The Biden administration has gone to great lengths to avoid labeling the surge in unaccompanied children coming to the US-Mexico border a “crisis,” despite the number of such children arriving in the US tripling in just the last two weeks, according to reports.

“Look, I don’t think we need to sit here and put new labels on what we have already conveyed is challenging, what we have conveyed is a top priority for the president,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday in response to a question from a reporter on whether the border crossings constitute a “crisis.”

The administration has adopted a policy of taking in unaccompanied children who have crossed the border into the US, saying it is the only “humane” response to a difficult situation.

The Independent’s Griffin Connolly has the full story on this angle from today’s press conference.

At the last question of today’s White House press briefing, The Independent’s contributing reporter Andrew Feinberg got in a question (by proxy) about Joe Biden’s upcoming initiative on infrastructure.

The short story is that Jen Psaki said no to answering any questions on any potential infrastructure bill.

Here is the full exchange:

The Independent: “President Biden has repeatedly spoken of both the need to upgrade the nation’s transport infrastructure and his desire for the US to become a leader in zero emission vehicles. So since the federal highway trust fund is funded by taxes on gas and diesel fuel, which obviously wouldn’t be collected from zero omission vehicles, does that mean the president will insist that any infrastructure bill will include a new funding source for it?”

Press secretary Jen Psaki: “I just am not going to get ahead of a bill that has not been designed, formalized, finalized, packaged, terms of size, scope, or timeline at this point in time.”

Asked if Major would be euthanized as a result of causing injuries, the White House confirmed he would receive a stay of execution.

“Well certainly Major Biden is a member of the family so I can assure you that,” Psaki says.

Joe Biden’s signature will not appear on the next round of direct economic relief payments sent to Americans across the country, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday, unlike his predecessor.

While former President Donald Trump reportedly insisted on having his name appear on the stimulus payments sent to taxpayers during his tenure in the Oval Office, Ms Psaki said at her latest press briefing: “This is not about him — this is about the American people getting relief.”

Asked about whether the president had requested his signature on the payments, the press secretary said Mr Biden “didn’t think that was a priority or a necessary step.”

Chris Riotta has the full story on this angle from today’s daily briefing.

Press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the president’s youngest dog caused minor injuries to an “unfamiliar person” but would return to the White House after a previously planned stay in Delaware.

“Major was surprised by an unfamiliar person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual, which was handed by the White House medical unit with no further treatment needed,” Psaki said.

“It had been previously planned already for the dogs to be cared for by family friends in Delaware during Dr Biden’s travels to military bases this week.”

Jen Psaki said the checks would be signed by a career official, in stark contrast to those signed by Donald Trump.

“This is not about him, this is about the American people getting relief,” Psaki says. “He didn’t think that was a priority or a necessary step. His focus was on getting them out as soon as possible.”

Asked if the influx of migrant children across the border since the inauguration of Joe Biden was a crisis, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said they don’t need to put labels on it.

“Look I don’t think we need to sit here and put new labels on what we have already conveyed is challenging, what we have conveyed is a top priority for the president, what our policy teams are working on every single day,” Psaki says.

Asked if recent reporting that the number of migrant children had tripled, Psaki said she wouldn’t confirm numbers from the press briefing room.

“We’ve been very clear that there’s an increase, that there are more children coming across the border than we have facilities for at this point in time. Those numbers are tracked by the Department of Homeland Security so I’m just suggesting that you talk to them about specifics.”

When a White House reporter said they’ve asked but DHS won’t confirm numbers, Psaki said to ask again.

“I encourage you to go back to them and ask again, we’re not going to confirm them from the White House. That’s not our program.”

The president will meet virtually Friday morning with the other leaders of the "Quad" nations. Press secretary Jen Psaki says they expect to discuss Covid, economic cooperation and the climate. She did not mention China as part of that slate of topics.

“That president Biden has made this one of his earliest multi-lateral engagements speaks to the importance we place on close cooperation with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific,” Psaki says.

The entire staff of the Nevada Democratic Party quit after progressive candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America took over the party’s leadership, according to The Intercept.

The party’s executive director, Alana Mounce, told the newly-elected chair, Judith Whitmer, notifying the new leadership of the mass resignation.

That included the operations director, research director, communications director and the finance director, the outlet reported.

Speaking to The Intercept, Whitmer’s predecessor, Donna West, said the new chair did not try to bridge gaps and “does not listen to others” to collaborate and build consensus.

One of the staffers who quit en masse said, anonymously: “I knew I couldn’t work with her and watch her destroy the years of hard work so many operatives put into making our state party the best state party in the country.”

For Whitmer’s part, she told the outlet that they were prepared for the resignations.

"But what hit us by surprise and was sort of shocking is that for a slate that claimed that they were all about unity, and kept this false narrative of division going on throughout the entire campaign — in fact they kept intensifying that — that’s what was surprising about it, was the willingness to just walk away, instead of working with us."

Press secretary Jen Psaki has kicked off today’s media scrump, along with the deputy director of the National Economic Council, Bharat Ramamurti.

Stay locked here for updates.

The president seemed like he was about to answer before media were shuffled out of the room.

They were yelling questions at the president on whether the was a crisis on the Mexico border, which the White House has so far refused to acknowledge.

These ad hoc moments after an announcement, executive order signing or photo opportunity when media yell out questions are the only chase times the press has had to pose questions to the president.

As Biden has faced pressure for going 49 days without holding a press conference, spokesperson Jen Psaki has said the president has taken 40 “Q&As” with the media since entering the White House.

Pool reporters have pushed back on that characterization, saying they have to yell out questions that Biden can’t hear before they’re removed from his presence.

Here is what one of those “Q&As” looks like.

Joe Biden on Tuesday issued a major disaster declaration for Louisiana because of last month’s icy weather, a move that frees up federal recovery assistance for certain parishes.

The winter storms knocked out power and water across parts of Louisiana for up to a week. Biden’s disaster declaration covers 11- 19 February.

Federal aid will be available across 23 parishes, including grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-interest loans for property losses and other assistance for individuals and businesses. Other dollars will be available to state and local government agencies for their emergency response work and other mitigation measures.

The parishes included in the disaster declaration are: Avoyelles, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Calcasieu, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, DeSoto, East Baton Rouge, Franklin, Grant, LaSalle, Madison, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, Webster, West Carroll and Winn. - AP

The first juror selected for the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police department officer accused of murdering George Floyd, says he hasn’t seen the famous video of the incident, which inspired nationwide protests.

“I have not seen the video,” the juror, the second person interviewed on Tuesday, told Mr Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson. “There’s a still image that was pretty common. That’s the most I’ve seen.”

The Independent’s Josh Marcus is following the trial today.

She’s just entered the House but Marjorie Taylor Greene isn’t ruling out a Senate run to challenge Raphael Warnock in 2022.

Asked by Politico if she had any interest in the Georgia race that flipped control of the Senate, MTG… didn’t say no.

“Oh my goodness. Let’s talk about things like gun bills, talk about the Equality Act…” she replied.

Quoting defence officials, the Associated Press says that the National Guard’s request to extend troop deployment will be approved by the Pentagon.

More to come on this.

The president is at WS Jenks & Son hardware store in DC for a photo op on the Paycheck Protection Program as he ignored questions about the kids in migrant shelters, according to the White House press pool.

Donald Trump issued a statement telling his supporters to send money directly to his PAC rather than donating to the Republican Party.

Mr Trump issued a statement on Tuesday directing his supporters to send their money to the "Save America PAC" rather than give it to "RINOS" – a derisive shorthand for "Republicans in name only."

"No more money for RINOS. They do nothing but hurt the Republican Party and our great voting base – they will never lead us to Greatness," Mr Trump said in the statement.

The statement directs potential donors to Mr Trump's personal website.

"We will bring it all back stronger than ever before!" the statement concludes.

Graig Graziosi reports.

This update comes from White House correspondent Jennifer Jacobs, who points out that Joe Biden is heading to a Jenks hardware for a media opp on the Paycheck Protection Program.

South Carolina’s Tim Scott says racial attacks on black conservatives like himself as “tokens” is reflective of America’s history of racism.

Appearing on Fox News Monday evening, Scott said ““Woke supremacy is as bad as white supremacy, we need to take that seriously” after host Trey Gowdy pointed to MSNCB’s Joy Reid racially attacking black Republican senators as “tokens” providing “patina of diversity” for the GOP.

Appearing on MSNBC this morning, press secretary Jen Psaki wouldn’t give any specific details on reports that the president’s dogs were removed from the White House, but that they remain beloved despite their reported aggressive behaviour.

“Major and Champ are part of the Biden’s family. They’re members of the family. They often go to Delaware when the first lady is travelling. And they’re adjusting to their new home,” Psaki said.

“I don’t have any more on those reports I just know they’re beloved members of the family, and of course of the White House family too.

This shot from White House correspondent Jordan Fabian, however, doesn’t look promising for the cantankerous canines.