President Biden and Congressional Republicans are gearing up for what happens after the midterms, especially if the conventional wisdom of strategists of both parties turns out to be correct and the GOP retakes at least the House and perhaps the Senate.
The Daily 202 has written before about the Republican plans to investigate Biden, his family and Democrats more broadly, as well as the potential for quixotic GOP calls for impeaching the president or (much more likely) other top administration officials to get more intense.
But in the past 24 hours or so, The Washington Post has had three new entries, looking at Biden’s preparations should he decide to run for reelection, at what the House GOP caucus may look like with a fresh injection of MAGA and one potential future Republican Senate chairman.
My colleagues Michael Scherer and Tyler Pager took a look at the early days of what may become Biden ‘24, with the president and first lady Jill Biden meeting with a small group of advisers to plan for the possible launch.
Biden, who’d be 86 at the end of a second term, has repeatedly said he intends to run again (that hedge, White House aides tell me, partly has to do with the campaign laws triggered if he formally says he is seeking a second term.)
- “For now, the strategy of Biden’s inner circle is to prepare as vigorously as possible for a reelection run, even if the possibility remains that he will step back at the last moment,” my colleagues reported.
“Top White House advisers Anita Dunn, Mike Donilon and Jen O’Malley Dillon, who played senior roles in Biden’s 2020 campaign, have been involved in the planning discussions with Biden, as has Chief of Staff Ron Klain. While Biden’s advisers have been focused on the midterms, Dunn and O’Malley Dillon have spoken with veterans of the past two Democratic presidential reelection campaigns, including Barack Obama’s campaign managers, David Plouffe and Jim Messina, and two veterans of Bill Clinton’s administration, Bruce Reed and Steve Ricchetti, who now work in the White House,” Mike and Tyler said.
Now over to Republicans, courtesy of Isaac Arnsdorf and Marianna Sotomayor, who focused on “the House Freedom Caucus, the hard-line bloc that has evolved from its early days as a secretive tea party brotherhood to become the de facto vehicle for most of the House Republicans most aligned with [former president Donald] Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.”
The House Freedom Caucus could “use its clout to put pressure on Republican leadership on issues such as repealing the IRS expansion, impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Ali Mayorkas, investigating Attorney General Merrick Garland and abolishing the Department of Education.”
Much turns on whether the midterm elections swell their ranks, now numbered at 35.
- “Members have already discussed making stark demands of leadership in exchange for their votes, in particular a request to bring back a rule that gives members the ability to recall the speaker at any time — a direct threat to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) should he take the gavel.” They also want more committee chairs.
Isaac and Marianna cite Republicans “privately” saying they’ll focus on governing and passing legislation “ahead of digging into impeachment.” Others “who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations” want to fend off calls to impeach Biden.
The obvious problem with that is more MAGA means more Trump influence. What will he want to do?
My colleagues Dan Diamond and Rachel Roubein peered around the corner to see prospects of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) could become chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee if the GOP takes over.
Paul spent much of the pandemic’s first two years clashing with the nation’s top infectious-disease specialist, Anthony S. Fauci, and criticizing public health officials’ handling of covid, while pushing treatments like ivermectin that are ineffective against the coronavirus.
- “The possibility has rattled health care leaders and trade groups, worried that Paul will follow through on his criticism of ‘Big Pharma, the medical establishment and public health officials’] for their stances on covid,” they reported.
If he does get HELP, Paul “has repeatedly indicated that pandemic-related investigations would be his top priority: A ‘Fire Fauci’ banner is emblazoned as the ‘featured issue’ on his campaign website, and has fueled an array of his fundraising emails, stump speeches and tweets.”
Even the election outcome won’t fully or immediately resolve any of these.
CVS, Walgreens agree to settle opioid lawsuits for $10 billion
“CVS and Walgreens are among several pharmacies and drug manufacturers facing extensive lawsuits and backlash for allegedly worsening the opioid epidemic. Hundreds of thousands of people have died from drug overdoses in the past two decades, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many involving opioids,” Rachel Lerman reports.
- “Walmart has also reached a settlement and will pay $3 billion to resolve similar lawsuits, Bloomberg News reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The retailer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.”
White House announces $13.5 billion to help households with energy bills
“President Joe Biden’s administration will make $13.5 billion available to help low-income U.S. households lower their heating costs this winter, the White House said on Wednesday,” Reuters reports.
“As part of the initiative, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is providing $4.5 billion in low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding, it said in a statement.”
Fed poised to hike rates by 0.75 percentage points for fourth time
“Fed officials show no signs of backing down, and they’ve made clear that getting consumer prices down from the highest inflation rates in 40 years will require pain for households and businesses. But what isn’t clear is when or how central bankers will decide to ease up — and if they will only scale back once it is already too late to head off a downturn,” Rachel Siegel reports.
Lunchtime reads from The Post
GOP to probe ‘cancer’ of climate-friendly investing after midterms
“Polls suggest the GOP will retake the House, and Republicans there are preparing to grill the chief executives of big financial firms as well as Gary Gensler, the Democratic chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, about their efforts to curb climate change. In the Senate, where polls show a toss-up battle for control of the chamber, key senators are pushing legislation to punish businesses that prioritize environmental, social and governance causes — known as ESG — rather than pure profits,” Maxine Joselow reports.
Capitol Police cameras caught break-in at Pelosi home, but no one was watching
“If the Capitol Police were going to stop an attack at the home of any member of Congress, they had perhaps the best chance to do so at Pelosi’s, according to several current and former law enforcement officials, many of whom spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because the break-in remains under investigation,” Aaron C. Davis, Carol D. Leonnig, Marianna Sotomayor and Paul Kane report.
- What happened: “The Capitol Police first installed cameras around Pelosi’s home more than eight years ago; she has an around-the-clock security detail; and for many months after the attacks of Jan. 6, 2021, a San Francisco police cruiser sat outside her home day and night. But hours after Pelosi left San Francisco last week and returned to D.C., much of the security left with her, and officers in Washington stopped continuously monitoring video feeds outside her house.”
Saudis in U.S. targeted as kingdom cracks down on dissent
- “But after a fellow prince — a cousin — was imprisoned back home, Prince Abdullah discussed it with relatives in calls made from the U.S., according to Saudi officials, who somehow were listening. On a trip back to Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdullah was imprisoned because of those calls. An initial 20-year sentence was hiked to 30 years in August.”
“Prince Abdullah’s case, detailed in Saudi court documents obtained by The Associated Press, hasn’t been previously reported. But it’s not isolated. Over the last five years, Saudi surveillance, intimidation and pursuit of Saudis on U.S. soil have intensified as the kingdom steps up repression under its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the FBI, rights groups and two years of interviews with Saudis living abroad. Some of those Saudis said FBI agents advised them not to go home.”
Biden officials admit there’s still a problem getting baby formula to shelves
“Stores remain unevenly stocked as the amount of formula on the market overall has rebounded. The officials in charge of the response blame hoarding, supply chain bottlenecks and manufacturers making fewer varieties,” Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill reports.
Inside the Biden team’s fixation on gas prices
“[Ron] Klain’s fixation on gas prices reflects a wider sense inside the Biden administration that the president’s popularity is, to a remarkable degree, tied up in that single indicator — one that many economists regard as not nearly as important as the attention it gets. With some incredulity, White House economic officials have watched for months as the president’s approval rating moves in almost exact relation to the average national gas price,” Jeff Stein reports.
Biden blasts Florida senators as he visits the state ahead of midterms
“President Biden warned Tuesday that a Republican takeover of Congress would have dire consequences for Social Security and Medicare, taking direct aim at Florida’s Republican senators in a state where the popular safety-net programs have numerous beneficiaries,” Yasmeen Abutaleb reports.
The worker-productivity slump, visualized
“Employers across the country are worried that workers are getting less done — and there’s evidence they’re right to be spooked,” Taylor Telford reports.
“In the first half of 2022, productivity — the measure of how much output in goods and services an employee can produce in an hour — plunged by the sharpest rate on record going back to 1947, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”
Ads targeting transgender kids flood swing states
“Ads targeting transgender children have spread in at least 25 states across the political spectrum — from Texas to Illinois to Michigan — in the last month, according to the Human Rights Campaign,” Politico’s Marissa Martinez and Madison Fernandez report.
“America First Legal has made more than $4 million in radio buys across Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Detroit — cities in competitive states with significant Black populations. The radio ad features a man speaking over ominous music, claiming that children have been pushed to take puberty blockers and get gender-affirming surgery.”
There has been a surge in recent years of children and teenagers identifying as transgender, sparking a furious debate over what kinds of potentially non-reversible treatments they should be allowed to get and how much screening should be required first.
Liz Cheney steps onto the campaign trail — for a Democrat
“Rep. Liz Cheney returned to the campaign trail Tuesday night, receiving a standing ovation more than 1,600 miles from her Wyoming home — and a world away from the Republican politics that have been her family’s lifeblood,” CNN’s Jeff Zeleny reports.
“A week after the Wyoming Republican offered a surprise endorsement of Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat whom she praised as ‘a good and honorable public servant,’ Cheney traveled here to deliver the message in person. She said a peaceful transition of power was essential to a functioning democracy and should be demanded by Republicans and Democrats alike.”
Biden will view “workforce training demonstrations by labor unions and leading companies” in the State Dining Room at 2:15 p.m.
At 2:40 p.m., Biden will speak in the East Room about job creation.
He will then participate in a political event for the Democratic National Committee at 7 p.m.
Our pundits predicted midterm winners. Can you do better?
“If you can’t beat them, join them. Or, join them — then beat them. In a very-extra-special edition of the Post Pundit Power Ranking, we want you, the readers, to play pundit and tell us who you predict to win this cycle’s biggest midterm battles,” Drew Goins and Yan Wu write.
Ready? Click here to give it a try.
Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.
