White House

President Joe Biden has appointed a former Columbia, South Carolina, mayor to be a top White House adviser. Steve Benjamin will become director of the White House Office of Engagement, taking over from former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Benjamin has long been considered a rising star in Democratic politics, serving three terms as Columbia's mayor, and the first Black mayor in the city's history. The appointment comes at a time when Benjamin's home state is becoming even more critical to Democrats as they face the 2024 presidential campaign. Biden called Benjamin a "longtime public servant" whose "deep relationships across the country" would well serve the administration.

Jill Biden has hosted a White House reading by this year's group of National Student Poets. The first lady is an English and writing teacher who says she has turned to poetry at times in her own life to find the joy in other people's words. The five student poets recognized Tuesday attend high school in Washington state, New Mexico, South Carolina, Wisconsin and New York City. Each student read their winning poem. The 24th poet laureate of the United States, Ada Limón, participated. Biden also celebrated the program's 10th anniversary this year.

The White House and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say a Republican-led proposal to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks would endanger the health of women and have severe consequences for physicians. The measure introduced last week by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina proposes a nationwide ban that would allow rare exceptions. The legislation has almost no chance of becoming law in the Democratic-controlled Congress. GOP leaders didn't immediately embrace it and Democrats are pointing to the proposal as an alarming signal of where Republicans would try to go if they were to win control of the Congress in November.

Today at 5:00 - President Biden is set to outline a new "six-pronged" strategy to combat rising coronavirus cases across the country. His remarks come as a surge of new COVID-19 cases has led to rising numbers of hospitalizations and deaths in many states. Watch live here...

Today at 12:30 p.m.: The White House coronavirus task force, led by Vice President Pence, is holding a briefing at the Department of Health and Human…