Biden administration incandescent lightbulb ban normally takes effect

Breanne Deppisch

August 01, 05:02 AM August 01, 05:02 AM

The Biden administration’s new lightbulb efficiency rule will take outcome on Tuesday, effectively prohibiting the sale of all new incandescent bulbs in favor of more energy-welcoming alternatives.

The new lightbulb effectiveness rules ended up announced very last April by the Department of Vitality and involve all bulbs offered by suppliers to develop a minimum of 45 lumens, the evaluate of gentle and brightness, per watt. (There are exceptions for sure appliances that make the most of incandescent bulbs, nonetheless, these types of as microwaves.)

TIM SCOTT'S MESSAGING AND Techniques COULD Change DESANTIS OUT OF 2nd Put

In convert, customers will be minimal to buying additional effective resources of lighting, these as LED bulbs, which have a greater upfront value but final roughly 15 to 20 occasions as very long as incandescent bulbs.

DOE estimates that over the future 30 years, the lightbulb efficiency conventional will slash carbon emissions by 222 metric tons, the equal of emissions produced by 28 million residences in a 12 months.

Buyers are also anticipated to help you save almost $3 billion for each calendar year on their utility expenses, officials explained.

When DOE introduced the rule in 2022, incandescent bulbs however created up all over 30% of the retail sector. Its announcement of the rule experienced been fulfilled with criticism from some teams, which includes the American Lights Association. They experienced pushed for a slower rollout of the new efficiency typical, arguing that if it was finished too swiftly, it could result in “major financial losses” for lights companies and merchants.

Regulators have mentioned the a lot more than a person 12 months of notice offers merchants and brands a sufficient runway to comply with the rule and market out their current provide of lower-watt bulbs.

“By boosting power effectiveness expectations for lightbulbs, we’re placing $3 billion back again in the pockets of American buyers and significantly reducing domestic carbon emissions,” Electrical power Secretary Jennifer Granholm claimed in a statement after the rule was finalized.

“The lights marketplace is already embracing extra power economical items, and this measure will speed up development to provide the greatest products and solutions to American shoppers and develop a improved and brighter potential,” Granholm additional.

Biden jokes about obtaining impeached over falling inflation

Haisten Willis

July 28, 03:29 PM July 28, 03:29 PM

President Joe Biden took a dig at Property Republicans taking into consideration an impeachment inquiry into the president during a speech in Maine.

Plugging American producing and "Bidenomics" at a local manufacturing unit in Auburn, the president reported falling inflation might get the awareness of Republicans in Congress.

TRUMP ASKS FOR UNION VOTES AS HE AND BIDEN Struggle FOR THE MIDWEST

"Republicans may well have to uncover one thing else to criticize me for now that inflation is coming down," he claimed. "Possibly they're going to come to a decision to impeach me mainly because it is really coming down. I never know."

Inflation has fallen from 9.1% final June to 3% this month, very good news for Biden as he runs for a 2nd time period. The determine was just 1.4% the month he took office environment.

The comment also swipes at Republican converse in Congress of an impeachment inquiry regarding the Biden family's international business dealings during the senior Biden's time as vice president. Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has hinted at a long run inquiry, while the party is break up on the notion.

The White Dwelling denies the president was ever in business with his son Hunter.

Biden spoke at Auburn Production, a female-owned business in Maine, as part of a broader tour to drive his "Made in The usa" agenda. The president is doing the job tough to keep union voters in his column and has pledged that much more products and solutions will be built in the state.

"Alternatively of exporting American work, we are making American work opportunities and exporting American products and solutions again," Biden reported. "That is how we make cash."

That is in contrast to the new earlier, he stated, when cities had been hollowed out across the region as producing careers have been outsourced. Approximately 45,000 producing careers remaining Maine on your own between 1990 and 2010, Biden claimed.

Biden named himself the most pro-labor senator in The us in what appeared to be a gaffe — the president represented Delaware in the upper chamber for a long time — and promised that taxpayer pounds would be put in on products designed domestically by domestic workers.

“Every federal infrastructure challenge will be developed by American personnel employing American items building American careers," he reported to applause.

Republicans stage to elements these as falling serious wages and increasing interest fees to argue that the Biden economic system is practically nothing to brag about, although the president guarantees it will continue on enhancing as he operates towards reelection.

"I’m not in this article to declare victory on the economic climate. We have far more get the job done to do," Biden said. "Bidenomics is just one more way of expressing we’re restoring the American dream."

Yellen says using 14th Amendment to scrap debt limit would cause a 'constitutional crisis'

Ryan King

May 07, 11:14 AM May 07, 11:14 AM

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen repeatedly declined to rule out the possibility of declaring the debt ceiling unconstitutional if Congress fails to resolve its standoff, but said doing so would be a "not-good" option.

Amid the brinkmanship, some have suggested that President Joe Biden could invoke the 14th Amendment to scrap the debt limit and avert a default. Yellen warned that such action would trigger a constitutional crisis and also stressed that Congress must act quickly to forestall an economic calamity.

REPUBLICANS WORRY THESE THREE CHANGES TO DEBT CEILING BILL WILL SINK FUTURE PLANS

"There is no way to protect our financial system in our economy other than Congress doing its job and raising the debt ceiling and enabling us to pay our bills. And we should not get to the point where we need to consider whether the president can go on issuing debt. This would be a constitutional crisis," Yellen said on ABC's This Week.

The 14th Amendment stipulates that the “validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.” However, the Constitution also grants Congress the power of the purse.

Yellen avoided a direct answer about whether such action was off the table.

"If Congress fails to meet its responsibility, there are simply no good options. And the ones that you've listed are among the not-good options," Yellen added.

Biden downplayed the potential use of the 14th Amendment during a recent MSNBC interview.

"I've not gotten there yet," he said.

Yellen also re-upped her well-worn warnings that if Congress fails to up the debt limit, "economic chaos would ensue" that would unleash havoc on both the domestic and global economy. She insisted that there are no more tricks in the department's reserve to buy additional time.

Biden is set to meet with congressional leaders, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), on May 9. McCarthy and Biden last met back in February. The United States rammed up against its $31.4 trillion debt limit back in January, but the Treasury Department has deployed "extraordinary measures" to keep funds flowing in the time since.

Yellen recently estimated that those steps will run dry by June 1, giving Congress less than a month to resolve its differences. So far, neither side has shown signs of blinking, with Biden demanding a clean bill with no strings attached and McCarthy adamant that spending cuts be part of any deal.

If DeSantis gets in, his first task will be stopping the polling slide

Haisten Willis

May 07, 06:00 AM May 07, 06:00 AM

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has yet to enter the 2024 presidential contest, but polling indicates he'll have a tough task ahead should he choose to do so.

DeSantis has seen his support plummet in recent weeks amid an onslaught of criticism from former President Donald Trump, who is trying to declare the contest over and pivot toward the general election.

BIDEN LAUNCHES PREEMPTIVE STRIKES ON GOP AS BORDER CRISIS IS EXPECTED TO DEEPEN

"I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them," Trump wrote in a recent Truth Social post. "When you’re leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP & MAGA-hating anchors asking the 'questions,' why subject yourself to being libeled and abused?"

Skipping debates is a common tactic for incumbents, who don't want to be seen on an equal footing with their challengers. President Joe Biden is trying the same thing against his token Democratic primary opponents.

However, DeSantis's backers and veteran political observers say it's far too early to count anyone out of the GOP primary, much less the second-ranked candidate before he even enters the race.

"Ron is doing well before having announced because of his aggressive and ambitious legislative session," Ready for Ron Executive Director Gabriel Llanes said. "He's gotten a lot of things through. It was one of the most productive legislative sessions in Florida history."

Along with conservative policies like a six-week abortion ban and constitutional carry, the Florida legislature helped the governor by altering a bill that would've required him to resign from the office in order to seek the presidency.

With that obstacle removed, and the legislative session now over, the stage is set for DeSantis to enter.

Llanes would like to see DeSantis join the race by mid-June, stressing that it's incredibly early and, thus, there is no need to rush.

But John Thomas, founder of the Ron to the Rescue PAC, thinks DeSantis should announce "yesterday."

"The moment is slipping away," he said. "I don't think it's gone, but any further delay would be a mistake."

At the end of February, DeSantis trailed Trump by 12.8% in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls. That gap has more than doubled to 29.2 points amid Trump's New York indictment and other candidates piling into the contest.

Thomas says DeSantis needs to declare and then shift toward a broad economic and public safety message to expand out from the culture war issues he's known for.

"DeSantis's core argument over Trump is that he's more marketable in a general election," Thomas said. "Culture wars are a great primary message, but it's not a credible argument to say you'll ride all the way to the White House on culture wars."

Even Biden himself poked fun at DeSantis as a culture war maven during last weekend's White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

"After his reelection as governor, [DeSantis] was asked if he had a mandate," Biden quipped during the black tie event. "He said, 'Hell no. I’m straight.'"

The GOP electorate will decide which flavor they like better. The biggest policy divide between Trump and DeSantis may be on the issue of abortion, which Trump has shied away from discussing while DeSantis signed a six-week ban into law.

Despite his sizable lead and the initial bump his indictment afforded, Trump could still find himself hampered both personally and professionally by legal troubles. In addition to the New York case, he's facing a case related to the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia, a special counsel investigating his mishandling of classified documents, and a separate special counsel related to the 2020 election.

The electorate could grow weary of all the legal headaches, but those cases could also make it more difficult for him to campaign. Sasha Tirador, a Florida-based Democratic strategist, predicts that GOP voters will be wary of the courtroom sideshow and eventually nominate DeSantis instead.

For now, it's just too early to tell. Political observers point to candidates like the late John McCain, who overcame early front-runner Rudy Giuliani to secure the GOP nomination in 2008, or even Biden, who struggled in early 2020 before surging ahead following the South Carolina primary.

"We've seen people come from behind with weaker poll numbers than DeSantis and end up winning," said Florida Atlantic University political professor Kevin Wagner. "Sometimes we play into the moment instead of looking at the longer pathway. It's a long journey to the nomination."

Biden's job approval ratings take a tumble again, imperiling reelection plans

Haisten Willis

March 30, 07:00 AM March 30, 07:01 AM

President Joe Biden's approval ratings have dipped again even as he prepares a reelection bid, complicating his plans for 2024 and beyond.

Biden's approval has dipped from 45% to 38%, per the latest -NORC Center poll, dropping close to the all-time lows he set amid skyrocketing gas prices and high inflation last summer.

BIDEN TRIES TO HALT DEMOCRATS' SLIDE WITH THE WORKING CLASS AHEAD OF 2024

While Biden's approval ratings have been underwater for 18 months and have hovered in the low 40s since last year, critics charge that the latest dip is a sign he's not fit for another run at the White House.

"Banking crisis, border crisis, inflation crisis, Ukraine crisis, debt crisis, fentanyl crisis, should I keep going?" tweeted firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). "Is he really running for president again?"

Biden's approval rating is near his record low of 36%, which was set amid 9.1% inflation and $5-per-gallon gas last summer. Those factors have eased somewhat in the months since, suggesting other issues may be driving his numbers down.

Democratic strategist Brad Bannon acknowledged the low numbers could dog Biden.

"The easiest way to understand why Biden's approval ratings are in the high 30s is to watch a half hour of the network news," Bannon said. "There's a story about a school shooting, tornadoes in the mid-South, the latest winter storm in California, followed by a story on Ukraine and then one about conflict in Washington. Most voters think the country is going to hell in a handbasket."

That reality is reflected in the poll as well, with just 21% of respondents saying the country is headed in the right direction, which is also the lowest the number has been since last summer.

Nonetheless, Bannon argues that Biden has plenty of time to recover ahead of November 2024, particularly if his opponent is former President Donald Trump.

"If your job approval rating is that low, it presents problems for Biden's reelection campaign," he said, "unless, of course, he's running against Trump because however unpopular Biden will be at election time, Trump will be even more unpopular."

Biden often invokes the mantra "Don't compare me to the almighty; compare me to the alternative." But if the alternative is Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Bannon argues that the president will need to get his approval ratings up into the mid-40s in order to win.

Not everyone agrees that factors like extreme weather, school shootings, or the war in Ukraine are behind Biden's struggles. His approval rating on the economy was just 31% in the -NORC poll, compared to 68% who disapprove.

"President Biden's terrible approval numbers on the economy are due to his reckless policies that have caused historic inflation and a prolonged recessionary environment," Job Creators Network CEO Alfredo Ortiz said. "Biden is desperately trying to boost his approval numbers by going on the road to support Inflation Reduction Act spending that supports green businesses. This gambit will backfire, as ordinary Americans know the free market, not the Biden administration, should pick the winners and losers in the economy."

The president's economic ratings have consistently lagged behind his overall approval.

To combat that, Biden has launched a blue-collar focused manufacturing tour to brag on job growth during his administration and try to shore up his status with working-class voters.

"We're creating jobs. We're exporting jobs no longer," Biden said Tuesday. "American products are being made here. We're growing the economy, and today, I announced that since I took office, we've attracted jobs, and we've attracted $435 billion in private investment in American manufacturing."

But as the latest polling shows, he's got an uphill battle to fight.

Biden has not had a positive approval rating since August 2021, when the Afghanistan withdrawal occurred. He shares low approval ratings with Trump, his immediate predecessor, whose numbers likewise hovered in the high 30s and low 40s throughout his presidency.

White House says Republicans want to defund law enforcement

Rachel Schilke

March 23, 09:53 AM March 23, 09:53 AM

The Biden administration is accusing House Republicans of wanting to "defund or abolish" law enforcement, taking a new spin on a hot-button topic that usually is supported by more progressive Democrats.

The White House is gearing up to claim that the House Freedom Caucus's recently released budget would "make communities less safe" because it suggests cutting funding for 11,000 FBI personnel and freezing hiring at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, according to a statement obtained by Axios.

BIDEN PROPOSES A SPENDING HIKE OF $2 BILLION ON ATF FOR GUN CONTROL REGULATIONS

The slash in funding for the FBI and ATF follows the rhetoric of several top GOP lawmakers and certain committees claiming these agencies are weaponized to target conservatives. Since gaining a majority in the House, Republicans immediately began investigating the "weaponization of the federal government," particularly focusing on the FBI and the Justice Department overall.

Some Republicans, such as Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), have called to abolish the FBI and Justice Department altogether.

"These same House Republicans who opposed the President’s bipartisan reforms and are now threatening to defund or abolish law enforcement agencies," White House spokesman Ian Sams said in the statement.

The White House's comments and the release of the Republicans' budget comes ahead of a joint subcommittee hearing titled "ATF's Assault of the Second Amendment: When is Enough Enough?" through the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). The hearing begins at 10 a.m. on Thursday.

Some Republicans are hoping to make significant spending cuts across the government as they work to negotiate raising the debt ceiling, which Congress hit on Jan. 19.

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) said during a speech on the House floor that he and several GOP members are worried that new ATF rules under President Joe Biden, such as limits on pistol braces, could put gun owners in legal trouble.

"It's going to render millions of Americans felons," Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) said in an interview with Axios last month.

Since the Republicans began launching investigations left and right into the Biden administration, the White House has been actively pushing back, with officials slamming "MAGA Republicans" for their attempts to slash spending in key areas.

Each day this week, the White House is releasing information to show how people will be hurt under the House Freedom Caucus's budget. Monday and Tuesday focused on cuts to police funding and healthcare, respectively. On Wednesday, the White House emphasized the cuts in incentives for manufacturing investments could undermine U.S. workers.

The White House is expected to focus on cuts to Medicare that would hurt seniors, a common attack from Biden that began during his State of the Union address, in which he goaded Republicans into publicly decrying his claims that GOP lawmakers wanted to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Republicans have argued that if Biden will not agree to huge cuts across the board, they will not vote to raise the debt ceiling, which could lead to the United States defaulting on its debt. Congress has until this summer to raise the debt limit.

Excess CHIPS: GOP senators say Biden pushing unrelated agenda in semiconductor law

Haisten Willis

March 22, 05:30 AM March 22, 05:30 AM

Companies will soon be able to bid on billions of government dollars intended to boost American semiconductor manufacturing, but the Biden administration will make them jump through a lot of hoops to land them.

Any firm hoping to get some of the $39 billion on offer will need to provide child care, detail its relationships with unions, share profits beyond a certain threshold with the government, and purchase supplies from domestic producers, among other things.

DESANTIS'S TRUMP STRATEGY TESTED BY PRESSURE TO TAKE SIDES ON RUMORED INDICTMENT

Team Biden announced these provisions in late February, angering Republican senators whose votes made passage of the CHIPS and Science Act possible.

"We are in strong opposition to regulations your Department is putting in place that will use this legislation and the funding it provides as a tool to pursue controversial policies that go beyond the requirements of the law and reduce American jobs and high-tech investments in the process," a quartet of GOP senators wrote to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. "Among these were several costly mandates that represent significant federal intervention in the private sector and fly in the face of the congressional intent of this legislation.”

Raimondo has been open about her intentions to go beyond what Congress intended, telling aides, “If Congress wasn’t going to do what they should have done, we’re going to do it in implementation."

But that's not what Congress voted for, critics say. Worse, by adding costs and red tape, the restrictions undercut the bill's primary purpose of making American computer chip manufacturing more competitive.

“Taxpayers are really getting a raw deal," Scott Lincicome, the director of general economics at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, previously told the Washington Examiner. "To the extent that taxpayers support chip subsidies, it's because they want semiconductors. They're not doing it because they want child care."

The government will begin accepting applications later this month, though it's unknown when awards will actually be given.

The $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act passed the Senate by a vote of 64-33, with 17 Republicans putting it across the filibuster threshold. Some may now have buyer's remorse.

"We urge you to immediately remove these and any other impositions on this critical funding which threaten the expansion of America’s semiconductor manufacturing capacity and job creation in our country," reads the letter from Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and John Cornyn (R-LA), all of whom voted yea.

The Commerce Department did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.

President Joe Biden sold the bill last year as a way to compete with China and boost manufacturing in the electorally important Midwest. Weeks after signing the bill, Biden traveled to Licking County, Ohio, to celebrate the opening of a $20 billion Intel semiconductor manufacturing plant. He promised the act would help bury the "Rust Belt" label

All of that is undermined by the requirements rolled out since, argues American Action Forum President Douglas Holtz-Eakin.

“The idea was to have semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S.,” Holtz-Eakin said. “It wasn’t to promote unionism or create child care, and it certainly wasn’t to create profit sharing with the federal government. This is classic bureaucratic overreach that has nothing to do with the problem for which this legislation was aimed.”

There is also some evidence that the chip shortage the bill was intended to ease is also abating.

Nonetheless, Politico reported last week that a wide range of companies have hired lobbyists to try to get a piece of the billions on offer, including labor unions, social media company Snap, heating and air conditioning firms, and FedEx.

The Biden administration could be setting itself up for yet another courtroom showdown with its after-the-fact actions, Holtz-Eakin argues, joining litigation the White House has faced on COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates, Title 42, evictions, and student loans.

“There is no disciplined thinking [in the administration],” Holtz-Eakin said. “They try to do everything with everything, and as a result, they accomplish much less.”

Biden goes big on banking regulations as Republicans push back

Haisten Willis

March 18, 07:00 AM March 18, 07:33 AM

President Joe Biden is hoping to turn the Silicon Valley Bank collapse into a legislative victory, but he'll face plenty of Republican resistance along the way.

The president spent last week calling to reinstate banking regulations that were rolled back five years ago while seeking new punishments for banking executives whose operations fail.

SVB COLLAPSE: BANK CRISIS BECOMES ANOTHER BIDEN VS. TRUMP WAR AHEAD OF 2024

"I'm firmly committed to accountability for those responsible for this mess," Biden said Friday. "No one is above the law — and strengthening accountability is an important deterrent to prevent mismanagement in the future."

Echoing Biden, Democrats are sounding the alarm on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) have introduced legislation to reverse the partial Dodd-Frank Act rollback that Congress approved in 2018, while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) laid the blame at the feet of Donald Trump.

“Let’s be clear. The failure of Silicon Valley Bank is a direct result of an absurd 2018 bank deregulation bill signed by Donald Trump that I strongly opposed,” Sanders said. Biden himself has also blamed the former president.

But Republicans say there's more to the story than the simple cause and effect of regulations relaxed, banks fail.

For one, 17 Senate Democrats voted to approve the rollback on midsized banks, as did 33 Democrats in the House. But Republicans also point to existing regulations that should have placed a red flag over SVB, arguing that better enforcement is the answer.

“This bank was supervised by the Federal Reserve and the state of California — SVB’s failure is the result of mismanagement and failed supervision," said a spokesperson for Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). "Regulators said SVB was 'idiosyncratic.' If that’s the case, how did they miss the idiosyncrasies and the risk? If this is such an outlier in the system, why wasn’t action taken? Regulators failed to do their job with regards to SVB, and if regulators can’t do their job with what the law gives them now, why is giving them more regulations the better route?”

Going on the attack, Republicans point at high inflation, which the Federal Reserve has been combating with aggressive interest rate hikes that played a role in SVB's collapse. Republicans blame Biden, and specifically the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act he signed soon after taking office, for pushing inflation from 1.4% the month he took office to a peak of 9.1% last summer, spurring the rate hikes.

Some conservatives argue that banks will work their way around any new regulations and question the need for government interference in the sector.

“When any other business is reckless or irresponsible, we allow them to go bankrupt,” said EJ Antoni, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “I’m not sure why we treat banks differently. And I’d say the fact that we do is partly why we keep having problems in the banking industry. These people know that when things go South, they will get bailed out.”

Biden is attempting to address that issue by calling for punishments on executives when banks fail. His Friday statement called for empowering regulators to reclaim compensation from executives, impose civil penalties, and even ban executives from the industry.

Any accompanying fact sheet cited the SVB CEO reportedly selling more than $3 million worth of shares before the collapse as activity that should be regulated.

And while the president is calling on Congress, he could try to make a go of things on his own as well. The Biden administration has been aggressive about taking action on its own, from student loans to child care to gas stoves to gig workers.

With skeptical Republicans leading the House of Representatives and conservatives dominating the Supreme Court, Biden may have trouble getting his initiatives through.

But the president is likely winning the all-important battle to reach voters, argues Democratic strategist Brad Bannon.

“It’s a great message from the Biden administration about cause and effect — you deregulate banks, they start blowing up,” Bannon said. “The reality is, besides Republicans, most Americans favor the strict regulation of banking institutions.”

While inflation played a major role in the Fed jacking up interest rates, which played a major role in the SVB collapse, Bannon says most voters are going to connect more directly with the regulation argument.

“It speaks to populism. It speaks to big businesses failing the public,” said Bannon. “The Republicans failed the public by deregulating banks. This is a battle that Joe Biden definitely wants to fight with House Republicans.”

SVB collapse: Biden calls for harsher penalties on banking executives

Haisten Willis

March 17, 12:17 PM March 17, 12:17 PM

President Joe Biden on Friday called for harsher penalties for banking executives in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse.

While acknowledging he is limited in what he can do under existing law, the president called on Congress to step up punishment for the leaders of failed banks.

THE CLOCK IS TICKING FOR BIDEN ON COVID-19 ORIGINS DECLASSIFICATION BILL

"I'm firmly committed to accountability for those responsible for this mess," the president said in a statement. "No one is above the law — and strengthening accountability is an important deterrent to prevent mismanagement in the future."

But action from the legislative branch will be needed in order for it to happen, and Biden called on Congress to do just that.

"The law limits the administration’s authority to hold executives responsible. When banks fail due to mismanagement and excessive risk taking, it should be easier for regulators to claw back compensation from executives, to impose civil penalties, and to ban executives from working in the banking industry again. Congress must act to impose tougher penalties for senior bank executives whose mismanagement contributed to their institutions failing," he said.

The president and top Democrats have been in favor of new laws and more banking regulations since SVB failed one week ago. The California bank's collapse has the entire banking system teetering, with drastic actions being taken in both the public and private sectors to stabilize the situation.

Biden defended the choice to guarantee bank deposits fully at SVB and stressed that the banking system is stable even while calling for stricter regulations.

"This week, we took decisive action to stabilize the banking system without putting taxpayer dollars at risk," the president said. "That action was necessary to protect jobs and small businesses, and no losses will be borne by the taxpayers. Our banking system is more resilient and stable today because of the actions we took. On Monday morning, I told the American people and American businesses that they should feel confident that their deposits will be there if and when they need them. That continues to be the case."

The clock is ticking for Biden on COVID-19 origins declassification bill

Haisten Willis

March 16, 05:55 AM March 16, 07:42 AM

President Joe Biden has less than a week to decide whether to sign or try to stop a bill declassifying COVID-19 origins intelligence that passed with veto-proof majorities.

Both chambers of Congress unanimously passed legislation that would force the Biden administration to declassify all the information it has gathered on how the virus started as federal agencies are split between whether it began in nature or a lab leak.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ACCUSED OF CREATING 'GAG POLICY' FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

“Transparency is a cornerstone of our democracy,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), the intelligence committee's top Democrat, said during debate. “Because without transparency, the American people can’t make the sounds that they need to make responsibly as citizens of a democracy.”

The House passed the COVID Origins Act by a 419-0 vote and the Senate by unanimous consent, yet the White House has been noncommittal.

"We will continue to use every tool to figure out what happened here while also protecting classified information," press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. "We're going to take a look at the bill. I just don't have anything to share on how we're going to move forward at this time."

Biden said he hadn't "made that decision yet" when asked whether he'd sign the bill. The White House could have declassified the information on its own and has thus far chosen not to.

The House vote came last Friday, March 10, and presidents have 10 days, excluding Sundays, to sign or veto. That would land Biden's deadline on Wednesday, March 22.

Should the president veto, a two-thirds majority in both chambers would be needed to override, which could come at any point during the 118th Congress.

Only 106 out of 1,484 presidential vetoes from 1789 through 2004 were overridden, according to the Congressional Research Service. However, with a unanimous vote, Biden would likely not be able to sustain a veto.

Dr. Steven Quay hopes the information does come to light.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Quay, who favors the lab leak theory. “I’d like to see records from the fall of 2019 and more communications. The concept that the virus came from a market requires that it started in December. Any evidence that it’s anywhere else in the fall before that is evidence against it beginning in a market in December.”

If signed into law, the bill would require within 90 days the declassification of “any and all information relating to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of the Coronavirus Disease," including whether any researchers grew ill.

The legislation's passage marks a striking departure from the early days of the pandemic when the lab leak hypothesis was dismissed as a conspiracy theory. Since then, the nation's 18 intelligence agencies have said both theories are plausible, yet the debate continues to divide the intelligence and scientific communities.

Although the bill garnered overwhelming support on the House floor, Democrats and Republicans engaged in a drawn-out debate before casting their votes. Several Republicans in their speeches sought to blame not only the Chinese government but also some U.S. officials, namely Dr. Anthony Fauci.

"Big government bureaucrats like Anthony Fauci abused their positions of power to disguise and distort the facts and a further tyrannical approach to our country," Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) said of the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "Fauci knew as early as March of 2020 that coronavirus leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China."

Some Democrats, on the other hand, urged caution.

"We shouldn't be so certain ... that we're willing to impugn the character and motives of other Americans, especially if those Americans are in positions of responsibility that need to be trusted in the next pandemic," said Himes. "We just don't know. And we're entitled to speculate, we're entitled to have a theory, but I would just urge caution about impugning people's motives, impugning their character, based on those theories."

There is a real chance Biden could veto the bill, argues Cato Institute senior fellow Patrick Eddington, at which point the question would be whether GOP leadership can convince enough Democrats to override.

One concern Biden may have is that human sources could be compromised, for example, if a source within the Chinese government is named in the intelligence. However, any information released is subject to redaction.

The smart play, Eddington argues, is to let the bill pass.

"Biden would be wise to just sign the bill and direct [Director of National Intelligence Avril] Haines to comply," he said. "Asking for Democrats in House swing districts to fall on their sword over this issue would be bad political strategy, to say the least."

SVB collapse: Bank crisis becomes another Biden vs. Trump war ahead of 2024

Haisten Willis

March 14, 05:30 AM March 14, 05:30 AM

The partisan war of words over Silicon Valley Bank's collapse has already started, with President Joe Biden launching one of the first volleys himself.

Biden spoke Monday morning about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, reassuring that "the banking system is safe." But he also strongly implied the collapses were the fault of Donald Trump.

WHITE HOUSE NONCOMMITTAL ON BILL THAT WOULD DECLASSIFY COVID-19 ORIGINS INTELLIGENCE

“During the Obama/Biden administration, we put in place tough requirements on banks like Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, including the Dodd-Frank law to make sure the crisis we saw in 2008 would not happen again," Biden said. "Unfortunately, the last administration rolled back some of these requirements. I’m going to ask Congress and the banking regulators to strengthen the rules for banks to make it less likely this kind of bank failure will happen again, and to protect American jobs and small businesses.”

That set off a partisan fight even as details of the fledgling crisis are still unfolding.

Progressives echoed Biden's words, saying that the 45th president was to blame for signing a 2018 law that raised the asset threshold for banks to fall under Dodd-Frank from $50 billion to $250 billion.

“Let’s be clear. The failure of Silicon Valley Bank is a direct result of an absurd 2018 bank deregulation bill signed by Donald Trump that I strongly opposed,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said in a statement.

Republicans were ready for battle, rejecting new regulations and going after Biden's financial management.

"The Biden bank bailout is a result of Biden’s failed economic policies," said Club for Growth President David McIntosh. "The additional regulations being proposed by Biden would only make the situation worse and further consolidate power among the big banks and hurt regional banks that small businesses rely on.”

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), ranking member of the upper chamber's banking committee, also rejected the idea that regulation was the answer.

"SVB's failure is the result of mismanagement and failed supervision," a Scott spokesperson said. "Regulators failed to do their job with regard to SVB, and if regulators can't do their job with what the law gives them now, why is giving them more regulations the better route?"

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) said he also has confidence in "the protections already in place" while calling Silicon Valley Bank "the first Twitter-fueled bank run."

Going on the attack, Republicans pointed at high inflation, which the Fed has been combating with aggressive interest rate hikes that played a role in Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. Republicans blamed Biden, and specifically the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act he signed soon after taking office, for pushing inflation from 1.4% the month he took office to a peak of 9.1% last summer.

"Even liberal economists blame his $1.9 trillion stimulus for fueling inflation," said Republican National Committee Spokesman Tommy Pigott. "Ironically, Biden spent this weekend bragging about the so-called ‘American Rescue Plan’ as banks were failing.”

In reality, there's a little bit of truth to both, argues University of Massachusetts economics professor Gerald Friedman.

"My first thought would be that the regulations that were relaxed in 2018 raised the bar for Dodd-Frank regulations so that Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank were no longer subject to its tight regulation," he said. "Doing that probably was a mistake."

At the same time, Friedman said "this is the steepest run-up in interest rates we've had in 15 years. Any time you do that, you risk having trouble," and added that he's not sure if Silicon Valley Bank would have behaved differently even if it fell under the Dodd-Frank law.

Biden will hope to avoid a full-blown recession and keep the economic heat on Republicans as the situation unfolds. His economic approval rating is just 37.5%, based on polls taken before the banks collapsed.

The failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank are already being spun into campaign fodder for down-ballot candidates.

Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), who is running for Senate in 2024, has said she's drafting legislation to reverse the 2018 law. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), who hopes to defeat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) next year, issued a statement Monday attacking her for supporting the Dodd-Frank rollback.

If the Silicon Valley Bank failure significantly affects the wider economy, those attacks are likely to play out in the 2024 presidential election as well.

Biden budget proposes slashing $600 million from DHS amid growing threats

Anna Giaritelli

March 09, 04:34 PM March 09, 04:34 PM

President Joe Biden has proposed slashing funding for the Department of Homeland Security by $600 million as problems of national security mount against the United States, including cyberattacks, irregular immigration, violent crime, and record high border crossings.

The White House budget proposal for fiscal 2024, which will begin in October, suggested $60.4 billion for the DHS, the nation’s third-largest department with 260,000 employees worldwide. Budgets for agencies and departments typically increase year to year, but the DHS's would drop by 1% from the amount enacted this year.

"President Biden’s budget fails to adequately fund the Department of Homeland Security, proposing a 1% DECREASE in funding from FY23 levels," a GOP aide said in a statement Thursday. "As the agency with lead responsibility for protecting our nation’s borders, transportation systems and cyber security, this is an unacceptable proposal."

The Biden administration maintained that it had taken unprecedented action and “secured more resources for border security than any of the presidents who preceded him.”

TWO REASONS BIDEN IS MAKING FOES OUT OF IMMIGRATION ACTIVISTS AND DEMOCRATIC LATINOS

"The President’s Budget includes billions of dollars to keep America’s borders secure and enforce our immigration laws, while expanding legal pathways for migrants seeking asylum," the White House wrote in a statement on the newly released budget.

DHS funding on immigration and border matters will increasingly focus on bringing outdated border facilities up to speed with renovations, adding more technology capabilities to ports of entry and elsewhere that employees work, lowering the 2 million cases before immigration judges nationwide, and changes that improve how immigrants are detained after initially being apprehended at the border or while in longer-term immigration custody within the U.S.

Roughly 40%, or about $25 billion, of the budget is directed toward the DHS agencies Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The White House touted that it would cover the hiring of an additional 350 Border Patrol agents at CBP.

Both agencies would bring on 460 more employees to interview immigrants in custody, a task that has fallen to Border Patrol agents and pulled as many as half of agents from the field on the southern border to document, fingerprint, and fill out the paperwork for every person apprehended. Over two years, agents on the southern border have apprehended and taken into custody more than 2 million people.

The Biden administration also wants $535 million to add more technology to the ports of entry, where pedestrians and vehicles must pass federal inspection to be admitted to the U.S. Fewer than 1 in 5 vehicles are scanned at inspection booths, a number Congress is trying to increase to improve the screening of people and goods entering the country.

Approximately 85% of all fentanyl seized at the nation’s border last year occurred at southern border ports of entry. An additional $40 million would go toward countering fentanyl smuggling and cartels, though the budget does not specify how it would do so.

The DHS would create a massive $4.7 billion fund for immigration-related emergencies at the border. The contingency fund would give the department access to a large pot of cash in the event of a surge of illegal immigrants at one time.

Over the past two years, between 150,000 and 305,000 people have been encountered each month at the nation's borders, far beyond the fewer than 50,000 seen in most months during the Obama and Trump administrations.

US in touch with families of Americans killed and kidnapped in Mexico, White House says

Katherine Doyle

March 08, 01:56 PM March 08, 01:56 PM

U.S. officials have been in touch with the families of Americans kidnapped in Mexico after two were found dead, the White House said.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration had spoken with the victims’ families but declined to say whether President Joe Biden had or whether he intended to do so.

BIDEN'S ABILITY TO GET DEMOCRATS ON THE SAME PAGE IN LEGISLATIVE FIGHTS SCRUTINIZED

Four Americans went missing after crossing the southern border on a trip to Mexico for a medical procedure. Two were discovered killed on Tuesday and one was found injured and a fourth unharmed.

Jean-Pierre stressed that the United States would be “relentless in pursuing justice” in the case.

“We will do everything in our power to identify, find, and hold accountable the individuals responsible for this attack, and we continue to work in coordination with the Mexican government,” she added.

Jean-Pierre and national security spokesman John Kirby called the killings “unacceptable” on Tuesday.

White House confirms Biden will veto GOP-backed anti-ESG bill

Ryan King

March 01, 03:22 PM March 01, 03:22 PM

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Wednesday that President Joe Biden will veto the Republican-backed bill rolling back a Labor Department investing rule if it makes it to his desk.

House Republicans advanced a bill Tuesday to undo a Biden administration rule that permits retirement plans to consider environmental, social, and corporate governance, or ESG, in their investment decisions. The veto, which had been widely speculated, could become the first of his presidency.

HOUSE PASSES BILL TO PUBLISH HOW MUCH BIDEN’S EXECUTIVE ORDERS AFFECT INFLATION

"It forces MAGA Republicans' ideology down the throats of the private sector and handcuffing investors as well. The bill would bar fiduciaries from considering significant risks like extreme climate threats and poor corporate governance when they make investment decisions," Jean-Pierre told reporters during a White House press briefing.

Centrist Democratic Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) signaled they will back the bill, which must first clear the Senate to get to Biden's desk. Supporters of the push to scrap the so-called ESG rule argue the policy is "woke capitalism" that undermines retirement accounts for workers, but Jean-Pierre contended it could hamstring investors.

"It would give investment professionals less flexibility to make prudent decisions, meaning they won't be free to maximize the retirement savings for millions of Americans. That would jeopardize the retirement and life savings for police officers, firefighters, teachers, and tens of millions [of] retirees all across the country," she said.

"This is unacceptable to the President and that is why he will veto this bill if it does come to his desk," she added. "President Biden is focused on protecting workers' hard-earned life savings and pensions. And that is what he's going to continue to do."

Under the resolution, the ESG rule “shall have no force or effect" and investment managers are expected to consider financial returns instead of other issues when making decisions. The measure cleared the lower chamber 216-204.

Biden recently announced that he will tap Julie Su to be his next labor secretary to replace Marty Walsh who is leaving to become the next executive director of the NHL Players' Association.

Tim Scott war chest gives possible advantage as he considers presidential run

Cami Mondeaux

February 21, 09:57 AM February 21, 09:57 AM

As Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) eyes a White House bid in 2024, the South Carolina senator benefits from a massive campaign war chest and fundraising strength that could give him a boost over other presidential contenders.

Although Scott has not declared whether he intends to run for president, speculation of a possible White House bid began to rise in early February after the senator hired former Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and longtime Republican operative Rob Collins to lead his super PAC.

2024 GOP CONTENDERS RAMP UP FUNDRAISING EFFORTS AS PRIMARY FIELD BEGINS TO TAKE SHAPE

Scott launched his Opportunity Matters Fund in September in an effort to boost several GOP candidates during the midterm elections. Since then, he has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on purchasing ads as he mulls a presidential bid.

Meanwhile, Scott has positioned himself as a top fundraiser during the 2022 midterm cycle, raising more than $43 million for his reelection campaign, according to records from the Federal Election Commission. That fundraising haul leaves Scott with nearly $22 million on hand as of Dec. 31. The senator can transfer that money to a presidential committee should he choose to run.

That puts Scott above former President Donald Trump, who reported having $3 million on hand at the end of last year, according to campaign records.

Trump has struggled with a slow fundraising start, but the former president is looking to boost his standing by hosting a dinner for some of his top donors at his Mar-a-Lago home on Thursday, marking his first fundraiser of the 2024 cycle.

Scott is also planning to make the rounds this week. He is expected to attend a donor conference in Austin, Texas, on Friday hosted by former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove. That conference will give top contenders, such as Scott, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, a chance to secure top donors as they vie for the White House.

Biden’s border visit leads to blowback from Left

Haisten Willis

January 07, 07:00 AM January 07, 07:00 AM

President Joe Biden satisfied long-standing calls from conservatives by deciding to visit the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, over the weekend.

The visit comes alongside a host of new immigration measures designed to stem the record flow of illegal crossings. While border hawks remain skeptical, the move also comes with the risk of alienating Biden's more progressive supporters.

BIDEN TO MAKE LONG-AWAITED BORDER VISIT AFTER IMMIGRATION STRATEGY REBOOT

Heritage Foundation border specialist Lora Ries told the Washington Examiner last August that Biden had "made the political calculation that he’d rather be beat up by the Right than by the Left" on the border issue, fearing he'd be labeled the deporter in chief in the way former President Barack Obama was in 2014 if he embraced enforcement.

Sure enough, Democratic resistance emerged soon after Biden's announcement.

A quartet of senators released a statement slamming the president's revitalized southern border strategy, pinning some of the blame on Republican "obstruction."

"While we understand the challenges the nation is facing at the Southern border exacerbated by Republican obstruction to modernizing our immigration system, we are deeply disappointed by the Biden Administration’s decision to expand the use of Title 42,” the senators wrote.

They described Title 42 as a "failed and inhumane Trump-era policy" that will exclude thousands of immigrants fleeing violence and persecution.

Polling shows a sharp partisan divide on the issue of immigration, which helps explain the delicate balance Biden seeks to strike. A Pew Research Center survey from September found that 73% of all respondents said increasing border security should be a goal, with 91% of Republicans and 59% of Democrats agreeing.

But while 79% of Republicans wanted to see an increase in deportations, just 39% of Democrats agreed. Meanwhile, 80% of Democrats favored establishing a way for most illegal immigrants to stay legally, compared to just 37% of Republicans.

After ignoring the issue for most of his presidency, the record-smashing number of people crossing the border as 2022 drew to a close may have made the issue too big for Biden to ignore.

Between 2,378,944 Border Patrol encounters and an estimated 600,000 illegal crossers who slipped through without any contact, nearly 3 million people crossed the border in fiscal 2022. That's up from 2.1 million in 2021, which itself was a record high. The figure was just 300,000 as recently as 2017 and 2020.

Border state Democrats, such as the mayor of El Paso and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), began calling out the president in the final weeks of the year.

Biden himself tried to carve out a nuanced view of the issue this week, acknowledging the need for a balance between asylum and order.

“We should all recognize that as long as America is the land of freedom and opportunity, people are going to try to come here. And that’s what many of our ancestors did, and it’s no surprise that it’s happening again today," he said. "We can’t stop people from making the journey, but we can require that they come here in an orderly way under U.S. law.”

Asked if he agreed with activists that migration is a human right, Biden said it is for families who are being persecuted but then acknowledged that people already in the United States have a right to be assured that those who are coming are not criminals and have passed background checks.

Andrew Arthur, a fellow with the Center for Immigration Studies, agreed with Ries that any level of border enforcement is bound to upset some on the Left.

"They like the nearly unlimited migration which exists right now," he said. "So anything that impinges on that is going to be something they will complain about."

Border hawks aren't necessarily thrilled with Biden's moves either, with some calling it too little, too late.

Arthur disagrees strongly with the administration's plan to admit up to 30,000 Venezuelan, Cuban, Haitian, and Nicaraguan nationals with a U.S. sponsor into the country per month, calling Biden's moves ill-advised and illegal.

The move may have been necessitated by a record number of illegal crossings last year, but it still carries political risk for Biden among progressives, who are likening Biden to his hated predecessor.

"The plan [Biden] announced further ties his administration to the poisonous anti-immigrant policies of the Trump era," reads a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union, "instead of restoring fair access to asylum protections.”

Jill Biden to have skin lesion found above right eye removed next week

Misty Severi

January 04, 08:22 PM January 04, 08:22 PM

First lady Jill Biden will undergo a common outpatient surgery next week to have a skin lesion above her right eye removed and biopsied, the White House physician said in a letter Wednesday.

The discovery was made during a routine skin cancer screening for Biden, and the procedure will be done with caution at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Jan. 11, the letter said.

BIDEN MULLS BORDER STOP DURING MEXICO CITY TRIP NEXT WEEK

"We will offer an update after the procedure is completed, and we have more information," Dr. Kevin O'Connor said in the letter.

The procedure that will be done is called a Mohs surgery, which is considered the most effective technique for treating skin cancer, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Everything for the surgery happens while the patient waits, including lab work and the results. The patient is also numbed with a local anesthetic over the impacted area rather than anesthesia that would affect the person's full day.

Biden underwent a different outpatient procedure in April 2021 in what the White House claimed was a common medical procedure. The president went with her to an outpatient facility near George Washington University, but the couple returned a couple of hours later. The White House never revealed any further information on that procedure.

Escape Hatch: 10 times the White House cited this law to avoid questions in 2022

Haisten Willis

December 30, 05:30 AM December 30, 05:30 AM

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre takes the Hatch Act seriously. Passed in 1939 to prohibit government employees from overt political campaigning, the Hatch Act has caught up many a presidential staffer over the years.

But Jean-Pierre may have found a new twist on the law in 2022, citing the act early and often during her press briefings, arguably as a way to skirt unwanted inquiries.

IS THE WHITE HOUSE OVERUSING A FEDERAL LAW TO AVOID ANSWERING QUESTIONS?

"It sounds to me like she's overusing it and arguably using it as an excuse to avoid answering questions," Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz told the Washington Examiner in October. "Disclosing a schedule would not be a violation of the Hatch Act."

Other scholars say they're fine with the White House citing the act as often as they'd like; better to overcite than undercite or ignore it, as some Trump staffers often did.

Jean-Pierre began mentioning the act in early August as the midterm elections neared and hasn't stopped in the weeks since elections ended, naming the Hatch Act in more than two dozen different press briefings since Aug. 4.

Though there are many more examples, here are 10 times she cited the act in refusing to answer a question.

What will Biden's schedule look like?

Jean-Pierre cited the Hatch Act as the reason she couldn't say what President Joe Biden's schedule would look like ahead of the midterm elections — one of six times she mentioned the act in a single briefing on Oct. 17.

"[Biden] hasn’t attended any rallies or public-facing events with candidates in recent weeks," a reporter said. "What will his schedule look like in the coming weeks as the midterms get closer?"

"I have to be careful because we do respect the Hatch Act and our strict limits from here," she responded. "So, I want to be very, very careful."

Jean-Pierre did follow that up by mentioning two upcoming trips and several previous ones but then reiterated that she couldn't say more.

Why is Biden doing closed-door fundraisers with no photographers?

"I understand you have the Hatch Act to consider," a reporter asked on Oct. 18, hoping to preempt a citation.

"But what I was curious about is: Even though we're seeing the president out there, he's been doing these smaller events with smaller audiences. He's been doing closed-door fundraisers with no photographers. Why aren’t we seeing big campaign rallies?"

The attempted preemption was not successful.

"Look, I can't answer that question from here," Jean-Pierre said. "It is an election — an election that's currently happening at this time, so I'm very limited to what I can say from the podium."

Why are Democrats backing far-right candidates?

Democrats raised a few eyebrows in the fall by backing far-right candidates in Republican primaries, hoping they could beat them in November. A reporter tried to ask about this on Aug. 4, only to get the Hatch Act as an answer.

"Can I quickly get you to respond to the Peter Meijer situation?" the inquiry began. "He's one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. He went down on Tuesday night. But the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) and other groups were going hard to boost his pro-Trump opponent. Does the president have a view of playing ball in primaries like that in a way that helps Trumpists?"

The answer was no.

"Because of the Hatch Act, I cannot speak to any political campaigns or elections — midterms including," said Jean-Pierre. "And so I just can't speak to that at this time."

Why isn’t Biden visiting battleground states?

Biden employed a low-profile campaign strategy in the midterm elections, one which ultimately proved successful. But some questioned why a sitting president would avoid campaigning in battleground states, with the response often including the Hatch Act.

"Can you talk to us a little bit about the thinking on the president's upcoming travel?" a reporter asked on Oct. 11. "He's going to the West Coast tomorrow. He isn’t visiting Arizona or Nevada. I mean, we have four weeks until the midterms. Should we expect to see him travel to some of the more competitive states, campaign alongside some of the candidates who are in very competitive races?"

"As I've said many times, we, here at the White House, this administration, we respect the Hatch Act," Jean-Pierre said. "I'm going to be very mindful of that. And I cannot speak of the 2022 midterm elections or any elections from this podium."

Was John Fetterman impaired by his stroke?

Sen.-elect John Fetterman (D-PA) made a lot of headlines after suffering a stroke in May and being rather coy about his recovery afterward. After Biden met with Fetterman in October, a reporter asked about the president's impressions of his health.

"After speaking with John Fetterman, does the president believe that he has any impairments from the stroke?" came an Oct. 14 question. "And then, did he have any advice to him about stroke recovery?"

Jean-Pierre would not say.

"So first, can't speak to the midterms or the elections," she said. "I want to be very clear. I've got to respect the Hatch Act. This administration does respect that."

The press secretary did add that Biden respects Fetterman and that "they have a relationship" but would not go further.

What should Biden be telling voters about inflation?

Inflation began running hot during the summer of Biden's first year in office and hasn't let up since. But an Oct. 19 question on this topic still merited a Hatch Act mention.

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in an interview posted today by Punchbowl News, said that Democrats need to improve their messaging when it comes to inflation over the next three weeks before the midterms," a reporter said. "She calls inflation a 'global issue' and points out, or argues, that because unemployment has decreased under Democrats and Biden that inflation has gone up. ... What's your response to the speaker of the House saying that there is a messaging issue?"

Jean-Pierre responded that she's got to be mindful because of the Hatch Act and elaborated following some back-and-forth with the reporter.

"I want to make sure that I adhere to the Hatch Act," she said. "We have always been very clear, the president has always been very clear. We understand — I know you were talking about polls and what the American people are feeling. We understand what they're feeling. We understand that they are feeling a bit of a crunch because of inflation."

Jean-Pierre then listed off some of the administration's policies, contrasting them with Republicans who she said want to get rid of Social Security and Medicare.

Is Biden’s democracy message undermined by Democrats supporting election deniers?

Another inquiry about Democrats financially backing election deniers in the GOP primaries came on Nov. 3.

"Karine, does the president feel like his message on threats to democracy is undermined by Democrats who spend millions to elevate election-denying Republicans in the primaries?" came the question. "And will he call out those Democrats if some of those election-denying Republicans win on Tuesday?"

The only thing called out was the Hatch Act.

"I've been asked that question many times, and I'm just not going to get involved in any political strategy that's related to the midterms. I'm not going to do that from here," Jean-Pierre said. "I hear you. I'm just not going to answer that question because there's the Hatch Act, and you're talking about a specific election strategy. And so I'm not going to comment about that."

Has the president spoken to the DNC about the 2024 primary calendar?

Lately, Jean-Pierre has begun saying she's "covered" by the Hatch Act, making explicit the defensive nature of the citations.

When discussions arose about the Democratic National Committee making South Carolina rather than Iowa the first state to hold 2024 presidential primaries, questions arose about Biden's role since the Palmetto State helped fuel his 2020 campaign.

"Karine, has the president had any discussions with DNC members about their 2024 primary calendar," a reporter asked on Nov. 29.

"So, look, that's a political question that — I'm covered under the Hatch Act — that I can't speak to," Jean-Pierre said. "So, any specifics on that, I would refer you to the DNC."

Will Biden support Kyrsten Sinema after her party switch?

The Hatch Act-ing of questions didn't stop even once the midterm elections and Georgia's runoff election ended. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) shocked Democrats in early December by announcing she'd become an independent, prompting questions about how Biden might react.

"Does Sen. Sinema have the support of the president in this decision and moving forward into 2024?" a reporter asked on Dec. 9.

"So, cannot speak to 2024," came the response. "I'm covered by the Hatch Act. And as far as I understand it, she hasn't announced her plans for 2024 yet. So it's just not something that I'm going to speak to."

The press secretary did add a moment later that the White House sees Sinema as a "key partner" and that "we understand her decision to register as an independent."

Should Biden return campaign contributions from Sam Bankman-Fried?

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's fall from grace embroiled Washington as it was revealed that he donated huge sums to Democrats and wined and dined with a top government regulator before the walls closed in. Naturally, reporters began asking questions.

"The president received campaign donations from [Bankman-Fried], and many prominent Democrats did, some Republicans did as well," one correspondent asked on Dec. 13. "Will the president return that donation? Does he call on all politicians who got campaign donations that may have come from customer money to return those funds?"

We still don't know.

"So, look, I am covered here by the Hatch Act," said Jean-Pierre. "I’m limited on what I can say. And anything that's connected to political contributions from here, I would have to refer you to the DNC."

The reporter tried to clarify that it was only Biden's opinion that was of interest.

"No, you asked me two questions," Jean-Pierre said. "You asked me about will he return the donations, and then you asked me about his opinion. I’m answering the first part, which is: I’m covered by the Hatch Act from here. I am limited on what I can say. And I just can't talk to political contributions or anything related to that. I cannot speak about it from here."

The reporter followed up again.

“Are you covered by the Hatch Act?" the correspondent asked.

"I am covered by the Hatch Act," said Jean-Pierre, "which I’m happy to say over and over again because we believe in the rule of law here.”