Biden targets powerful new GOP House of Representatives as a threat to a recovering economy

CNN
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President Joe Biden is tweaking his argument for re-election in a dense wave of travel and fundraising, targeting the powerful new GOP House of Representatives as a threat to the recovering economy as parts of the war His expected translations come together.

With a few weeks to go before Biden is expected to announce his intention to run for re-election, White House officials have scheduled tours and a series of speeches that will see the president open up infrastructure projects, promote union work and deliver on the progress he believes the US economy has made under his watch. .

“It’s about good jobs. It’s about the dignity of the job,” Biden said Tuesday in front of a tunnel on Manhattan’s West Side that will be improved with the help of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill he signed into law. 2021. “It’s about respect and self-worth. And everyone, it’s time to damn it.”

In a string of events along the east coast, from northern Virginia to Baltimore to Philadelphia to New York City, Biden is establishing a multi-day-per-week travel schedule that aides expect to continue as the contest continues. Presidential election begins in earnest.

Last week, he told a steamers’ union hall in Virginia that his agenda was about “seeing communities across America, not just on the coasts.” , which, across America, is reborn.” He stood in another tunnel on Monday, this time in Baltimore, where the improvements will help Amtrak trains triple the speed on one of the busiest rail corridors in the nation.

He also headed a Democratic Party fundraiser with large sums in Manhattan, kicking off what is believed to be a flash cash campaign. Donors have been notified of possible events in the coming months in multiple states, including traditional fundraising areas in California and Florida.

“There are two things that I think we have to move on: What do we stand for – what have we done – and we need to do more,” Biden told donors, offering a copy of the statement. tacit preview of his 2024 message. Recalling that he was running in 2020 to restore the soul of the country, rebuild the middle class and unite the country, Biden said his work was not over.

“The third turned out to be the hardest thing to do, but we are doing it,” he said.

On Friday, Biden will lead removal efforts in Philadelphia before speaking at the Democratic National Committee’s winter meeting – a meeting where his re-election is a top priority.

Addressing Biden in New York on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer highlighted the progress Biden has made in implementing his infrastructure bill, sending the message that Biden is done. something his predecessor – and currently his only opponent in the Republican Party – Donald Trump failed to do.

“For four years, the former president was on the move, you know. And now, we’re going to put real shovels in the ground, used by real American workers,” Schumer said.

Aides to Biden and other Democrats had been working for months to get the infrastructure for the campaign ready when he decided to go public. The campaign is expected to attract some staff from the DNC and the White House, and will need to coordinate with both.

Currently, Biden’s West Wing team is reorienting with the impending departure of chief of staff Ron Klain. Klain’s replacement, Jeff Zients, is expected to focus on managing the White House and implementing Biden’s legislative and policy agenda, while other top advisers – namely the senior adviser Anita Dunn and White House deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon, who has successfully managed Biden’s 2020 campaign – will be at the forefront of Biden’s political activism.

Other political staffers are also expected as the re-election campaign is likely to take shape, according to a White House official.

Overshadowing Biden’s preparations is the special counsel’s investigation into his handling of classified documents, which is expected to officially begin this week. Biden has denied any wrongdoing after classified documents were found at his office and home, but the specter of the investigation will haunt the White House for at least the coming months.

White House aides have felt vindicated by polls that show document controversy has no weight lower Biden’s overall approval rating. And Biden himself declined a question on Monday about whether he would participate in an interview with special counsel Robert Hur.

“I don’t even know about the special counsel,” Biden told reporters at the White House, quickly turning to another question.

For now, Biden’s main focus is on next week’s State of the Union speech, a speech his team has drafted to launch his re-election bid. His series of policy speeches this week heralded the themes to be expected in Tuesday night’s speech.

After that, Biden is expected to continue touring the country – including potential stops in Michigan and Wisconsin, two battleground states – as he prepares for his official campaign announcement.

Officials said the annual speech will continue to evolve as Biden and his advisers work to write it. The text is not expected to be finalized until the final moments before he moves it into the House of Commons next week. The Addressing Working Group, which includes senior advisers Mike Donilon and Bruce Reed, has been holding lengthy writing and preparation sessions with Biden over the past few days.

White House officials say the president’s recent speeches on the bipartisan infrastructure law he signed into law in 2021 are designed to signal a shift: while it’s largely been two years Biden’s first in office focused on what he hopes to achieve, officials say now is the time to tout what he has achieved.

The US job market is thriving, GDP growth continues to be strong, wages are rising and, importantly, inflation finally appears to be moderate – all points Biden made in his recent public speech. By contrast, the president has warned that lawmakers he calls “MAGA Republicans” are trying to reverse some of that progress by proposing ideas like a national sales tax.

He also issued sharp warnings to Republicans looking to use the national debt ceiling as leverage to negotiate spending cuts – setting off a battle that will unfold in the first weeks. of his election campaign.

When Biden was speaking in Virginia last week, new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy wrote on Twitter that if Biden “is very keen to speak on the economy, he should set a date to discuss raising the ceiling.” responsible debt.”

He will have that day this weekwhen Biden and McCarthy sat down at the White House for a face-to-face meeting for the first time since McCarthy was appointed to the role earlier this month.