They’re also calling out Republicans who fought his proposals but now want some of the federal cash they provide.
- Look for top Biden aides to keep crisscrossing the country with the dual message that the administration is trying to help middle-class and working-class Americans over the opposition of Republicans — who later turn around and want their states or districts to benefit.
On Wednesday, Biden set the tone, defending “Bidenomics” while criticizing Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) for cheering his state getting money to develop broadband from the president’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure law, which the former football coach denounced and voted against.
My colleague Maegan Vazquez noted yesterday that Biden also cited Tuberville by name hours later in a speech in Chicago as he suggested the law’s billions for broadband were “bringing along some converts” from the GOP.
She quoted Tuberville spokesman Steven Stafford as saying the senator voted against the law because it “wasted” money, but “now that it is law of the land, the people of Alabama deserve their fair share. Coach is proud to advocate for this funding to go to Alabama.”
No offense to the president, but that wasn’t the most creative version of this kind of politicking.
Jen Haberkorn of Politico took a long look at Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm delivering the double-barreled message and trying to inflict a little “political pain” on Republicans during a visit to West Columbia, S.C.
“What was notable about Granholm’s stop was where it took place,” Jen wrote. “She has taken her sales pitch across the South this week, venturing into the congressional districts of five House Republicans who opposed the legislation responsible for those clean energy investments.”
Granholm started her four-day tour on Monday, and has visited or will go to the districts of GOP Reps. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, Joe Wilson of South Carolina, Mike Collins and Barry Loudermilk of Georgia and Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee, Jen reported.
The other traveling Cabinet members
It’s not all sorties into hostile territory, of course.
- On Wednesday, EPA Administrator Michael Regan was in Vermont (nary a Republican in the Green Mountain State’s congressional delegation). Thursday through Saturday, he planned to be in New Orleans for the three-day Essence Festival.
- Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra will be in New York City on Friday, promoting measures in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act that aim to reduce health-care costs.
- This week’s events include joint appearances with prominent Democrats, like Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Rep. Jim Clyburn (S.C.). Becerra’s NYC event features Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
But far more interesting are the trips to Republican House districts.
“In addition to Granholm’s stops, White House senior advisor Mitch Landrieu will talk about high-speed internet funding in GOP Rep. Buddy Carter’s district in Savannah, Ga., on Wednesday. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is going to Rep. Hal Rogers’s Kentucky district to talk about infrastructure,” Jen reported. Granholm and Landrieu are due in Tennessee today [Thursday], according to a list provided by the White House.
None of the GOP bastions that are getting Cabinet-level visitors so far are swing districts.
- McHenry won by 55 points. Wilson by 20. Collins by 30. Loudermilk by 26. Fleischmann by 38. Carter by 18. Rogers by 64.
It’s unlikely, then, that the plan is to try to flip them.
But one thing this gambit does is vastly improve the prospects of news media attention, not just nationally (though Biden’s comments about Tuberville got that) but locally. A Cabinet member coming to scold a local lawmaker in person? That’s coverage catnip.
So if the “voted no, took the dough” play (as some Democrats call it) gets more statewide coverage (and keeping in mind that Americans trust local news more than national news, and that regional outlets reach beyond just the target district) the White House would probably call that a win.
See an important political story that doesn’t quite fit traditional politics coverage? Flag it for us here.
Supreme Court restricts use of race in college admissions
“The Supreme Court on Thursday held that admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina that relied in part on racial considerations violate the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection, a historic ruling that will force a dramatic change in how the nation’s private and public universities select their students,” Robert Barnes reports.
Read the full text of the decision here
Supreme Court strengthens protections for religious rights at work
“The Supreme Court on Thursday strengthened protections for religious rights in the workplace, siding in part with a Sabbath-observant mail carrier who quit the U.S. Postal Service after he was forced to deliver packages on Sundays,” Ann E. Marimow reports.
Investors charged with insider trading on deal for Trump media firm
“Three investors in the blank-check firm working to take former president Trump’s media company public, including a former member of the company’s board, were charged with using insider information to make $22 million in illegal profits, federal prosecutors said Thursday,” Drew Harwell reports.
Israeli President Herzog invited to address joint meeting of Congress
“Congressional leaders have invited Israeli President Isaac Herzog to address a joint meeting of Congress when he visits the United States next month, to mark the 75th anniversary of Israel’s founding,” Amy B Wang reports.
Haze shrouds patches of U.S. as smoke from Canada fires drifts east
“Smoke continued to spill into Midwestern and Eastern swaths of the United States on Thursday — a result of a historically bad wildfire season in Canada that continues unabated. Thick haze from those fires already fueled concerning air pollution levels in some regions this week,” Ian Livingston, Victoria Bisset and Matthew Cappucci report.
Lunchtime reads from The Post
Transgender care bans for Kentucky, Tennessee minors partly blocked
“Both federal courts blocked parts of respective state laws that would have prevented transgender minors from receiving hormone therapy and puberty blockers, which the Kentucky court described as ‘appropriate and medically necessary’ in some cases. In Tennessee, the judge did not go as far as blocking a ban on surgeries for minors; in Kentucky, the case did not directly discuss surgeries,” Kelsey Ables reports.
Supreme Court’s ruling on online harassment outrages victims, advocates
“On Wednesday, victims of that harassment and their advocates reacted with dismay at the court’s 7-2 ruling, written by Justice Elena Kagan, that found that while true threats of violence aren’t protected by the First Amendment, other harassing online speech is, unless prosecutors prove a defendant acted recklessly and ‘disregarded a substantial risk that his communications would be viewed as threatening violence,’” Taylor Lorenz reports.
Historic Black cemetery in Bethesda can be sold, state appeals court rules
“Montgomery County’s housing commission can sell a Bethesda property containing a historic Black cemetery to a developer over the objections of the descendants of the dead and a group seeking to block the sale, a Maryland appeals court ruled this week,” Justin Jouvenal reports.
Chinese balloon used American tech to spy on Americans
“The Chinese spy balloon that floated over the U.S. early this year was loaded with American-made equipment that helped it collect photos, videos and other information, U.S. officials said, citing preliminary findings from a closely held investigation,” the Wall Street Journal’s Nancy A. Youssef reports.
More Democrats than Republicans are open to a third-party presidential candidate
“Forty-four percent of registered voters say they are willing to consider supporting a third-party or independent presidential candidate if President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are the two major party nominees in 2024 — and the group includes more Democrats than Republicans,” NBC News’s Ben Kamisar reports.
Kennedy, condemning ‘censorship,’ hits Democrats and courts the disaffected
“Censorship, and specifically disdain for attempts to regulate the flow of disinformation and hate speech, is also a motivating factor for his powerful backers in Silicon Valley. Tech executives and investors have amplified [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s] anti-establishment message and celebrated his willingness to challenge liberal orthodoxies and scientific consensus — never mind that in doing so, he has often spread widely discredited claims about vaccines and other public health measures,” the New York Times’s Rebecca Davis O’Brien reports.
Biden administration plans ‘safety net’ for student borrowers as payments resume
“Biden administration officials are devising plans to ease the sting of requiring tens of millions of Americans to resume paying their student loans this fall for the first time in more than three years,” Politico’s Michael Stratford reports.
- “The Education Department in recent weeks finalized a three-month grace period for missed payments once student loans come due in October and directed loan services to be ‘prepared’ to extend that flexibility for subsequent 90-day periods, according to two people familiar with the discussions. Once interest accrual resumes on Sept. 1, under the department’s current plans, it would continue to pile up even if borrowers miss payments.”
Biden faces key test as end of fundraising quarter looms
“President Joe Biden is racing to boost his campaign war chest as the end of the fundraising quarter approaches Friday, marking the first major test of his campaign’s ability to generate the cash and enthusiasm needed to compete against Republicans in 2024,” CNN’s Arlette Saenz, Kevin Liptak, Betsy Klein and Jasmine Wright report.
- “In the closing days of the quarter, the campaign is ramping up its push for grassroots donors, including enlisting former President Barack Obama to tape a video with Biden to help drive small-dollar donations, CNN has learned, along with hosting a slew of down-to-the-wire, high-dollar fundraisers.”
How state affirmative action bans affect students, visualized
“A Washington Post review of 30 years of race and ethnicity data from the eight states that currently ban race-based admission policies in higher education shows how a federal ban on affirmative action might harm minority students across the United States,” Janice Kai Chen and Daniel Wolfe report.
Democrats to use $20 million equal rights push to aid 2024 N.Y. House bids
“New York Democrats on Thursday will announce support for a statewide effort to pass a women’s rights amendment that they hope will also supercharge turnout in 2024, when President Biden and House members will be up for re-election,” the NYT’s Dana Rubinstein reports.
- “Their strategy: Get Democrats to the polls by focusing attention on a 2024 statewide referendum, the New York Equal Rights Amendment, that will explicitly bar New York from using its power and resources to penalize those who have abortions.”
RFK Jr. is surging only in polls among Republicans
“In April, Kennedy’s net favorability (the percent who view him favorably minus those who don’t) was at plus-20 overall and slightly lower among both Democrats and Republicans. By June, though, net favorability among Republicans had jumped to plus-29, while it had fallen to plus-7 among Democrats,” national columnist Philip Bump explains.
- “Kennedy gets more support against Biden from independents than he does from Democrats. In the most recent YouGov poll, Biden leads him by 63 points with members of the Democratic Party but by only 42 points with independents. Unfortunately for Kennedy, most Democratic primary voters are Democrats.”
At 12:30 p.m., Biden will deliver remarks from the White House on the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action.
At 12:45 p.m., Biden will leave the White House for Joint Base Andrews, where he will fly to New York.
Biden will sit for an interview at 4 p.m. with Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC at 30 Rock.
At 5:30 p.m., Biden will attend a fundraiser. He will attend a second fundraiser at 7:40 p.m.
Biden will leave New York for D.C. at 9:05 p.m. He’s expected back at the White House at 10:50 p.m.
In a major discovery, scientists say space-time churns like a choppy sea
“The very fabric of the cosmos is constantly being roiled and rumpled all around us, according to multiple international teams of scientists that have independently found compelling evidence for long-theorized space-time waves,” Joel Achenbach and Victoria Jaggard report.
- “The claim that telescopes across the planet have seen signs of a ‘gravitational wave background’ has sent a thrill through the astrophysics community, which has been buzzing for days in anticipation of the papers that were unveiled late Wednesday. The discovery seems to affirm an astounding implication of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity that until now has been far too subtle to detect.”
Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.
