WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden plans to end his commencement of executive actions by the middle of next week and shift his focus to make important parts of his legislative agenda a success. three administrative officers.
Biden has been quietly looking at Republicans over the enlightenment bill, which he wants to pass with dual support, and could, according to one official, begin holding personal meetings in the White House soon. At the same time, the president chose his words carefully as he weighed in on the upcoming indictment of former President Donald Trump.
Biden has said a Senate trial should take place, but he is reluctant to disclose his opinion on whether Trump should be convicted, despite his willingness to sharply criticize his predecessor in the past without hesitation.
One administration official expressed Biden’s reluctance to express his views on how he thinks the Senate should vote: “What he is trying to do is pass legislation.”
Officials said their concern was that a full-blown support for accusation would poison Biden’s hopes of duality by making it harder for some Republicans to vote in favor of anything he proposes.
Biden also keeps his tickets close as he discusses his outreach to Republicans. Officials said Biden is in talks with Republicans, but he does not want the White House to disclose it out of concern that it could be counterproductive to enforce coronavirus legislation. The president is assessing where different Republicans stand on the legal aid bill and a possible subsequent bill, an official said. The Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Rob Portman of Ohio said they spoke to Biden this week, NBC reported Thursday.
Biden stressed the importance of the relief bill for reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, where he met with Finance Minister Janet Yellen and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The idea here is that we need to act now,” Biden said. “We have learned from crises from the past: the risk is not doing too much, and the risk is not enough,” he added.
Yellen said the “rescue plan will help millions of people get to the other side of this pandemic. It will also make smart investments to get our economy back on track.”
Some administration officials privately acknowledge that it is increasingly likely that Democrats in Congress will have to use the budget reconciliation process to pass the relief bill. In public, the White House is laying the groundwork to ultimately support the process, which will enable Democrats to move forward without Republicans, by re-labeling the bill on a new party.
“Republicans can still vote for a package, even if it is through reconciliation,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday, reiterating that Biden wants GOP support for the bill.
Democrats have indicated they are willing to use reconciliation if Republican support falls short. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, who is in close contact with the White House, said Thursday that a budget resolution that seeks to pass the coronavirus bill through reconciliation will be on the floor next week. “I hope we do not need it, but if it is necessary, we have it,” Pelosi said.
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Biden also plans to introduce its immigration bill in the coming weeks, and contrary to the White House’s insistence that coronavirus legislation cannot be enforced in pieces, some parts of the immigration bill could move separately, one official said.
Meanwhile, the White House is expected to launch next week a series of executive orders on immigration, including the long-awaited announcement of a task force to reunite migrant families separated under the Trump administration.
Psaki confirmed to Rachel Maddow to MSNBC on Thursday that Biden’s nominated candidate for secretary of home security, Alejandro Mayorkas, will lead the task force. The Senate is expected to confirm Mayorkas on Monday.
In other administrative news:
- Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will receive an economic briefing with Finance Minister Janet Yellen on Friday morning.
- The president will travel to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., This afternoon to visit wounded service members.
- Foreign Minister Antony Blinken has chosen Rob Malley to be the US envoy to Iran, the foreign ministry confirmed on Thursday. Malley, the president of the International Crisis Group, a conflict resolution organization, has been the White House coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf region in the Obama administration, where he helped implement the Iran nuclear deal. 2015 that Trump withdrew. in 2018.
Rebecca Shabad, Abigail Williams and Dareh Gregorian contributed.