Category: Joe Biden

Trump left behind a damaged government. Here’s what Biden faces as he rebuilds it.

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More than 18 months after the Agriculture Department relocated two research agencies from Washington to Kansas City, Mo., prompting a major exodus from both divisions, the agencies are still struggling to regain their strength.

Even after a round of hiring in the past year, the permanent staff of the Economic Research Service is down 33 percent from where it was near the end of the Obama administration, and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture workforce has declined 34 percent. According to USDA, they have 115 and 130 job vacancies, respectively.

“We lost some of the nation’s best economists and agricultural scientists in the previous administration,” USDA spokesman Matt Herrick said in an email. “It will take time for the new administration to rebuild USDA’s scientific and research agencies and restore their confidence and morale.” Continue reading.

Biden inherited a USPS crisis. Here’s how Democrats want to fix it.

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The nation’s mail service is slower and more erratic than it’s been in generations, via the confluence of an abrupt reorganization and pandemic-era anomalies that has fueled demands for reform and fundamentally different ideas on how to achieve it.

On one side is Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who, with the backing of the U.S. Postal Service’s governing board, is expected as soon as next week to outline a new vision for the agency, one that includes more service cuts, higher and region-specific pricing, and lower delivery expectations.

But congressional Democrats are pressing President Biden to install new board members, creating a majority bloc that could oust DeJoy, a Trump loyalist whose aggressive cost-cutting over the summer has been singled out for much of the performance decline. The fight over the agency’s future is expected to be fraught and protracted, leaving Americans with unreliable mail delivery for the foreseeable future. Continue reading.

Biden doubles down on normal at White House

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The first weeks of President Biden’s administration have been a striking contrast with the chaos and turmoil of the Trump administration, bringing a sense of normality back to the White House and government.

Biden, along with Vice President Harris, begins each day receiving the President’s Daily Brief, usually before 10 a.m. His administration has revived the White House daily briefings every weekday.

And when he has signed executive actions, they have usually been paired with events where the president delivers scripted remarks on policy, and he has rarely answered shouted questions from reporters.  Continue reading.

Buttigieg in quarantine after possible Covid exposure

DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg is quarantining for the next 14 days after a member of his security detail tested positive for Covid-19. 

According to a press statement by DOT chief of staff Laura Schiller, the agent had been in close contact with Buttigieg, “including this morning prior to the agent’s positive result.“

Buttigieg also took a routine Covid PCR test Monday morning and the virus was not detected, nor is Buttigieg having symptoms. He has received the first dose of the vaccination and will get the second dose “when his quarantine is completed,” Schiller said. Continue reading.

Denis McDonough confirmed as President Biden’s veterans affairs chief

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The Senate on Monday confirmed Denis McDonough as President Biden’s veterans affairs secretary, choosing a non-veteran but a manager with years of government service to lead the sprawling health and benefits agency.

McDonough, 51, was chief of staff during Barack Obama’s second term and held senior roles on the National Security Council and on Capitol Hill before that. He told senators at his confirmation hearing that although he is not a veteran, his long career as a behind-the-scenes troubleshooter and policymaker would serve him well at the Department of Veterans Affairs, a massive bureaucracy beset by multiple challenges.

“I can unstick problems inside agencies and across agencies, especially at an agency as large as VA,” McDonough told the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee in January. Continue reading.

Biden says Trump should not receive intelligence briefings because of his ‘erratic behavior’

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President Biden, in an interview with the “CBS Evening News With Norah O’Donnell,” said former president Donald Trump should not receive intelligence briefings, citing his “erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection.”

“I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?” Biden said when questioned. The White House has been reviewing whether the former president, now out of office, should get the briefings.

Separately, Biden pledged Friday “to act fast” on securing passage of his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, making clear that he and Democrats in Congress are willing to move forward without Republican support. He pointed to a disappointing jobs report for January to argue that the cost of the legislation is justified. Continue reading.

‘Mad his wife lost her federally funded indentured servants’: Pompeo slammed for criticizing Biden foreign policy

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Abiding by the unwritten rule – for now – even disgraced former President Donald Trump has not criticized his newly-sworn in successor, but former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just made clear he has no intention of observing such norms, even in the interest of statesmanship.

Unlike most former Trump appointees, Pompeo has a strong government background, yet he has chosen to criticize President Joe Biden just two weeks after leaving office.

Telling the world, “America is back, diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy,” Biden delivered an internationally-acclaimed speech at the U.S. Department of State on Thursday, laying out his foreign policy vision.

Hours later, Pompeo hit the airwaves to attack it. Continue reading.

Biden harnesses Defense Production Act to speed vaccinations and production of protective equipment

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The administration also said it would deploy 1,110 military personnel to support mass-vaccination centers

The Biden administration announced a handful of initiatives Friday aimed at accelerating mass inoculations against the coronavirus and expanding production of rapid tests and surgical gloves to help control the pathogen.

In the most immediate action, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved a request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to deploy 1,110 troops to support vaccination sites. The first active-duty military personnel will arrive in California within the next 10 days, to begin operations around Feb. 15, said Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to the White House’s coronavirus response team. The service members, the majority of whom will be medical personnel, are expected to be stationed at five FEMA megasites, two of which are in Oakland and east Los Angeles.

“The military’s critical role in supporting sites will help vaccinate thousands of people per day and ensure every American who wants a vaccine will receive one,” Slavitt said during a Friday briefing. Continue reading.

Biden releases Puerto Rico aid funds that Trump blocked for nearly 2 years

Trump blocked billions in relief aid to Puerto Rico for Hurricane Maria for over a year.

Puerto Rico will finally get to start using billions in relief aid Congress passed in 2017, after the island was hit hard by Hurricane Maria that year.

President Joe Biden’s administration approved the release of $1.3 billion in relief funding on Monday that the Trump administration had been blocking and restricting.

Biden approved the release of $1.3 billion in relief funding on Monday, and took restrictions off another $4.9 billion, the New York Times reported. Continue reading.

Senate Democrats approve budget resolution, teeing up coronavirus bill

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Senate Democrats approved a budget resolution early Friday morning that will allow them to pass coronavirus relief without GOP support.

The budget passed the Senate in a 50-50 party-line vote, with Vice President Harris breaking the tie. Because senators made changes to the resolution, it now bounces back to the House, where lawmakers will need to pass it for a second time as soon as Friday.

The budget resolution doesn’t get signed into law, but it’s the first step for being able to pass a subsequent coronavirus relief bill that can bypass the 60-vote legislative filibuster in the Senate. Continue reading.