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PRESENTED BY

BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN

THE TOP

President Joe Biden, like many other politicians, is flawed. He’s a human being. We’re all flawed. (Email us if you’d like to discuss our shortcomings. Kidding.)

But something that Biden has done very well — way, way better than former President Donald Trump — is to set attainable goals, meet them, and at times, exceed those goals. This is the classic “underpromise and overdeliver” approach. 

Here’s a great example, from Biden’s speech last night from the White House:

When I came into office, you may recall, I set a goal that many of you said was, kind of, way over the top. I said I intended to get 100 million shots in people’s arms in my first 100 days in office. Tonight, I can say we are not only going to meet that goal, we’re going to beat that goal. Because we’re actually on track to reach this goal of 100 million shots in arms on my 60th day in office. No other country in the world has done this. None.

Biden’s team said they’d get the Covid-relief bill done by March 14, many doubted him, including us! Here we are, on March 12, and the bill is now law. Republicans complain that there will still be a lapse in federal unemployment benefits and they point to the administration’s handling of the small business loan program as a problem too. Yet Biden and Democrats got the bill done when they said they would. 

Biden set some new goals by which we will now measure him: He said all Americans will be eligible to sign up for a shot by May 1, and we will be able to have small gatherings and return to some sense of normalcy by July 4. 

To be clear, this White House is also behind the pace of its predecessors in some respects: they have just two bills signed into law, Biden has not given a news conference yet and they’ve now just caught up to the Cabinet nomination pace of previous administrations. Yet they’ve been politically astute on many aspects of the management of this virus. The administration realizes that there is really nothing that matters more than beating Covid 19. 

Last night’s 26-minute speech also recognized some realities that Trump either skirted around, minimized or refused to acknowledge: The extraordinarily damaging partisanship and racism that surfaced with the virus. 

Too often, we’ve turned against one another. A mask — the easiest thing to do to save lives — sometimes it divides us. States pitted against one other instead of working with each other.

Vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans, who have been attacked, harassed, blamed, and scapegoated. At this very moment, so many of them — our fellow Americans — they’re on the frontlines of this pandemic, trying to save lives, and still — still — they are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. It’s wrong, it’s un-American, and it must stop.

Look, we know what we need to do to beat this virus: Tell the truth. Follow the scientists and the science. Work together. Put trust and faith in our government to fulfill its most important function, which is protecting the American people — no function more important.

BTW: Fact checkers are feasting on this line.

As I’ve told you before, I carry a card in my pocket with the number of Americans who have died from COVID to date. It’s on the back of my schedule. As of now, the total deaths in America: 527,726. That’s more deaths than in World War One, World War Two, the Vietnam War, and 9/11 combined.

NYT and WaPo got in on the action.

Punch List … WaPo’s Robin Givhan: “Biden spoke without a swagger” … NYT’s Katie Rogers on A1: “Biden Tells Nation There Is Hope After a Devastating Year”

THE HILL VS. CHINA

As Biden admin. meets with Beijing, Capitol Hill gets ready to pounce

Top Biden administration officials are preparing to meet for the first time next week in Alaska with their Chinese counterparts. But here in Washington, senators in both parties are scrambling to put together legislation to take on the rising Asian superpower, an issue that’s only become more acute in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The disputes between the United States and China are growing in both number and complexity. From the Trump administration’s trade wars with China — the sanctions imposed by the former president are still in place — to the mistreatment of the Uighur and other Muslim communities, the crackdown on Hong Kong’s democracy movement, the theft of technological and industrial secrets, espionage and hackers, to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, the list of flashpoints betwee the two countries continues to grow.

But can the Senate overcome the intense, never-ending partisan squabbles of the Trump era — and especially the tumultuous last few months — to actually do something to confront China? That remains to be seen.

The one bipartisan agreement on Capitol Hill these days is that there’s an acute need to confront China’s growing economic, military and technological theft and reach.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has directed the chairs of eight committees — Appropriations, Banking, Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources, Environment and Public Works, Finance, Foreign Relations and HELP — to develop a new version of the “Endless Frontiers” bill, a five-year, $100 billion proposal first released last summer by Schumer and Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.).

The Schumer-Young initiative would overhaul the National Science Foundation to create the “National Science and Technology Foundation.” The revamped organization would create “regional technology hubs” to promote cutting-edge research on artificial intelligence, advanced computing and manufacturing, robotics, biotechnology, advanced materials designs, and other areas. Thousands of scholarships would be given out to support up-and-coming scientists and researchers. It’s the kind of initiative that Congress loves. Schumer wants a bill ready by spring, he told his chairs, and he wants to pair it with other China-related legislation.

The problem with the Schumer-Young proposal, of course, is money. Congress just approved the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan on a party line vote. Democrats are planning to move an expensive infrastructure package sometime later this year (possibly paid for by tax increases). So can Congress afford to pump tens of billions into this Schumer-Young effort? Will Republicans go for it?

Other senators also need money for their China-related legislation too. In some cases, lots of it. Schumer, along with Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and others, inserted a provision in the defense authorization bill year calling for at least $10 billion in federal funding for semiconductor research and development. The Semiconductor Industry Association and other tech groups want Congress to approve that funding — plus a lot more — to “revitalize” domestic semiconductor manufacturing, which has shrunk to a fraction of its former level. The SIA is also seeking the enactment of a refundable investment tax credit.

Other senators are talking up legislation to punish the Chinese over its brutal repression of Uighurs and other Muslims in the country’s western regions. One of the final acts of the Trump administration was to declare China was committing genocide against these groups.

And the Chinese government’s decision to crush the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong has also created a backlash on Capitol Hill. Some senators want to respond with additional sanctions against Chinese officials.

Yet another group of senators want to boost defense spending to counter China’s growing military prowess and the threat it poses to South Korea, Japan, and above all, Taiwan. This could involve tens of billions in spending for new ships and planes to be deployed in the Indo-Pacific, or potentially shifting American ground forces to permanent bases there.

Schumer plans to play a big role in assembling the China package this spring, according to aides, and he’s publicly committed to taking strong steps on the semiconductor industry in particular.

We spoke to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) about the possibility for bipartisan action. Being McConnell, he was cautious and wouldn’t commit to backing anything until he’d seen it.

“We’ve had broad discussions, we have not discussed specifics yet,” McConnell said of his conversations with fellow Republicans on the issue. “I want to see what people have in mind.”

INSIDE THE HOUSE

Chip Roy’s employment carousel

Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy is facing a wave of departures among his senior aides, but the second-term lawmaker insists there’s nothing unusual going on in his office.

Roy’s chief of staff, deputy chief of staff and district director — who also serves as the campaign manager — have left Roy’s office or are leaving imminently. Roy’s communications director took a job with the House Freedom Caucus recently as well, although he still works closely with Roy, who’s a member of that group.

“Go look at turnover in my office over the last 24 hours, there was none, zero,” Roy said in an interview. “What this is is the natural timetable of going through a Congress.”

Roy then added: “This is complete Washington, D.C., horse manure.”

Roy said his chief of staff, Wade Miller, is taking a new position “with my blessing and encouragement.” Roy added that his district director, Nathan McDaniel, has been with him since 2017 and his departing on very good terms.

“It’s the natural cycle of things,” said Roy, who himself served as a former aide to Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Replacements for the departing staffers will be announced soon, Roy said.

Roy has found himself in the news pretty often lately. First, he said that President Donald Trump has committed “clearly impeachable conduct” by pressuring former Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify now President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, but then he voted against impeaching Trump. Roy defended GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney (Wyo.) for voting to impeach Trump, yet then said Cheney should step down from leadership for publicly criticizing Trump. And he infuriated Democrats — and some Republicans — by blocking a unanimous consent request calling for votes on some non-controversial bills on Monday. Three of those bills were offered by GOP lawmakers. Roy says he may continue to object to “suspension bills’ unless Democrats change the way they’re running the House.

MOMENTS

8:30 a.m.: President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris will meet virtually with the heads of state of India, Australia and Japan.

10:30 a.m.: Biden and Harris will receive the daily intelligence briefing.

11:15 a.m.: The Covid response team will brief reporters.

Noon: Jen Psaki and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will brief reporters.

12:30 p.m.: Biden and Harris will have lunch. 

2:30 p.m.: Biden and Harris will speak about the American Rescue Plan in the Rose Garden. Democratic members of Congress will be in attendance — including the leadership.

3:40 p.m.: Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will leave the White House for Wilmington, Del.

4:35 p.m.: The Bidens will arrive in Delaware.

CLIP FILE

NYT: “The Lessons of One of the Worst Years in American Life,” by David Sanger: “One president lost his job in large part for mishandling a crisis whose magnitude he first denied. His successor knows his legacy depends on bringing the catastrophe to a swift conclusion.”

“The Fight Is On to Define the Pandemic Aid Bill,” by Carl Hulse

“Cuomo Faces New Threat: Impeachment Inquiry Led by Democrats,” by Luis Ferré-Sadurní, J. David Goodman and Jesse McKinley

WaPo: “‘Finishing the deal’: Biden vaccine victories build on Trump team’s work,” by Dan Diamond and  Isaac Stanley-Becker: “President Biden beckoned leaders of two of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies to the White House on Wednesday and credited his administration for the “nearly unprecedented collaboration” between the longtime rivals, Merck and Johnson & Johnson, now jointly producing a coronavirus vaccine.

“But the breakthrough touted by Biden was first conceived by Trump officials last year, culminating in a Jan. 4 conference call arranged between Merck and Johnson & Johnson’s senior leaders, said four Trump administration officials with knowledge of the efforts.

“‘Biden can take credit for finishing the deal, that’s for sure,’ said Paul Mango, a former Health and Human Services deputy chief of staff and one of those Trump officials. ‘But it wasn’t an original idea he had.’

Note: Who cares if it’s Biden’s idea. Biden will still get credit for it because he won in November and executed on it.

“Next Biden agenda items on immigration and infrastructure already running into trouble,” by Seung Min Kim

“DOJ seeks to build large conspiracy case against Oath Keepers for Jan. 6 riot,” by Devlin Barrett,  Spencer S. Hsu,  Aaron C. Davis and Tom Jackman

WSJ: “Gov. Andrew Cuomo Aides Called Former Staffers to Discredit Accuser,” by Khadeeja Safdar,  Deanna Paul and Jimmy Vielkind: “In the days after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was first accused of sexual harassment by a former aide, the governor’s office called at least six former employees either to find out if they had heard from the accuser or to glean information about her in conversations that some said they saw as attempts to intimidate them.

“Some of the people who received the calls said they hadn’t heard from the administration in months before getting the call about the accuser. One said a caller encouraged them to give reporters any information discrediting the accuser, Lindsey Boylan, who worked as an economic adviser for the Cuomo administration between 2015 and 2018.

“The calls were made by current administration officials and former aides who are still close to the governor’s office, according to several recipients. The outreach came at the behest of Melissa DeRosa, the governor’s top aide, according to people familiar with the effort. ‘I felt intimidated, and I felt bewildered,’ said Ana Liss, a former aide to the governor who received one of the calls.”

AP: “COVID relief bill could permanently alter social safety net,” by Ashraf Khalil and Alan Fram

LAT: “Political battle lines form as Newsom recall effort boasts of 2 million signatures,” by John Myers

FOR THE NRCC

Az. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick is retiring

Arizona Republic’s Ronald Hansen: 

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick says her fifth term in Congress will be her last.

Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., is expected to announce Friday that she will not seek another term representing the Tucson area, a move that comes as the state’s political boundaries will be redrawn ahead of the 2022 elections.

At 70, Kirkpatrick said her health and recovery from alcohol dependency was ‘not a factor at all’ in her decision. ‘I’ve been in public service for 18 years and I’ve always been a proponent of term limits and … I’m sort of term-limiting myself,’ she said.

Kirkpatrick has won her Tuscon-area seat quite easily, but Republicans are definitely going to get in this race and try to snatch it.

CUOMO’S PROBLEMS

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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images