“Biden ran center-right in the primary and has governed to the left of Obama.”
A 100-days look w/ @aseitzwald at how the president is exceeding expectations with a movement that opposed his candidacy and has long viewed him skeptically.
"I don't think they would have been better if Bernie Sanders was the president," Larry Cohen (!), who chairs the Sanders-aligned group Our Revolution, says of Biden's staffing decisions. nbcnews.com/politics/joe-b…
White House senior adviser Anita Dunn says Biden's progressive critics in the campaign would be less surprised if they "looked at the actual person and not the caricature."
"What he's doing now is totally consistent with what he said as a candidate."
Go big on crisis relief. Ignore the deficit hawks. Don’t hold out for bipartisan votes that aren’t coming. Brag about your achievements... and other Obama-era lessons Biden has applied, per more than two dozens Dems who worked in one or both WHs/Congress.
.@brianefallon on '09 lessons: "Don't trim the price tag of your proposals based on bad advice from Larry Summers types. Don't get bogged down about pay-fors based on bad-faith concerns from phony deficit hawks. Don't forget about judges... as Rahm did." nbcnews.com/politics/joe-b…
Senate is holding a procedural vote on Vanita Gupta for associate AG this morning.
If she advances, a final vote is today.
Dems are now benefiting from McConnell using the nuclear option in 2019 to cut debate time from 30 hours to 2 hrs for sub-Cabinet noms and district judges.
51-49, Vanita Gupta advances to a final vote.
Lisa Murkowski was the lone Republican "yes" on the Vanita Gupta procedural vote, which avoided the need for the VP to break the tie.
"He has put his ideas out, and he's put a way to pay for it out. And he is anxious to look at other people's ideas," a White House adviser said. "The one thing that he will not agree to is inaction. These are investments the country has needed for years." nbcnews.com/politics/congr…
New: Some immigration lawyers and progressives warn that Democrats’ voting-rights bill could unintentionally harm immigrants.
There’s a behind-the-scenes push to get the Senate to tweak HR1’s automatic voter registration language to minimize errors. nbcnews.com/politics/congr…
At issue is how automatic voter registration should be structured. Dems and progressives agree AVR is good—but HR1 drafters want a “front end” system that requires an opt out; others favor a “back end” system with a new filter like eligibility docs before triggering registration.
One HR1 fear: US law is strict. If a visa or green card holder checks the wrong box or misunderstands a DMV clerk's question, and gets registered to vote, they can be deported or barred from citizenship. A lawyer calls false affirmation a "kiss of death." nbcnews.com/politics/congr…
NEW: This district has been a hot spot for political movements that have tracked the national mood for a decade. Now, @SpanbergerVA07 sees temperatures cooling.
A fleeting calm? Or a roadmap for Dems to buck the midterm curse?
Virginia-07 has been a unique kind of bellwether: It was Eric Cantor’s home in era of GOP as the party of biz. Flipped to Dave Brat with populist right, foreshadowing Trump. Turned blue in ‘18 with Spanberger.
The last two presidents faced an immediate backlash to their presidencies at this point. Obama had the tea party. Trump had the #resistance. But—for now—there's no equivalent grassroots uprising to Biden's agenda. His party-line $1.9 trillion stimulus didn't seem to ignite one.
Biden’s advisers are crafting a $3 trillion package on infrastructure and other provisions, financed with tax increases, a source familiar with the plan tells NBC (confirming NYT/ @jimtankersley). Details still in flux.