🤫 Biden hits the gas

Plus: Republicans' do-nothing strategy | Wednesday, November 03, 2021

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Ripple   Axios Sneak Peek By the Axios Politics team ·Nov 03, 2021 Welcome back to Sneak. Today offered a full plate for political junkies. 📅 Join Axios' Tina Reed tomorrow at 12:30pm ET for a virtual event about the future of the diagnostic journey for patients with rare diseases. Guests include RARE-X founder and chief engagement officer Nicole Boice and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences acting director Joni L. Rutter. Register. Smart Brevity™ count: 957 words ... 3.5 minutes. Edited by Glen Johnson.     1 big thing: Biden hits the gas President Biden speaks about the COVID-19 vaccine for children today. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images   President Biden's hitting the gas — not pumping the brakes — to pass his two massive spending bills ASAP, and doesn't read his party's poor electoral showing in Virginia as a rebuke of the massive costs, lawmakers and White House advisers tell Axios' Hans Nichols. Why it matters: What Biden's critics see as a stubborn streak his allies call resolve. The president's confidants love to point out that during the 2020 primaries, the press corps doubted his strategy and ability to capture the Democratic nomination. Biden's core team never wavered and rode their plan to the White House. After yesterday's elections, House and Senate moderates are publicly and privately demanding the president hit the pause button on his $1.75 trillion social and climate change package. Instead, they want him to focus on quickly getting the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package through the House. In conversations with lawmakers and progressive groups, White House aides are coalescing around a different theory: Terry McAuliffe's defeat in Virginia has increased the urgency to pass the safety-net package. "People want us to get things done," Biden told reporters today. "And that's why I'm continuing to push very hard for the Democratic Party to move along." The big picture: The president is reluctant to second-guess himself. Throughout his time in office, he's been loath to admit either tactical mistakes or false predictions. Keep reading.     2. Republicans' do-nothing strategy Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios   Republicans are relishing the prospect of regaining their congressional majorities come next November in light of yesterday's results. Why it matters: While Democrats haggle over whether to recalibrate their midterm strategy following a loss in Virginia and close call in New Jersey, Republicans see the outcome as validation of their approach the past year. They have no plans to change course, reports Axios' Alayna Treene. Between the lines: The entire Republican ecosystem has been hitting the same five issues since the start of 2021. Inflation/the rising cost of living. Immigration/border security. Crime/calls to defund the police. Biden's handling of Afghanistan. Teachers' unions/ school mask mandates. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also have continued to perpetuate and celebrate chaos in the Democratic agenda. Now, they're benefiting politically from their institutional lack of cooperation. In the House, McCarthy has refused to cooperate with the Jan. 6 committee and whipped against the bipartisan infrastructure bill — which gained 19 Republican votes in the Senate. In the Senate, McConnell has allowed his members to block Biden's ambassadors, refuse to act on the debt ceiling and turned oversight hearings into 2024 tryouts. Keep reading. Go deeper: Multiple House Democrats told Axios' Andrew Solender this afternoon they expect votes on the two spending bills either tomorrow or Friday, depending on when the Rules Committee finishes marking up the Build Back Better Act. Democratic leaders already were whipping for votes this evening as pizzas were delivered to the Rules offices. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said her members will vote for the infrastructure bill if it comes up this week. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said she'll vote for the infrastructure bill if she has "clear assurances" from the Senate on the social spending package. "What I'm hearing is certainly … trending positive in that direction," she told Axios.     3. By the numbers: Virginia swings right Data: Virginia Department of Elections; Chart: Jacque Schrag/Axios Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin outperformed Donald Trump in every single Virginia county as of this evening — and won 12 counties that had voted for Biden just a year ago. Why it matters: Tuesday was a slam dunk for the former college basketball player and his party, writes Axios' Stef Kight. Republicans also are projected to win the lieutenant governorship, and are leading the balloting for attorney general and control of the House of Delegates. By the numbers: The college-town county of Radford swung more than any other, moving from Biden +9 to Youngkin +9. While former President Trump solidly won Charlotte County in 2020, Youngkin outperformed him by 17 points — the second-largest county swing. Tied for third was Emporia County, where McAuliffe maintained a healthy margin of 20% — but Biden won the county by 36% in 2020. The big picture: The results indicate Youngkin's Trump-Lite playbook worked. McAuliffe's last-minute push to link his opponent to the former president fell flat.     A message from Ripple What's real about crypto?     The powerful efficiencies it provides. The unique financial transparency. The carbon-neutral ways to power it. The new wave of business opportunities it's creating — in the U.S. and abroad. Crypto helps drive real global innovation. Learn more now.     4. First look: Finding foreign agents Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   An odd group of congressional bedfellows will introduce a bill tomorrow to fully standardize and digitize the process of registering foreign agents — making it far easier for the public to search and enforce the federal database, write Alayna and Axios' Lachlan Markay. Why it matters: The Foreign Agents Registration Modernization (FARM) Act would add significant transparency and scrutiny to foreign lobbying and propaganda, just as authorities are stepping up civil and, in some cases, criminal enforcement of foreign influence laws. The bill is sponsored by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), and Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.). It's the first time such a measure has bipartisan, bicameral support. Details: Current law requires any individual who lobbies or does PR on behalf of a foreign government or political party to register as a foreign agent. They also must report their activities and compensation biannually. The existing filing system is ad hoc, with few rules on how to format the information. And the Justice Department's byzantine Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) database can be difficult to navigate. The FARM Act would require DOJ to create a standardized electronic database of foreign agent information, making that information dramatically more accessible to the public. It also would implement digital accessibility standards, making the information available to people with visual impairments. Keep reading.     5. Pic du jour Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images   Republican Reps. Bob Good, Ben Cline and Rob Wittman (from left) joined fellow House Republicans to celebrate GOP gains in their home state of Virginia and elsewhere on Election Day.     A message from Ripple What's real about crypto?     See for yourself. The real business efficiencies it provides. The real transparency for financial institutions. The real advances in sustainability. And the real new wave of financial services it's creating. Take a look and learn more now.   🐫 We made it through another Hump Day. Congrats! A reminder your family, friends and colleagues can subscribe to Sneak or any of Axios' other free local and national newsletters through this link. Like this email style and format? Learn more about Axios HQ. It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: