The Democratic Party's left wing is responding to President Joe Biden's strong words about the possibility of an American oligarchy with a combination of appreciation, bemusement and frustration.

The White House is making clear that President Joe Biden is opposed to letting the federal gasoline tax rise at the rate of inflation to help pay for an infrastructure package that a bipartisan group of 21 senators is trying to craft.

WASHINGTON – Alabama Sen. Doug Jones and federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland are emerging as the leading contenders to be nominated as President-elect Joe Biden’s attorney general, three people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Biden's thinking was described by people with knowledge of the presidential transition's internal thinking who were not authorized to speak publicly. Jones, who is white, has had a long-standing personal relationship with Biden dating back to Biden’s first presidential campaign in 1988. Jones would not comment Tuesday on the possibility of a nomination as attorney general. The Biden team has also been considering a number of other potential candidates for the post, including former Justice Department official Lisa Monaco.

WASHINGTON In a notable change, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, will now be regularly tested for the coronavirus as the race heats up, a campaign aide confirmed Monday. This announcement is another step demonstrating Joe Biden and Kamala Harris commitment to turn the page on Trumps catastrophic mismanagement during the worst public health crisis in 100 years, said Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates. And the campaign has pledged to make public if either Biden or Harris tests positive for the virus. The Biden campaign has pummeled President Donald Trump on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Donald Trump has been the opposite.In the early weeks of the pandemic, Trump also went without a coronavirus test, first taking one in March.

WASHINGTON The Republican National Committee and President Donald Trumps campaign say they have now hired 1,500 field staffers, aiming to convert their financial advantage over Democrats into votes in November. Trump Victory, the joint field effort of the two organizations, announced Monday the hiring of an additional 300 staffers set to hit 20 target states by Wednesday in the largest field operation over mounted by a Republican. Republicans are quick to note that their staffer count in the field is more than double that of Biden, whose goal was 600 field staffers by the end of June. Both the Trump and Biden field operations went virtual largely overnight in mid-March as the coronavirus pandemic hit. We have the biggest and best ground game operation ever seen, said Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh.

But spokesman Andrew Bates added that Biden does not believe that police should be defunded, as some Minneapolis authorities are pursuing locally and some activists are demanding nationally. The former vice president was in Houston on Monday to meet privately with Floyds family ahead of his funeral. Biden supports the urgent need for reform -- including funding for public schools, summer programs, and mental health and substance abuse treatment separate from funding for policing -- so that officers can focus on the job of policing, Bates said. Specifically, he calls for a $300 million infusion into existing federal community policing grant programs. The measure included federal money for the kind of community policing Biden champions, but it also helped states build more prisons and toughened federal sentencing laws in ways that Biden and others now acknowledge disproportionately hurt black and other nonwhite defendants.