News Wrap: Senators clash over Dem. elections bill Republicans deem partisan

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• Judy Woodruff:

  In the day's other news: U.S. public health leaders pointed to progress in the pandemic, rising vaccinations, declining deaths and falling hospitalizations. But they also warned that new infections remain high. Dr. Anthony Fauci said the country has not yet turned the corner.

  Also today, Louisiana and Idaho became the latest states to open vaccinations to all adults.

  Top Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives say that some 30 million Social Security recipients are still waiting for COVID relief payments. They say that the IRS has not received needed information from the Social Security Administration. Congressman Richard Neal, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, and others are demanding immediate action.

  Leaders in the U.S. Senate clashed today over a sweeping elections bill. Democrats want to expand ballot access, overhaul campaign finance laws, and head off attempts to limit voting access at the state level. Republicans say it is partisan overreach. Their dispute dominated a Senate hearing.

• Sen. Chuck Schumer:

  Instead of doing what you should be doing when you lose should be doing when you lose an election in a democracy, attempting to win over those voters in the next election, Republicans instead are trying to disenfranchise those voters. Shame on them.

• Sen. Mitch McConnell:

  This legislation is just not ready for prime time. It's an invitation for chaos. Chaos. State-level election officials, including Democrats, are sounding alarms left and right. This messaging bill would create a nightmare if it actually became law.

• Judy Woodruff:

  The Democratic-controlled House already passed its version of the bill.

  In Myanmar, state TV reports that 628 people have been released after being jailed for protesting a military coup. Busloads of mostly young protesters could be seen waving and smiling as they left a prison in Yangon. But more than 2,000 people remain in custody or face charges.

  A huge cargo ship got wedged across Egypt's Suez Canal today, blocking the flow of global trade. The ship, the size of a skyscraper, ran aground during a sandstorm, and tugboats strained to pull it free. Tracking maps showed that other cargo ships backed up on either end of the channel.

  Back in this country, Democrat Kim Janey was sworn in as mayor of Boston, acting, the first woman and first Black citizen to hold the office. She took the oath at City Hall and reflected on the city's explosive days of school desegregation, in the 1970s.

• Kim Janey:

  I had rocks and racial slurs thrown at my bus simply for attending school while Black. And just yesterday, on my first full day as mayor, I visited my childhood alma mater. I saw students happy to be back in school with their teachers and friends, instead of the pain and trauma that I had experienced in middle school.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Janey replaces Marty Walsh, who resigned to become the U.S. labor secretary.

  Meanwhile, Rachel Levine became the first openly transgender person to win Senate confirmation. She will be the assistant secretary of health.

  Two Democratic U.S. senators have dropped threats to block President Biden's nominees over diversity concerns. Hawaii's Mazie Hirono and Illinois' Tammy Duckworth had demanded that more Asian-Americans be chosen. The White House has now promised to add a senior-level adviser on the issue.

  On Wall Street, major indexes gave ground, led by tech stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average lost three points to close at 32420. The Nasdaq fell 265 points. The S&P 500 slipped 21.

  And bald eagle numbers are soaring higher than ever. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the population has quadrupled since 2009, to more than 300,000 birds across the Lower 48 states. Federal protections have helped the eagles recover from near extinction in the 1960s. Good news.