President Joe Biden is at his home in Wilmington, Delaware today. After receiving his daily presidential briefing at 10 a.m., the White House called a lid shortly afterward.
"The White House has called a travel pool lid at 11:27," the White House pool report states.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki isn't scheduled to give a briefing Monday afternoon.
Joe Biden did not return from Delaware today and we have had consecutive days with no public events and early press lids. We have no further guidance on POTUS’s movements for the rest of the week.
— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) August 9, 2021
The president who spent the weekend at his home in Wilmington, DE will remain there today with no public events and no press briefing today. A bit of August vacation.
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) August 9, 2021
Before calling a lid, President Biden released a statement about ongoing unrest and government crackdowns in Belarus.
"One year ago today, the people of Belarus sought to make their voices heard and shape their own future through that most basic expression of democracy—an election. Rather than respect the clear will of the Belarusian people, the Lukashenka regime perpetrated election fraud, followed by a brutal campaign of repression to stifle dissent. From detaining thousands of peaceful protesters, to imprisoning more than 500 activists, civil society leaders, and journalists as political prisoners, to forcing the diversion of an international flight in an affront to global norms, the actions of the Lukashenka regime are an illegitimate effort to hold on to power at any price," Biden said.
"It is the responsibility of all those who care about human rights, free and fair elections, and freedom of expression to stand against this oppression. The United States will continue to stand up for human rights and free expression, while holding the Lukashenka accountable, in concert with our allies and partners. Toward that end, today, we are issuing a new Executive Order that enhances our ability to impose costs on the regime and announcing new sanctions against Belarusian individuals and entities for their role in attacks on democracy and human rights, transnational repression, and corruption," he continued. "As I told the leader of the Belarusian opposition, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, we stand with the people of Belarus as they bravely pursue their democratic aspirations."
Back in Washington, Senate Democrats and some Republicans are working to pass a massive $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill full of items unrelated to roads and bridges. Democrats will follow infrastructure with an even bigger $3.5 trillion spending spree. Reagan has more on that here.
At the border, Wuhan coronavirus cases are surging as thousands of illegal aliens pour into the country each day. Over the weekend, a Border Patrol agent was shot at from Mexico.
Got confirmation from CBP a Border Patrol agent in the El Paso Sector was fired upon, around 20 rounds, from two individuals from the Mexican side of the border. The agent took cover and was not hit. https://t.co/k4VJK5UAwn pic.twitter.com/bQ45TUiITG
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) August 7, 2021