News Information and Media Site: Yellen, Portman and Sanders on Biden's push to spend big

From NBC's Ben Kamisar

If it's Sunday, the era of big government being over may be over.

President Joe Biden appears not to just be content with simply transitioning the country away from former President Donald Trump, both on substance and style.

He's pursing a transformational agenda that comes as polling shows Americans want government to do more to solve problems.

Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen spoke exclusively with "MTP" to promote some big pieces of that agenda — the White House's proposals on areas like infrastructure, education and jobs, all paid for by tax increases on corporations and the wealthy.

Yellen said the nation would see a "big return" if it decides to make the kinds of investments Biden wants, helping to make America more competitive economically and "have families and children succeed."

But congressional Republicans remain skeptical both of the price tag as well as the idea of tapping corporations and the wealthy to pay for it.

Retiring Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, sounded optimistic that both parties could reach a bipartisan compromise, but he blasted tax increases as counterproductive and promoted a slimmed down price tag.

Click on the photos below to watch both interviews and see how the battle lines are being drawn.

Sanders: America beginning to address issues 'neglected for decades'

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., ran twice for the Democratic presidential nomination and lost both times to the more moderate candidate.

But given the size and scope of Biden's policy agenda, it's a real question whether Sanders lost those battles while helping to win the war in his (adopted) party.

Click on the photo below to watch the full interview with Sanders, where he addresses the new Biden proposals as well as why he believes America must move quickly to help vaccinate the world.

TWEET OF THE DAY: The state of the GOP states

DATA DOWNLOAD: The Census and the Electoral College map

The Census Bureau last week gave us the first glimpse of how population shifts will contribute to the battle for president and over congressional redistricting.

The top lines weren't much of a surprise — the Sun Belt continues to gain population at the expense of other areas of the country, particularly the Rust Belt.

But the political implications of this might be less clear, as the GOP's power in the Sun Belt isn't at strong as it once was.

Click on the chart below to read more in this week's Data Download.

ICYMI: Democrats could be shut out of Texas House special runoff

Voters were voting in Texas this Saturday in the special election slated to fill the seat vacated by the late former Rep. Ron Wright, R-Texas.

None of the 23 candidates will win the majority of votes, which could have won the the election outright. Wright's widow, Susan, will advance to the runoff, NBC News projects, with her opponent yet to be decided.

Democrats risk being shut out of the runoff, with their top candidate battling with another Republican for that second runoff slot. That would mean the seat will be guaranteed to stay in Republican hands, but those lines could be redrawn shortly thanks to redistricting.

Click on the photo below to read more from NBC News.