Biden's Coalition Cracks, Top Democrats Beginning to Doubt White House
As negotiations over raising the nation’s debt limit drag on, House Democrats are becoming worried that President Joe Biden could produce a deal that is a disaster for them.
According to Punchbowl News, which cited Democratic Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania as an example, moderates representing potential swing-seat districts worry that whatever Biden is cooking up will burn them at the polls next year.
An unnamed Democratic aide vented that Democrats may not feel obligated to back whatever agreement Biden reaches with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, chairwoman of the Progressive Caucus, said House Democrats need a voice in whatever Biden agrees to, implying they are left in the dark about what’s taking shape, according to NBC.
House Democrats are now gripped with panic that President Biden is botching the debt-ceiling fight. | @jimgeraghty https://t.co/E3WBZfTNy0
— National Review (@NRO) May 26, 2023
“I’ve been very supportive of his leadership over the last few years. Everything that we got done was done because of a partnership and trust and respect between the White House and the Democratic caucus, including the progressive base,” she said.
“So, I think he just needs to remember that because I think the backlash will be significant if somehow we were to get bullied into a bad deal,” she said.
Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, looking ahead to Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign, said it is “not going to be helpful” if Biden gives way on education programs.
A report in The Washington Post. said many Democrats feel left out of the talks and want Biden to take an aggressive public stance.
“House Democrats across ideological factions are frustrated at what they say is a lack of communication by the White House at a time when they should be preparing to defend their party’s president,” the Post wrote.
The Post added that Democrats “have seethed in private” that Biden is not sharing what goes on in closed-door talks, while McCarthy is using the silence to dominate media coverage and frame the debt-ceiling issue in Republican terms.
The Post report quoted a Democratic lawmaker it did not name as saying voters are “pulling their hair out at the Democrats’ lack of understanding” that Americans do not believe Democrats can deal properly with the economy.
“It’s time to bring the president off the bench, or bring somebody off the bench. No one’s responding to anything. Kevin’s consistently on message,” an unnamed House Democrat told Politico. “We have the Oval Office. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Joe Biden decided to take Senate Democrats’ lead and go on vacation without passing a debt ceiling bill.
The Democrats aren’t interested in a deal. The Democrats want to hold America hostage.
— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) May 25, 2023
Biden’s weekend plans for a trip to first Camp David and then Delaware did little to calm the water.
“Please tell me that’s not true,” a House Democrat who was not named told Politico. “You’re going to see a caucus that’s so p****ed if he’s stupid enough to do that.”
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