On Wednesday, the Chairman US Senate Committee on Finance Chuck Grassley said the panel would consider President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, next week ahead of Inauguration Day.

Point to be noted that she was confirmed in 2014 as chair of the Federal Reserve.

She received 26 votes from senators and 19 of them are still in the upper chamber of US Congress.

There were 18 senators not voting and 12 of them are still sitting senators, and only 3 lawmakers crossed party lines to vote in favor of her nomination, including Sens.

Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Richard Burr of North Carolina.Yellen has a long history of serving under Democratic administrations.

Yellen was appointed to help guide the US economy following the 2008 financial crisis.

He defended a policy of allowing children crossing by themselves to remain in the country.

US Homeland Security Secretary conceded that a surge in the number of children, mostly from Central America is a challenge for the Border Patrol and other agencies during the coronavirus pandemic.

He issued a statement and said, “They are vulnerable children and we have ended the prior administration’s practice of expelling them”.

The increasing number of migrants attempting to cross the border has become an early test for President Joe Biden as he seeks to break from his immediate predecessor.It is noteworthy that the number of migrants attempting to cross the border is now at the highest level since spring 2019.

Republicans in Congress have claimed that Biden’s support for immigration legislation and decision to allow people making legal asylum claims has become a magnet for migrants.

But, Mayorkas pointed out that there have been surges in the past, even under Trump.

The legislators from both sides have called on the Biden administration to allow reporters and journalists into facilities housing unaccompanied migrant children who have sought asylum at the US-Mexico border.

The appeal for greater transparency with the American public and those who cover it comes as the United States faces a growing humanitarian crisis at its southwest border, driven by Central America’s economic devastation, climate change, gang violence, political persecution, and a new presidential administration.

US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has predicted the United States is on pace to encounter more migrants at its Southwest border than in 20 years.

On Sunday, President Joe Biden said that “at some point” he will be going to the border amid the ongoing surge in crossings.US Senator Rob Portman is a ranking member on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and one of four senators who accompanied Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the border.

It’s amazing to me how little my constituents know about what’s going on down along the border.

US Senator Chris Murphy is chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security.

A spokesman for the department, John Kirby said the Biden administration asked the Department to temporarily house unaccompanied migrant children at 2 Army bases in Texas.

Kirby offered the information to reporters during a Tuesday news conference in response to a query about updates regarding the migrant surge along the US-Mexico border.

Kirby said the Defense Department just received a request from the Department of Health and Human Services and didn’t have many details to offer.

But, he said the HHS identified 2 specific bases including Fort Bliss (headquartered in El Paso) and Joint Base San Antonio and needs permission for temporary migrant housing.Kirby said, “The department has received a request for assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services to temporarily house unaccompanied migrant children.

They’ve asked specifically for use of Joint Base San Antonio, Lackland, Texas, and Fort Bliss, Texas”.

Kirby added, “As I understand it, they have certainly looked at both facilities, and I’d let them speak to what specifically they’re looking for, in terms of numbers”.Point to be noted that the latest surge in migrants at the US-Mexico border began following Biden’s inauguration.