How Democrats controlling the House, Senate and Presidency will impact America's COVID-19 response

DNC Senior Advisor and Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa joined Yahoo Finance Live to break down what we can expect policy and agenda wise during the Biden administration as Democrats also control Congress, the House and Senate.

Video Transcript

ZACK GUZMAN: Welcome back to Yahoo Finance Live. It is day one of the United administration after both he and his vice president, Kamala Harris, were sworn in. Right now, we're watching the motorcade here as they make their way to the White House in what's shaping up to be a dream for Democrats, with control of Congress, both in the House and the Senate. So what should we expect to see in terms of policy proposals and agenda items pushed through here in the first 100 days?

Joining us now for more on that is our next guest, Xochitl Hinojosa, DNC senior advisor and communications director joins us now. And, Xochitl, I mean, when we look at it, it seems like there's a lot of momentum here after those key Georgia Senate runoffs. But what are you expecting to see through in terms of maybe where President Biden's expected to put most of his effort to get compromise from Republicans in the Senate?

XOCHITL HINOJOSA: Absolutely. And thank you so much for having me. I think one of the key points that you made at the start is that Democrats in about an hour will take control of all three chambers-- the House, the Senate, and the White House. And I think that what you heard from Joe Biden's speech today is the number one priority will be getting this pandemic under control.

He understands that in order to get people back to work, in order to get businesses up and running, and in order to ensure that we have an economy that is strong and booming again, that we have to get the pandemic under control first. And so you have heard Joe Biden go out and talk about how he wants to pass a relief package, he wants to make sure that he is providing relief to the American people during these very difficult times.

And so you will see a White House work with the House and the Senate to pass a relief package, but also to figure out ways that we can ensure vaccine distribution, ensure that we are doing everything that we can to get the pandemic under control, and also to work with local and state governments to implement vaccine distribution because what we have seen from the last administration is that their failure to implement a vaccine strategy. So those are priorities number one, two, and three.

SEANA SMITH: So we have the COVID pandemic, but then he's also facing another huge battle-- or another huge challenge, I guess I should say, ahead of him. That, of course, is a deeply divided country. And we still have the fact that there's a large number of Trump supporters who simply don't think Biden won the election fairly. How do you think Joe Biden is going-- should resonate, or how will he resonate with these people? And then of course, also, move the country forward?

XOCHITL HINOJOSA: Well, I think it is very important today, while Donald Trump did not attend the inauguration in a show of unity, you didn't necessarily hear Joe Biden mention Donald Trump's name. There is a lot of pain that the Trump administration caused in our country over the last four years. But what you heard from President Biden is a look forward.

He wants to make sure that we are moving forward. He wants to work with both Republicans and Democrats. And his speech was all about unity. And so you're going to continue to hear that from him. You're going to continue to see him work with both Democrats and Republicans, because he understands that's how we have to come together and get this pandemic under control.

So you'll continue to hear that from Joe Biden. He was a US Senator and worked with both Republicans and Democrats. He knows how to get deals. He knows how to get things done. He knows how to negotiate. And so he said very clearly in his speech that he wants to be the president for all Americans-- not just the Democratic president, but the president for everybody.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah. And real quick, I mean, we're going to see how that unity is going to play out here in his, perhaps, first test in getting that $1.9 trillion packages he's proposed through Congress. And when you look at that, in your estimation, I mean, you've been focusing on these issues for a while, we've seen the back and forth-- in your estimation, what do you think it's going to have to-- what's going to have to give to get Republicans on board with that package? It seems like they have support at least on stimulus checks, but maybe not on some of these other state and local aid initiatives.

XOCHITL HINOJOSA: Well, that is something the incoming administration will work with both Speaker Pelosi and the incoming Majority Leader, and to see what we can get done, because time is of the essence. And I think that what Republicans and Democrats will quickly realize is that their constituents are suffering. Their constituents can't wait another moment for relief.

We have many people who are still unemployed. We are probably at the point of the pandemic where we are trying to get vaccine distribution out as quickly as possible, but you still have people who are dying. We passed 400,000 deaths just this week. And so it is critical that we get relief to the American people as soon as possible, and I think that you will hear both Republicans and Democrats come together to try to do that.

ZACK GUZMAN: All right, there you go-- Xochitl Hinojosa, DNC Senior Advisor and Communications Director, appreciate you joining us on that.