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Senate Democrats took the first step Tuesday toward passing a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill without Republican support, advancing their efforts to avoid a GOP filibuster. The vote to kickstart the budget reconciliation process, which passed 50-49, is a sign that leadership expects to have the full Democratic caucus on board for the final package. (Levine and Everett, 2/2)

President Biden urged Senate Democrats on Tuesday to go big on coronavirus relief, making an aggressive case in favor of his $1.9 trillion rescue package as Democrats took the first steps to advance the legislation. Biden’s comments, on a private lunchtime call with the Senate Democratic caucus, were confirmed by several people familiar with his remarks who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were private. (Werner, Stein and Kim, 2/2)

Biden officials and allies are now practically daring Republicans to fight them, convinced that the public is firmly on the side of quick action. “It will save our majority if he takes that approach with everything that he does,” said House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), one of Biden’s closest allies in the House. “Don’t try to go around them. But if they refuse to do it, use his executive powers and do it. And let them take you to court.” It’s a remarkable turn from the Trump years, when Democrats were the ones doing the suing. (Korecki and Caputo, 2/2)

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) warned his party on Tuesday against pursuing a Democratic-only coronavirus relief bill, vowing that Republicans would have input as lawmakers write the legislation. (Carney, 2/2)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will join the Senate Finance Committee, giving her a prominent platform to push forward progressive proposals on tax policy and health care. Warren will be one of roughly a dozen Democrats to sit on the Finance panel, which has jurisdiction over taxes, trade policy, health insurance, Social Security and safety net programs. (Lane, 2/2)

After her harrowing account of how she hid from a violent mob on Jan. 6, Ocasio-Cortez received an outpouring of support from colleagues and other survivors who saw themselves in her story. But some critics derided her and claimed she was weaponizing trauma for political gain. Journalist Michael Tracey accused her of "emotional manipulation." Trauma experts say Ocasio-Cortez's reaction is normal and expected, and her account aligns with what science shows happens to a mind and body under extreme forms of stress. When someone has a history of trauma, a new traumatic event, even if it's a different type of trauma, can reactivate similar feelings. It's likely, experts said, that Ocasio-Cortez's experience with sexual assault intensified what she endured at the Capitol. (Dastagir, 2/2)