However, now that Biden is president, Clyburn’s daring, in-your-face style does not play the same. While the president himself keeps his longtime friend and confidant in the same regard, the congressman has privately vented the anger of some White House officials, several sources told POLITICO.
But if Clyburn’s style is annoying to West Wing officials, he has no doubt about it. “I do not like people telling me how important I am,” the 80-year-old congressman said in an interview with POLITICO. “You have to show me.”
Clyburn tries to make his mark on the Biden presidency and is not ashamed of it. He complained about the lack of diversity in Biden’s initial cabinet development and specifically urged ally Marcia Fudge to get a position in government. He announced his choice for high court judge even before there is a vacancy. He joined other House Democrats by urging the government to elevate Shalanda Young to the office of management and budget to become the first black woman to head the department.
Clyburn says he only speaks for African-Africans who have played an important role in winning the White House and the Senate for Democrats. They deserve a lawyer, he emphasizes, and also a seat at the table. And for all the pressure he put in, he also praised the White House and the president early on for keeping their promises to put together a diverse team. But for a hyper-disciplined message action in the White House, Clyburn can occasionally be too blunt with his criticism and analysis.
Because Clyburn is so widely acknowledged that he shifted the trajectory of the presidential race with his endorsement of Biden, his public statements and demands took on extra meaning – treated as dictums of the high council of Biden country. If they do not receive messages, they can cause a flurry of headlines and questions to the White House.
“The congressman has had access and power in other presidential governments, but he was never anointed as the person who placed the president where he is today,” said Amanda Loveday, a strategist in South Carolina. “It just gives him an even bigger portfolio of power when it comes to suggestions and recommendations.”
Clyburn’s influence is evident throughout the party today. He easily got his choice as chairman of the National Democratic National Committee – Jaime Harrison, who became a national star after building a fundraising architect in his unsuccessful attempt to oust Lindsey Graham from the U.S. Senate of South Carolina. Clyburn also called for more diversity in Biden’s Cabinet, creating a story which influenced internal discussions around the selection process for candidates. Even before Biden took office, Clyburn privately stirred up the incoming administration to address the National Guard to administer vaccinations as quickly as possible and for a large stream of early executive orders, including Covid mitigation efforts such as mask mandates. – two strategies applied by the White House.
Clyburn said he encouraged his closest ally and friend, former representative Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, to join the White House. Richmond, who retired from Congress, is now a senior adviser in charge of public engagement. He and Clyburn still enjoy a close relationship, talk regularly and eat together. The most important thing for Clyburn, however, is that he retains the support and backing of the president.
“The president spoke warmly and regularly about his long friendship with Congressman Clyburn, and how much his support meant. “President Biden and the White House have remained in close contact with Congressman Clyburn and his team and always welcome his input on everything from staff to policy,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
A person with knowledge of the relationship confirmed that the relationship between Biden and Clyburn has remained firm: ‘If there is beef and Biden knows of the beef, he will not hesitate to call Clyburn personally about it. ‘
But although Biden and Clyburn remain close, Congressman has feathered feathers in the building, especially amid fights over staff. Tensions flared when Fudge applied to be secretary of agriculture and told POLITICO that she was tired of black officials being relocated to places like the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Fudge has indeed won a cabinet deal – as head of HUD – after Clyburn aggressively campaigned for her. But some in Clyburn’s world felt that the White House was upset with the fact that they were in public with the Fudge request.
Two sources with knowledge of the White House’s thinking said some top officials felt stung by Clyburn’s public criticism of concerns about the lack of diversity in government. And despite his so-called kingmaker status after the election, sources close to Clyburn and other members of the Black Caucus of Congress say that the limitations of Clyburn’s influence on members of the White House outside the president became clearer after the Fudge episode and continued pressure for Young to lead OMB.
Some of the tensions were before the start of the Biden presidency. During the campaign, Clyburn challenged Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s campaign manager,’s decision to discontinue personal work during Covid. And when O’Malley Dillon takes a position at the White House at the highest level, he questions ‘her kind of politics’.
“The reality of Jim Clyburn is that he’s a team player, but he’s not going to be muzzled at all,” said Dick Harpootlian, a South Carolina senator, former party chairman and 40-year-old friend of Clyburn. “Jim Clyburn came to where he is because he never stood back, whether it was arrested during the Civil Rights Movement or as a college student as a student.”
Clyburn’s daughter, Jennifer Clyburn Reed, said her father simply does what he’s always done: talk to people of color.
Elder Clyburn’s goal in the election was to help Biden get elected. But now that he’s in the White House, he feels a responsibility to hold the president and his administration accountable for his promises.
‘The sentiment of diversity in the cabinet or the black female high court, all these things come from the public. He did not wake up from a dream and say ‘we need a diverse cabinet’, Reed said. ‘There were several institutions that expressed their concern about the divergent cabinet. This was stated by the campaign. Candidate Biden promised diversity. The only thing we as the general public wanted was to look after it. ”
In turn, Clyburn said he now sees his role in fighting vigorously for Biden’s agenda, and he and Biden maintain a strong relationship. He said Biden has shown that he is committed to diversity, including a promise to nominate a black woman in the Supreme Court. And he says the president has called him several times since he was in the White House.
“Every time he calls me, I talk to him,” Clyburn says, adding that Biden “does not have to ask” for his support for certain legislation. Clyburn says he knows Biden’s platform and is willing to support it, saying his role is “To work as hard as possible to approve the legislation that needs to be passed.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
On the endorsement
On a recent day in his Capitol office, Clyburn reflected on his role in the recent election.
It affected him on a personal level. Telling the story of how he came to the decision to support Biden, Clyburn says his late wife, Emily, who died nearly six months before the South Carolina primary election, tempted him to do so.
However, when Clyburn announced his decision, the setback at the time was fierce. Social media is enlightened with what he describes as a nasty and somewhat threatening language. This left his daughters uneasy, he said. In turn, Clyburn pulls back the setback, but one online comment stays with him.
“He said, ‘I will not’ forget or be forgiven for pushing Joe Biden down our throats, ‘” Clyburn said. “” You will not forget or be forgiven “… I will never forget . ‘
Clyburn had earlier told POLITICO that he had decided to endorse Biden months before the South Carolina primary and that the campaign had put him under pressure to make it known earlier in the cycle. Clyburn said he resisted because he thought his vote would be much more influential until just before the vote. He was right.
“He turned the tide for a time that was necessary,” Loveday said. “It was not just what he did, but also the timing that he did it, but the commitment with which he did it.”
Clyburn’s latest vocal call feverishly calls for reform of the filibuster, which he sees as a critical step in implementing the agenda Biden has promised voters, including African Americans.
“Republicans have adapted it for Supreme Court justices,” Clyburn said. “It’s time we changed that for voting rights and civil rights.”
As for the filibuster reform, Clyburn got a setback from the man he helped drive to the presidency just over a year ago. He also pushed back from others in his party. It is not surprising that he is reluctant to speak out about it.
“I saw [West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin] I said on TV the other day, “I’m not going to be for reconciliation because I’m considerate of my Republicans. Oh yes? What about you Democrats? Clyburn said. ‘I say to him: the filibuster is like the constitution, it changes, it’s a living document. Times change, situations change. Slavery was constitutional. ”
The filibuster reform is just one of Clyburn’s goals now that Biden has taken office. And whether it’s going to keep the White House and beyond, Clyburn said his philosophy is rooted in ensuring America stays on a path of racial and economic equality.
“I want my tombstone to say, ‘He did his best to make the country’s greatness accessible to all,'” Clyburn said. “It is my job: to do everything in my power to make the greatness of the country accessible to all.”
Laura Barrón-López contributed to this report.