President Joe Biden has interviewed at least three candidates for the Supreme Court, according to a person familiar with the matter, and the White House is reiterating that he remains on track to make a final selection by Monday.

President-elect Joe Biden has selected Merrick Garland, a federal appeals court judge who in 2016 was snubbed by Republicans for a seat on the Supreme Court, as his attorney general, two people familiar with the selection process said on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump's push for $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks was all but dead Wednesday as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell proposed an alternative approach of loading up the bill with other White House priorities that appeared destined to fail.

Top Capitol Hill Republicans worked on Tuesday to keep the price tag for a long-delayed COVID-19 aid package in check, seeking to prevail in a battle over help for state and local governments, while capping the cost of bonus jobless benefits and direct payments sought by Democrats.

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said Tuesday he supports voting to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat on the Supreme Court, all but ensuring President Donald Trump has the backing to push his choice to confirmation over Democratic objections that it's too close to the November election.

The Senate is preparing to vote on Wednesday on a short-term proposal to fund the government through Feb. 8, a step that eases the risk of a shutdown and comes only after President Donald Trump backed off his demand for money for a border wall.

Senate Republicans are on the verge of filling the nation's longest appellate-court vacancy and, in the process, are softening a means the GOP has successfully employed to block several of President Barack Obama's judicial nominees.