Archives for March 2021

President Joe Biden answered questions on COVID-19, infrastructure, his plans for the senate filibuster and more during his first official news conference since his inauguration. Journalists who have been patiently waiting for a formal question-and-answer session from the President were quick to draw comparisons to the last administration.

President Biden opened up his first press conference by touting the success of his COVID-19 response and doubling his promised number of vaccines by 100 days from 100 to 200 million vaccines. Biden also said he expects the majority of K-8 students will soon return to their classrooms and announced that more than a 100 million Americans have already cashed their $1,400 stimulus checks.

Biden then opened up the room to questions from reporters. Confronted about the migrant surge on the border Biden said, “Truth of the matter is nothing has changed.”

“As many people came, 28% increase in the children in the border in my administration, 31% in the last year in 2019 before the pandemic in the Trump administration. It happens every single solitary year,” Biden elaborated. 

The president also added that the “vast majority” of migrants at the border are being sent back home. CNN’s Daniel Dale fact-checked this claim, saying “Biden made a more accurate claim about the overall group of migrants but for families in particular, for this particular claim, his claim is not true.” Dale pointed out that while 71% of single adults are being turned away, only 41% of migrants coming as a family were being sent back.

With big plans down the line, reporters were interested in how the President plans to work with Republicans moving forward. Biden’s response was that the filibuster was being “abused in a gigantic way” and said that Republicans will have to decide whether they want “to divide the country, [or] continue the politics of division.”

Though President Biden did acknowledge that the filibuster was a “relic of the Jim Crow era,” he did not show interest in abolishing the filibuster just yet. Though Biden did warn Republicans that, “If we have to, if there’s complete lockdown and chaos as a consequence of the filibuster, then we’ll have to go beyond what I’m talking about.”

Biden talked about his big plans on infrastructure, teasing a major announcement on the topic in Pittsburgh next Wednesday, the 31st. Biden says he hopes to rebuild the “physical and technological infrastructure in this country so we can compete and create significant numbers of really good-paying jobs.”

President Biden also turned heads when he announced interest in running again in 2024: “Yes, my plan is to run for reelection,” he said. “That’s my expectation.”

In an ABC News article, AP Media Writer David Bauder pointed out that the press conference was most notable for what it was missing following the Presidency of Donald Trump. In particular, President Biden received no questions on COVID-19, or any questions from Fox News.

Not taking any questions from Fox News had been expected beforehand because of prior history between Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy and the President. Following the press conference, Doocy said he had a “binder full of questions” for the president, reports RealClearPolitics.

The lack of questions of COVID-19 left some reporters a little more surprised. The New York Times Washington Correspondent Sheryl Gay Stolberg said the questions “suggest that coronavirus is no longer Topic A.” White House Chief of Staff responded saying, “Pretty sure it is for the American people and the Biden White House.”

Washington Post reporter and author of the ‘Power Up’ morning newsletter, Jacqueline Alemany, spoke with Senator Kevin Cramer about his legislative priorities for the 117th Congress this week. The conversation with the junior Senator from North Dakota covered a number of hot button issues including the recent mass shooting in Boulder, CO, the Senate’s filibuster rules, immigration, infrastructure, climate and the future of the Republican Party. You can see the full interview via Washington Post Live, here, or read about it in Alemany’s newsletter, here.

When asked about two gun bills recently introduced in the House, Senator Cramer expressed openness to the legislation, but suggested that a better route would be to ensure that previous gun legislation is properly enforced. 

“Conceptually, I am open to anything,” said Senator Cramer. “There are very few times when I say ‘I will never do that.’ I think you can’t have an honest discussion on non-starters.” 

The senator also said, “We are not adequately enforcing the existing laws within our Constitution.” 

He went on to explain that, “By enforcing, I don’t just mean catching the bad guys… but that registration, the background checks, not making it into the NICS list, the FBI not adequately vetting, not sending in the information for people who should not be eligible for a gun. We have seen that play out in tragic ways.”

On the Senate filibuster, Senator Cramer said he was willing to work with Democrats, but suggested that the Democrats would have to make the first move.

“One of the challenges with regards to the filibuster, you said upfront that the Democrats are taking a ‘wait and see’ attitude to see if we will work with them,” said the North Dakotan senator. “The first thing they have to do — they have to introduce legislation and have hearings.”

“It has been all executive orders and there wasn’t even an invitation, there has never been a public hearing on this. Even if the filibuster is a principle worth maintaining or not,” Senator Cramer continued.

Senator Cramer also reassured Alemany that the upcoming infrastructure package wouldn’t likely go through a budget reconciliation process, saying that, other than opposition to China, it was one of the few issues with a wide base of bi-partisan support.

“I can’t think of a topic where it makes more sense to go the bi-partisan route. We’ve already had a fair bit of success,” said Senator Cramer.

Jacqueline Alemany has worked for the Washington Post since 2018, following up her six years at CBS News where she worked as a Broadcast Associate for ‘Face of the Nation.’ Her morning newsletter features news critical of the many power centers in the United States, including the White House, Capitol Hill, government agencies, and the Pentagon. To see more of her work, check out the ‘Power Up’ newsletter at The Washington Post linked here.