By Darlene Superville
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that she is positive again for COVID-19 and will not accompany President Joe Biden to Europe for meetings on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Biden tested negative on Tuesday, she said.
Psaki tweeted that she took a laboratory test for COVID-19 in preparation for the trip, which gets underway on Wednesday, and was later notified of a positive result.
She said she had two “socially distanced meetings” with Biden on Monday and that he is not considered a “close contact” under guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She said she shared the news “out of an abundance of transparency.”
Psaki tweeted and released a statement a short time before she was scheduled to step into the White House press room for her daily briefing, accompanied by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who was joining her to discuss the trip.
After a brief delay, Chris Meagher, a deputy press secretary, introduced Sullivan to a waiting White House press corps and he proceeded with the briefing.
Psaki said she will follow CDC guidance and no longer accompany Biden on his stops in Belgium, for a series of meetings with European leaders on Russia’s war in Ukraine, and in Poland, which shares a border with Ukraine and has taken in millions of Ukrainians fleeing warfare.
Psaki said she has only experienced mild symptoms and credited being vaccinated against COVID-19. She said under White House COVID-19 protocols, she will work from home and plan to return to work at the end of a five-day isolation period and a negative test.
This is the second time that COVID-19 has forced Psaki to bow out of accompanying Biden abroad. She sat out last fall's trip to Rome and Glasgow, Scotland, after disclosing she had tested positive.
The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao are accused of misusing investor funds, operating as an unregistered exchange and violating a slew of U.S. securities laws in a lawsuit filed by the SEC.
A top EU official said companies should roll out the technology to recognize AI-generated content and "clearly label[s] this to users."
With the rail industry relying on longer and longer trains to cut costs, the Biden administration is handing out $570 million in grants to help eliminate many railroad crossings in 32 states.
A judge ruled that the Tennessee law restricting drag performances in public or where children are present is unconstitutional.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) said more than 5,300 postal employees were attacked by dogs while delivering mail in 2022. To spread awareness of this problem, the agency has launched a public service campaign called National Dog Bite Awareness Week.
It took a unilateral step Sunday to support the sagging cost of crude after two earlier cuts by other OPEC+ countries failed to push prices higher.
Nurse practitioners, who provided care for many trans adults, are now barred from providing transition-related care in the state.
Democratic lawmakers worry that damage has been done to safety net programs and it'll be difficult to unravel that in the years ahead as Republicans demand further cuts.
The Department of Justice has informed former Vice President Mike Pence 's legal team that it will not pursue criminal charges related to the discovery of classified documents at his Indiana home.
Fending off a U.S. default, the Senate gave final approval late Thursday to a debt ceiling and budget cuts package, grinding into the night to wrap up work on the bipartisan deal and send it to President Joe Biden's desk to become law before the fast-approaching deadline.
