Author: Nicholas Wu and Ledyard King, USA TODAY

A Senate official ruled Thursday the provision raising the wage from $7.25 to $15 would have to be removed from Joe Biden’s COVID stimulus bill.

The $900 billion deal broke an eight-month impasse in which talks took place in fits and starts only to give way to more gridlock.

Republicans and Democrats fought for months over the type of relief needed to weather a pandemic that has killed more than 317,000 in the USA.

Several Republican senators said they accepted Biden as president-elect following Monday’s Electoral College vote.

Former Vice President Joe Biden began Election Day attending his church where son Beau Biden is buried. He then headed to Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Fauci said Europe and Asia had managed to shut down 95% of their populations, whereas about 50% of the United States was shut down.

An official said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is “asking Congress for a package today.” Trump has been pushing for a payroll tax holiday.

Democrats released the text messages after Kurt Volker, who resigned from the Ukraine envoy post last week, testified Thursday.