The Beltway & Beyond

Russia’s President Putin shook the world this week by sending troops into Ukraine and ordering its full-scale invasion despite fervent, months-long diplomatic efforts by President Biden and other western leaders to dissuade him from doing so. On Friday, Biden made history by announcing he would nominate federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Breyer. If she is confirmed by the Senate, Jackson would become the first Black woman to serve on the Court.

Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Patrick Martin, Towner French, and Tristan Breaux discuss the historic significance of Judge Jackson’s nomination and ponder the economic and social effects of Russia’s violent invasion of Ukraine, domestically and globally. And, as Biden readies to deliver his first State of the Union address next Tuesday, they discuss whether this chance for him to reset his political fortunes is destined to be overshadowed by the crisis in Eastern Europe.

Last week, on a nearly party-line vote, the House of Representatives passed the America COMPETES Act of 2022, a nearly 3,000-page legislation aimed at increasing U.S. production of semiconductor chips, strengthening the supply chain to make more goods in America, and investing in scientific research and new technologies. The bill is the House’s counterpart to the Senate’s U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021, passed last June with the support of 19 Republicans. The House and Senate will now begin to reconcile the two very different bills with a goal to move a final legislative package soon.

Public Strategies’ Mark Alderman, Patrick Martin, Towner French, and Tristan Breaux debate whether bipartisanship still matters if actions ultimately take place along partisan lines, and discuss other key developments inside the Beltway this week.

As Democrats look ahead to what will be a challenging midterm election, the party is publicly and privately gauging how to handle the violent insurrection. Many describe discussing the events of that day as a moral obligation. Others, without dismissing the gravity of the attacks, argue that the party needs to prioritize economic issues immediately impacting voters’ daily lives. Yet while Democrats may disagree over how to talk about the insurrection, many Republicans continue to embrace Trump’s version of the events of January 6th. And the former president, even as his actual voice has been diminished, continues to be a factor in the media’s news cycle and political coverage.

Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Patrick Martin, Towner French, Kaitlyn Martin, and Tristan Breaux discuss Trump's continued importance in Republican politics and the electorate’s increased polarization along partisan lines, and engage in a thought-provoking discussion about whether, despite their differences, Americans actually agree on many important issues.

On Thursday, Justice Stephen Breyer announced that he will retire from the Supreme Court after nearly three decades on the bench, giving President Biden a chance to fulfill his pledge to put the first Black woman on the Court. On Friday, major U.S. stock indexes rallied to finish one of their most tumultuous weeks in memory on a high note. Yet more volatility is expected, as the Fed pivots from stimulating the economy to fighting inflation, a tight labor market continues to be a challenge, and demand outstrips supply in many commodities. Meanwhile, as tensions mount between Washington and Moscow over a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, questions are becoming sharper as to how the issue will reverberate through American domestic politics.

As President Biden enters the second year of his presidency looking for a reset after a tumultuous first 12 months, Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, and Towner French, along with guest co-host Brian Flaherty, discuss the calamity he is facing and, as Trump teases a 2024 presidential run, wonder whether the former president still has a real influence within the GOP.

President Biden took office a year ago, promising to tackle four crises that were roiling American life in 2020: fight the coronavirus, restore the economy, combat climate change, and make the country more equal. Biden’s record has been mixed, however, leaving many who clamored for the changes he promised feeling that not enough has been done to this point.

On Wednesday, in a nearly two-hour news conference wrapping up his first year in office, the president defended his policies, citing millions of people getting vaccinated in 2021, passage of a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure bill, and strong U.S. job gains over the past year, while acknowledging the setbacks caused by a new coronavirus variant, rising inflation, supply-chain bottlenecks, and widespread criticism over the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Biden also said he likely would have to break up his stalled healthcare, education, and climate agenda to pass his policies in Congress and promised a reset, saying he would engage more with Americans.

Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, Patrick Martin, Towner French, and Kaitlyn Martin recap Biden’s biggest wins and most bitter disappointments during his first year in office and discuss what Democrats need to do next to re-group before facing voters in November.

After a year of promising to lower temperatures, seek unity and demonstrate competent leadership, President Biden has struggled. Unable to bridge the wide gap between moderates and progressives in his own party, he is ending the first year in office with arguably the worst week of his presidency: inflation hit a 40-year high; the Supreme Court blocked the centerpiece of his push to get more people vaccinated; he failed to win passage for both voting rights and his Build Back Better legislation, signature priorities of his first year; and talks with the Russians, aimed at avoiding war in Ukraine, broke off with no apparent progress. Many Democrats are calling for a reset, as they nervously look ahead to the November elections.

With his poll numbers falling and his agenda stalled, how does president Biden prepare for Year 2 of his presidency? On the eve of the first anniversary of his swearing-in, Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, Patrick Martin, and Kaitlyn Martin discuss the challenges Biden is facing and ponder whether he has a strategy for a course correction.

Nearly two years into the coronavirus pandemic - with Omicron cases surging to record levels, hospitals overwhelmed, air travel disrupted, and widespread labor shortages - criticism and frustration are intensifying over the government’s Covid-19 response as the CDC’s muddy and often-changing guidance has only added to many Americans’ confusion.

Meanwhile, recent surveys indicate that confidence in major U.S. institutions has edged down significantly, with over 80% of Americans saying they are worried about the prospects of American democracy and analysts connecting dysfunction in governance to deepening party polarization and Americans’ increased tolerance for political violence.

On the anniversary of the January 6th violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, Patrick Martin, Towner French, and Tristan Breaux break it all down and ponder what it would take to bring the country back together, restore our confidence in government, and relearn the power of citizenship and community.

Build back … in 2022? Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) stunned fellow Democrats on Sunday when said he wouldn’t support his party’s ambitious climate and social spending bill, called “Build Back Better,” effectively striking a death knell to the centerpiece of President Biden’s economic agenda and sparking a blame game among congressional Democrats and White House officials for not reaching a consensus with the moderate-minded senator.

Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, Patrick Martin, Towner French, and Kaitlyn Martin discuss the uncertainty and intra-party tensions Democratic leaders are now facing as they look for a path forward on a key piece of their legislative agenda. And, as it’s now a tradition, our podcast co-hosts sing and recite their own Christmas carols, as they wrap up this year’s Beltway Briefing series and reflect on key political battles of 2021.

The Senate on Thursday voted to approve a one-time exemption to the filibuster on raising the debt ceiling, capping off a months-long fight over the nation’s borrowing limit. Earlier in the week, the House overwhelmingly passed a compromise version of the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, amid a push to get the measure to President Biden’s desk.

As the holidays near and Democrats feel an increased sense of urgency to get their climate and social spending bill across the finish line, while Americans continue to worry about surging consumer prices, Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Patrick Martin, Towner French, and Kaitlyn Martin discuss Congress’ jam-packed December to-do list and remember Bob Dole, the iconic Republican senator who served the country in war and in politics with pragmatism, self-deprecating wit, and a bygone era's sense of common civility and compromise.

On Friday, President Biden signed legislation to fund the government at the previous year’s fiscal levels through February 18, giving lawmakers more time to hammer out their differences and narrowly averting a government shutdown. Earlier in the week, citing the new and fast-spreading Covid-19 Omicron variant, the Biden Administration imposed new travel restrictions, as scientists race to determine just how virulent, transmissible, and responsive to vaccines Omicron is.

On the heels of the November jobs report, which gave a muddled picture of an improving economy, Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Towner French, Kaitlyn Martin, and Tristan Breaux breakdown the stopgap funding bill and discuss the potential impact of the Omicron variant on U.S. businesses.