ahead of former President Donald Trump's first big speech since leaving office Jan. 20. In remarks Sunday to an annual gathering of conservatives, Trump, who has teased the possibility of a White House run in 2024, plans to reassert himself as the Republican Party's leader. His positioning will highlight a disconnect between his loyal supporters and those who want to find a new standard-bearer after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. It will also bring into stark relief the differences between the Biden and Trump governing styles: one with decades of Washington experience, focused on key policy goals, the other still looking to appeal to his base and disrupt political norms. — Kathleen Hunter Biden speaks to governors from Washington yesterday as he appeals for public support for his pandemic-relief bill. Photographer: Doug Mills/The New York Times Click here for this week's most compelling political images and tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net. Global Headlines Laying blame | A U.S. intelligence report expected to be declassified as soon as today implicates Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in approving the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The decision to release the report, which the Trump administration withheld, reflects the determination of Biden, who spoke with King Salman yesterday, to reset relations with the world's largest oil exporter amid tensions over its human rights record and military intervention in Yemen. The U.S. carried out airstrikes in eastern Syria on sites connected to Iran-backed groups believed to be involved in recent attacks in Iraq, the first overt use of military force under Biden. Moving out | Foreign workers are leaving Britain at the fastest pace since World War II, a challenge to an economy already roiled by Brexit and the coronavirus, with London alone losing 700,000 people over the past year. For the government, fewer migrants mean less economic output and tax revenue to pay down the debt accumulated to help people and businesses cope with Covid-19. Read how France is keen to make use of Brexit to grab more British finance jobs. Passport push | European Union leaders inched toward establishing bloc-wide vaccine certificates to reopen travel as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that unless they hurry, Apple and Google will step in and provide them. During a five-hour video call, the EU's 27 leaders didn't agree on what type of privileges they would grant as they try to haul their nations back from a pandemic that's killed more than 500,000 people in Europe and crippled their economies. Big vote | President Nayib Bukele's party is poised to make big gains in El Salvador's midterm legislative elections on Sunday, and a strong showing may pave the way for an aid program for the reeling economy. It may also give Bukele, a wildly popular 39-year-old who has railed against corruption while attacking media, legislators and the courts, the power to change the constitution. That's fueling worry among critics who say he's embracing authoritarian practices. Bukele speaks in San Salvador on Feb. 17. Photographer: Marvin Recinos/AFP via Getty Tigray massacre | Multiple war crimes were carried out in the northern Ethiopian town of Axum last November as government soldiers and troops from neighboring Eritrea massacred hundreds of civilians, according to Amnesty International. Survivors and and witnesses in the area described extra-judicial executions, indiscriminate shelling and widespread looting as the Ethiopians and Eritreans fought forces loyal to the ruling party in the region. What to Watch First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the integrity of Scotland's democratic institutions are at stake amid a toxic dispute with her predecessor ahead of his planned appearance at a parliamentary inquiry today. Britain and the EU are nearing agreement on how to cooperate on financial market rules — a first, limited step toward working together after Brexit. Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine is set for vetting by a panel of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today, a step toward potential authorization of the country's first one-dose immunization. Pop quiz, readers (no cheating!). Which country took the rare move of naming a stadium after a leader who's both living and in power? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net. And finally ... Britain's highest-profile pub chain, which has won both fans for its cheap pints and enemies for its management's anti-EU stance and low-wage model, is suffering an existential threat. Virus lockdowns pushed Wetherspoons, which owns more than 900 pubs across the U.K. and Ireland, into its first quarterly loss since 1984 last year, making it a test model as the pandemic threatens to reshape an industry that acts as an unofficial site for social services, refuge for eccentrics, and place for anybody to belong. Prime Minister Boris Johnson pulls a pint alongside Wetherspoons Chairman Tim Martin in London in July 2019. Photographer: Henry Nicholls/Getty Images     Like Balance of Power? Get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com, where you'll find trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters.   You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter. Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022