Top Stories this PM: Biden's expected moves to combat COVID; DOJ sues Texas

Good afternoon. Here are the top stories so far today.

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What happened today:

• Biden's expected move to combat COVID-19 spread. President Joe Biden is poised to announce a series of new initiatives to combat COVID-19, including a new stricter vaccination requirement for federal employees, in a Thursday speech at the White House. He is expected to sign an executive order mandating federal employees and contractors of federal agencies get vaccinated without being able to opt out and get regular testing instead, The New York Times and CNN reported.
• Biden to also expand vaccine mandate to employers. The Biden administration is also expected to announce its requirement for employers with more than 100 employees to mandate vaccines or weekly testing, a move that will impact over 80 million workers, according to CBS News. The administration will enforce fines up to $14,000 per violation for employers that don't implement a vaccine or weekly testing mandate, according to The Washington Post.
• DOJ sues Texas over "heartbeat" abortion ban. The Department of Justice on Thursday filed suit over Texas' strict new "heartbeat" abortion law that prohibits the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced. "After careful assessment of the facts and the law, the Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas," Garland said, adding that "the act is clearly unconstitutional under longstanding Supreme Court precedent."
• Taliban allow 200 Americans to leave Afghanistan. The Taliban are letting 200 American citizens and an unnamed number of other foreign nationals leave Afghanistan by plane, The Wall Street Journal reported. The departure is the first of its kind since the US military pulled out all its remaining forces from Kabul on August 30, surrendering control of the airport to the Taliban and ending the evacuation of American citizens and eligible Afghans.
• Employers are terrified as states make salaries public. A growing number of states are enacting measures known as "pay transparency," which force companies to disclose their compensation levels. If enough states enact pay transparency, it could forge a new national norm - one in which companies are as upfront about salaries as they are about prices.

That's all for now. See you tomorrow.

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