The Archive

IMPLEMENTATION

Dems bet infrastructure can turn around Biden’s fortunes

Democrats still don’t think voters are giving them enough credit for their big accomplishments during the 117th Congress when the party had full control of Washington.

And with President Joe Biden trailing former President Donald Trump in early 2024 polling, top Democrats are aggressively leaning into selling the sprawling infrastructure bill to turn the story around.

That’s why White House senior adviser Mitch Landrieu was recently on Capitol Hill, visiting Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and the working group tasked with overseeing implementation and messaging on Democratic legislation.

Landrieu’s visit to the Hoyer-led Regional Leadership Council marked the second anniversary of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a $1.2 trillion investment in the nation’s roads, bridges, transportation and internet systems.

Hoyer and Landrieu — two politicians with boatloads of experience — are teaming up to make sure voters get the memo that it was Biden who delivered what Hoyer labeled a “generational, transformative” bill.

Democrats are betting that the tangible effects of the nationwide infrastructure overhaul — which many people are just now starting to see — will hit home for voters. Traveling to ribbon-cutting ceremonies is one thing, but the end game of an easier commute and faster internet is the real political and practical boon for Americans.

“Two years ago, there was nothing. We started off from ground zero,” Landrieu, whose role is to coordinate the infrastructure implementation, told us in an interview. “Now there’s $1.2 trillion — $400 billion of which has been pushed out of the door already. Two years ago, no projects. We now have 40,000 projects, cutting across 4,500 communities in every state.”

But despite consistent Democratic messaging for the last two years, voters still aren’t crediting the party with these benefits. Hoyer cited a high-profile Washington Post poll from February where 62% of Americans said Biden accomplished “not very much” or “little or nothing” in his presidency.

Biden also signed into law the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act last Congress — the products of a Democratic-controlled government.

“They thought we didn’t do much in the last Congress. In fact, it was probably one of the most impactful congresses in history,” Hoyer said. “The American people need to know the consequences of the actions taken in the last Congress because it’s going to make such a difference over generations.”

Hoyer’s role in helming the Regional Leadership Council — a team of House Democrats representing a dozen geographic zones of the country — is to ensure a coordinated effort exists between the White House and Congress in implementing key legislation. The RLC traveled to the White House in March to discuss messaging strategy.

Landrieu, for his part, said “It doesn’t surprise me at all that the public doesn’t really know or understand” the infrastructure law’s impacts yet, “because this thing is massive.”

“The reason I’m 100% comfortable is when they know about it, they’re going to know exactly where it came from,” the former New Orleans mayor said. Landrieu pointed to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s reelection victory in deep-red Kentucky this month, arguing the incumbent focused on construction progress on the long-stalled Brent Spence Bridge.

“When you put money on TV, and you tell them a story, and you show them to people and you bring the receipts, they like what you’re trying to sell them,” Landrieu said. “They go, ‘OK, I’m going to buy that.’”

Both Hoyer and Landrieu insisted that Biden will bring the “receipts” to the electorate in 2024, creating a clear contrast with Republicans who largely opposed the infrastructure plan.

“We’re building jobs and communities so people don’t have to choose between living with people that they love and going to find someplace else to work,” Landrieu said. “As that vision comes into clearer focus for people, I think that the president is going to benefit tremendously.”

— Max Cohen

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Gabe Amo on his first week, Biden and ceasefire

Rep. Gabe Amo (D-R.I.) experienced quite the first week in office. The House passed a bipartisan continuing resolution, pro-Palestinian protesters shut down the DNC and there were numerous verbal and physical alterations between members.

We spoke with the newest House Democrat about his initial impressions of Congress, his thoughts on President Joe Biden’s dismal polling and whether there should be a ceasefire in Gaza.

Biden: Amo, a former White House staffer, centered his successful campaign around his close ties to Biden. Why does Amo think Biden’s poll numbers are currently well below where they need to be?

“Right now, people are not necessarily engaged with the alternative,” Amo said. The Rhode Island Democrat added that Biden’s policies poll well and it’s up to Democrats to “put forward the narrative of progress.”

“We have lots of time,” Amo said. “Remember President Biden has similar poll numbers to what President Obama had at the same point in his first term.”

Ceasefire: Amo’s first committee assignment is to serve on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. We wondered how Amo viewed the growing push from progressive Democrats to demand a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

“I personally don’t believe that there should be [a ceasefire],” Amo said. “I do think thoughtful, strategic humanitarian pauses to reduce the loss of innocent life is really important to put forward and we have to encourage Israel to be strategic in their engagement.”

A growing list of progressive lawmakers are calling for an end to hostilities, citing the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Amo said some have “gotten stuck in the ‘Instagramification’ of our foreign policy, which is not helpful.”

The majority of Hill Democrats support Israel’s campaign to root out Hamas terrorists following the group’s brutal Oct. 7 terrorist attack.

“My hope is we can work towards the reduction of human lives being lost while also dealing with the terror that Hamas performed on Oct. 7,” Amo said.

His first week: Amo said the chaos on the floor during his initial days as a member showed him “firsthand the challenges that we have driven by a House Republican majority that is really rudderless.”

Amo added he wants to focus on gun violence prevention measures, including banning assault weapons, while in Congress. Amo was realistic that “we might have to wait until we win the majority and get a Speaker Jeffries to make the more dramatic change that we’d like to see.”

The future: Amo is already seen as a rising star in Rhode Island politics. Would he consider running for Senate one day?

“I just got elected,” Amo replied. “I’m thinking about how I’m going to serve in the 1st District… These people put their trust in me so the most important thing I can do is pick up the shovel and get to work.”

— Max Cohen

2024

Will Trump-skeptical GOP senators find a new 2024 candidate?

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) was the only GOP presidential candidate not named Donald Trump to have endorsements from Republican senators who aren’t from the candidate’s home state.

Now that Scott has suspended his campaign, the South Carolina Republican’s two backers in the Senate aren’t in any rush to find a new candidate to support.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), both vocal Trump skeptics, tell us they’re not planning on endorsing anyone at this point, even as Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis show that they’re the only somewhat viable alternatives to Trump.

“I assume there are going to be some other alternatives that emerge,” Thune said. “Nikki Haley’s making a nice run right now… She and DeSantis are going to be duking it out there to be the alternative to the former president. We’ll see where that lands. But I’m not prepared to say anything just yet.”

It’s a reflection not only of Trump’s dominance in the GOP primary thus far but also the failure of any of the other candidates to convince Trump-skeptical Senate Republicans that they can knock off the former president. It could also be viewed as an acknowledgment that there’s no longer any hope of preventing Trump from becoming the party’s presidential nominee.

“If you’re spending a lot of money right now convincing people when they’re not ready to be convinced at this point, you’re better off to save your money, suspend your campaign, and then wait and see what happens,” Rounds told us on the sidelines of the Halifax International Security Forum.

In theory, it shouldn’t be that difficult to win over at least some GOP senators, especially since so many of them have publicly doubted Trump’s ability to win in a general election. Some have also openly blamed Trump for squandering the Senate majority to Democrats the past two consecutive cycles.

But recent polls have shown Trump could be a strong general election candidate against President Joe Biden. So they may reason that it’s not worth taking a risk on someone else — especially with Trump on an apparent glide path to the nomination.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) on Monday became the 13th GOP senator to endorse Trump. And now that Scott is out of the race, no other presidential candidate can boast endorsements from the Senate GOP Conference other than North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who has the backing of that state’s two senators.

— Andrew Desiderio

… AND THERE’S MORE

Roy fundraises on Republican leadership being inept, plus fundraising numbers

You don’t see this too often. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a conservative irritant of the GOP leadership, is raising money saying Republicans haven’t done anything worthwhile since winning the House in January.

This echoes Roy’s angry House floor speech last week, where he said “give me one thing … that I can go campaign on and say we did.” This speech got under the skin of Speaker Mike Johnson’s staff, several of whom complained to us about Roy’s diatribe.

Here’s the fundraising email from Roy:

November monthly numbers: The DSCC, Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, raised $5.3 million in October and has $15.3 million on hand. The NRSC, its GOP counterpart, raised $5.3 million and has $6.9 in the bank.

— Jake Sherman

MOMENTS

10:15 a.m.: President Joe Biden will get his daily intelligence briefing.

11 a.m.: Biden will hold a meeting on progress to counter the flow of fentanyl into the United States.

5:10 p.m.: Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will depart the White House en route to Joint Base Andrews.

5:40 p.m.: The Bidens depart Joint Base Andrews en route to Nantucket, Mass. They will arrive at 6:50 p.m.

CLIP FILE

CNN

WaPo

Bloomberg

WSJ