WASHINGTON (AP) – The collapse of the Afghan government, an increase in COVID-19 cases caused by the delta variant, devastating weather events, a disappointing job report. What next?
After a torrent of crisis, President Joe Biden hopes to turn the page on a relentless summer and refocus his presidency this fall around his main economic agenda.
But the recent cascade of problems is reminiscent of the unpredictable weight of the office and shows that presidents rarely have the luxury of focusing on one crisis at a time. The inflexible summer of Biden he dropped his White House in an emergency and sent in his own survey numbers.
“The presidency is not a job for a monomanic,” said presidential historian Michael Beschloss. “You have to do multiple tasks 24 hours a day.”
It has never been more true than the summer of 2021, which began with the White House’s proclamation of the nation’s “independence” from the coronavirus and the bipartisan challenge of a huge infrastructure package. Then the COVID-19 roared again, the withdrawal from Afghanistan turned into chaos and hiring slowed.
Biden now awaits a rethinking of national conversation after Labor Day for his twin national goals of passing a bipartisan infrastructure bill and drive an exclusive expansion of Social Security Democrats ne t.
White House officials are eager to move Biden’s public calendar toward issues that are important to his agenda and that they believe are most important to the American people.
“I think the president can be expected to communicate over the next few weeks on a number of issues centered on the minds of the American people,” said Jen Psaki, White House press secretary.
“You can certainly look forward to hearing more from his Build Back Better agenda, COVID and his commitment to controlling the virus, talking to parents and those who have children returning to school.”
During the chaotic evacuation of Afghanistan, the White House was central in explaining the consequences of Biden’s withdrawal decision and the effort to evacuate Americans and allies from the country. Now, officials want to put the State Department and other agencies at the forefront in efforts to help stranded Americans and support evacuees, while Biden moves on to other issues.
In part, it is a reflection of an unspoken belief within the White House that, for all scenes of chaos in Afghanistan, the public supports its decision and that it will fade from memory by the midterm elections. time limit.
Instead, the White House is preparing for a legislative sprint to spend more than $ 4 trillion on domestic funding that makes up much of what Biden hopes will be his first legacy before the prospects for major legislation are seized. before 2022 races.
Friday, in statements to the disappointing August jobs report, Biden tried to return to the role of public salesman for his domestic agenda and claim the mantle of warrior for the middle class.
“For those big corporations that don’t want things to change, my message is this: it’s time for working families – the people who built this country – to receive their taxes,” Biden said. He renewed his calls to raise corporate fees to pay for free community college, paid family leave, and an extension of the children’s tax credit.
“I’m going to take them on,” Biden said of corporate interests.
While Biden may want to turn the page, however, helpers are aware that crises do not end with him.
Biden plans to talk this week about new efforts to contain the delta variant and protect children from COVID-19 schools. And his administration continues to be criticized for its decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan before all U.S. citizens and allies could leave.
“President Biden desperately wants to talk about anything but Afghanistan, but Americans hiding from the Taliban, ISIS and the Haqqani network have nothing to do with news cycles, chiefs long weekends and voting: they want to go out, “said Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska. He called on the White House in Biden on Friday to present public accounts on the number of Americans and their allies still trapped in Afghanistan.
Biden will also soon face the consequences of the liquidation of two anchors of the government’s COVID-19 protection package: The federal moratorium on evictions has recently expired, and as of Monday, an estimated 8.9 million people will lose all unemployment benefits.
The president also continues to fight the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, which ravaged the Gulf states and then flooded the northeast. After visiting Louisiana last week, will see first-hand some of the damage in New York and New Jersey on Tuesday.
It is already trying to turn the destruction caused by the hurricane into a new argument for the spending on infrastructure that has been driving all the while, telling local Louisiana officials, “I think we can save a lot of money and a lot of pain for our voters; if, when we recover, we rebuild them in a better way.”
According to White House officials, while other issues dominate the headlines, Biden and his team have held regular talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., On the President’s Legislative Agenda. Its legislative team held more than 130 convocations and meetings with members of Congress, its chiefs of staff and assistants on the infrastructure bill and the spending package, and its administration has held more than 90 meetings with legislative staff to draft the reconciliation bill.
In response to concerns from key Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., about the price of the $ 3.5 trillion social spending package, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told CNN Sunday who was convinced that the Democrat was “very persuasive” about the legislation.
Cabinet officials have also been engaged with lawmakers, officials said, and traveled to 80 congressional districts to promote the agenda across the country while Biden remained in Washington.
Biden, Beschloss said, could have a good boost over some of his predecessors in overcoming crises to keep his legislative agenda moving, given his 50 years of experience in national politics.
“If there’s anyone who makes sense of proportion, distance, and perspective at a time like this, they do,” Beschloss told The Associated Press. “For someone who has been in national life much more briefly and who was new to the presidency, you’re amazed at things all the time.”