In Washington:

• House committees continue drafting the next COVID-19 relief package, which must pass before March 14, to prevent many Americans from losing their increased unemployment benefits. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she is hoping to have the bill finished for a floor vote the week of Feb. 22.  Committee votes are scheduled to begin Tuesday when the House Education Committee will markup more relief for schools and universities.  Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) said he expects they will include roughly $130 billion for K-12 schools and $40 billion for higher education.
• House Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) announced the Committee will consider nine legislative proposals under the budget reconciliation instructions this week.  The Committee will begin marking up the bill this Wednesday, Feb. 10, through Friday 12.
  • House Ways and Means Democrats rejected plans to limit eligibility for stimulus checks. The committee will support sending $1,400 to individuals with incomes up to $75,000 and couples making $150,000.  However, the proposal will tighten eligibility for those making over $75,000 as an individual.  Joint tax filers' eligibility will start phasing out for earners making up to $200,000.  Maintaining the $75,000/$150,000  thresholds is a win for progressive Democrats that pushed back against a proposed $50,000 threshold from moderate Democrats.  Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that the administration was looking at reducing the threshold to individuals earning up to $60,000 should receive the $1,400 checks saying.  "The exact details of how it should be targeted are to be determined, but struggling middle-class families need help," Yellen said on CNN's State of the Union.
  • Democrats will also include child poverty reduction legislation in the COVID relief package.  The proposal provides families a $3,600-per-child allowance, spread out over three years, for children under six. It will also provide $3,000 for children between the ages of 6 and 17.  The payments would be distributed monthly and will be reduced at certain yearly income levels--$75,000 for single parents and $150,000 for a couple’s aggregate total.
  • The tax-writing panel extends the temporary federal unemployment and benefits through August 29, 2021, and increases the weekly benefit from $300 to $400.  
  • Other provisions include provisions increasing health coverage and affordability through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, protections for the elderly in skilled nursing facilities, retirement security, and emergency assistance for vulnerable children, families, and workers.
• Transportation Pete Buttigieg advocated for more federal aid to help airlines avoid massive furloughs from the pandemic when appearing on ABC's "This Week" but stopped short of committing to negotiating for the aids inclusion in Democrats COVID relief plan.  Buttigieg said it would be a "mistake" not to use the relief bill as a vehicle for extending payroll support of airlines.  American and United already have warned that they will have to furlough tens of thousands of employees without further federal assistance.  
• Meanwhile, House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) is recommending $15 billion in payroll support for airline workers be included in her committee’s package. Financial Services will consider the legislation on Wednesday. Democratic committee members are also recommending:
  • $25 billion for emergency rental aid
  • $10 billion for homeowner assistance
  • $5 billion for homelessness funding
  • $10 billion for Defense Production Act spending to boost supplies of personal protective equipment and increase capacity for vaccine production
  • $10 billion for the State Small Business Credit Initiative, to support up to $100 billion in small business financing through state, territorial and tribal governments
• New studies from the CDC found that mask mandates in states and college campuses helped reduce COVID-19 hospitalization and encouraged proper mask-wearing.  Another study found that universities with mask mandates have a very high level of correct mask usage, with 90 percent of the population correctly wearing a mask over their noses and chins. This study examined six different U.S. universities. Mask-wearing rates increased indoors, with 91.7 percent of people wearing masks indoors at universities.
• The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has invited officials from five manufacturers producing and developing COVID-19 vaccines to testify before the committee on  Tuesday, February 23.   The companies include AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Novavax, and Pfizer.
• New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows the history of the COVID variant first found in Britain, known as the B.1.1.7, since it arrived in the U.S. in late 2020.  The variant is quickly spreading in the U.S., doubling nearly every ten days.  The CDC says it can become predominant by March if it heaved the way it did in Britain.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky on Monday urged states to maintain coronavirus restrictions as several states have begun reducing theirs. "Although hospital admissions and cases are consistently dropping...[t]he continued proliferation of variants remains of great concern and is a threat that could reverse the recent positive trends we are seeing," Walensky told reporters at a White House briefing. Walensky responded to a question noting that Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) is ending the state's mask and certain social distancing requirements. The trend is nationwide; New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is reopening indoor dining in New York City at 25 percent capacity. 
• House Democrats are renewing an investigation into the Trump administration’s alleged political interference in the federal pandemic response. House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), chair of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, sent a letter to the Biden administration, including to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), requesting documents and emails from dozens of former political officials as well as current career staffers who work on the pandemic response. They gave a March 1 deadline for documents covering the period from January 1 to January 20, 2021.

• Rep. Ron Wright (R-TX) died on Sunday evening after testing positive for COVID-19 late last month. He is the first sitting member of Congress to die from COVID-19.  Wright, 67, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2019.  He was first elected to the House in 2018.

In the News:

• South African health officials said Sunday they're pausing the country's rollout of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine after a study showed it offered reduced protection from the COVID-19 variant first identified there. During a briefing, South Africa Minister of Health Dr. Zweli Mkhize said the hold would be temporary while scientists determine the rollout’s next steps. Mkhize said South Africa will move forward with the deployment of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Early data suggest two doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine provided only "minimal protection" against mild and moderate COVID-19 from the variant first identified in South Africa.

• The number of new daily COVID-19 cases in the U.S. has dropped below 100,000 for the first time this year, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Just under 87,000 cases were recorded on February 7. The last time Johns Hopkins recorded fewer than 100,000 daily cases was on Nov. 2. Deaths are also down, according to data kept by The New York Times. It recorded 1,301 deaths on Sunday, compared to 4,101 deaths on January 27 and 4,406 on January 12. 

• Dutch officials said Monday that the country's nightly curfew would be extended to March in order to combat the continued spread of COVID-19. The Associated Press reported that Dutch Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus made the announcement, citing warnings from the country's top health officials about the spread of a more infectious strain of COVID-19 thought to have originated in the U.K. The country's prime minister, Mark Rutte, moved last week to extend most of the country's lockdown measures until March.

• The mayor of Tampa, Florida on Monday expressed frustration over crowds of Buccaneers fans crammed into packed bars, restaurants, and streets celebrating the team's Super Bowl win while not wearing masks or practicing social distancing. Days before the game, Castor ordered people in the city's downtown and area near Raymond James Stadium to wear a face-covering at all times. The order came with a fine of up to $500 for noncompliance. “It is a little frustrating because we have worked so hard,” Mayor Jane Castor said during a news conference.