The NPR Politics Podcast - In Tandem: Biden Walks Tightrope Between Infrastructure Deal And Democratic Wish-list

Episode Date: June 28, 2021

President Biden walked back an earlier threat that he would not sign the newly announced bipartisan infrastructure deal if it did not come to his desk with a second bill full of progressive priorities. Plus, former President Trump held his first post-presidency rally to drum up support for a congressional candidate.This episode: Congressional correspondent Susan Davis, White House correspondent Tamara Keith, senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro, and national political correspondent Don Gonyea.Connect:Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here.Email the show at [e-mail] the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.Listen to our playlist The NPR Politics Daily Workout.Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.Find and support your local public radio station.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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Our producers would never let that happen. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Susan Davis. I cover Congress. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. And I'm Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent. And the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal hit a roadblock when President Biden said this while discussing his support for it. I expect that in the coming months this summer, before the fiscal year is over, that we will have voted on this bill, the infrastructure bill, as well as voted on the budget resolution. And that's when,

but if only one comes to me, if this is the only one that comes to me, I'm not signing it. It's in tandem. It sounded like a veto threat to me, but Tam, Biden walked this back really fast over the weekend. Why? Because in the process of celebrating this big bipartisan deal, he said those words and those words caused every Republican who had agreed to this big bipartisan deal to say, whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn't agree to that. What I don't fully understand is that Democrats have been saying for literally months that they would approach this as a two track approach, the bipartisan infrastructure deal, and then they would try to move forward on their own with a budget reconciliation bill that had more of their own priorities. I mean, did Biden just say the quiet part out loud? Well, no, I mean, he's been saying that part out loud. The difference was,

he said, they have to be linked, not just we'll try on the family's plan. And we've got this bipartisan deal on infrastructure, but that the bipartisan deal on infrastructure wouldn't become a reality unless the Families Plan did too. I mean, Democrats, progressives absolutely want the Families Plan part to be linked to the infrastructure plan. And moderates and Republicans don't want them to be linked. And it's a problem. And it is a challenge for the White House because President Biden linked them more closely than people who had signed on to his bipartisan plan deal thing wanted. OK, so before we move on, you know, I think we should break down these two different plans, these two different tracks. You know, they're going on one track this week and then they're talking about something a little bit more long term that might be a little more difficult. Can you shed some light on that for us?

Sure. I mean, the two bills that we're talking about is the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that includes more traditional spending for infrastructure projects, roads, bridges, broadband, a lot of traditionally bipartisan stuff likely expected to get over 60 votes in the Senate if the deal holds. multi-trillion dollar bill, looking largely at the social safety net, what they would say is social infrastructure, money for things potentially like Medicare, child care, elder care. Many Democrats also want to use it to invest in things to combat climate change. Some want to do even immigration legislation in it. So we don't know the exact shape of it yet, but it's likely to be a pretty behemoth bill of Democratic priorities that can probably only pass with Democratic votes. Yeah, I mean, this is part of the balancing act that Biden is

having to do when you're trying to get to 50. When you have a split down the middle Senate, and you have a couple of moderate Democratic senators who don't want to, you know, potentially go along with getting rid of the filibuster, for example, running roughshod over Republicans to get everything through as quickly as possible. And, you know, he needs to be able to get progressives on board to be able to say this is only part of the part of the deal, wink, wink. And then to be able to say to Republicans, you don't need to sign on to all that other odious stuff, just sign on to this part. But when Biden sort of made the flub that he made, you know, I have to tell you, I was talking to one person who's pretty close to one of the senators, one of the Republican

senators involved in these negotiations. And she said this was the first time he'd ever heard Mitt Romney curse. Whoa. What was the curse? Was it like, gee willikers? Probably gosh dang it or something. Gosh dang it. Shucks. Biden may have walked back the comments, but from Capitol Hill, I think the point really remains true.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have also basically said that they see these two bills having to move together. Schumer has explicitly said that we can't have one without the other. And Pelosi has said she has no plans to bring up the bipartisan deal unless it's clear to her that the Senate can send over a likely Democratic-only package. So I still think that the game is that these two bills probably can't exist unless the other survives. I think you are almost certainly right about that. And President Biden just needed to put a little distance between himself and that political reality in order to keep the bipartisan deal alive. And the amazing thing is he put out his statement walking it back. And the next morning, there are those Sunday shows that politicians appear on to talk about politics and Republican members of Congress, Republican senators went out and said, that was

great. That was absolutely perfect. And we are moving forward and we've got even more people we think we've got it. We've got a way for this bipartisan deal at least to pass. As for the other part, it's less clear. And one thing that's interesting coming out of the White House today is they're they're trying not to say it was a full walk back. They're saying the president is still eager to sign both pieces of legislation. But the logistics of how these things get passed and what sequence, that's up to Congress. That's up to Pelosi and Schumer. Well, I hate to break this to both of you, but we probably have many, many more months ahead

of us discussing how this all lands. So, Tam, we're going to let you get back to the White House, and I'm sure we'll have you on very soon to talk about whatever is coming up next in the infrastructure battle. God, I was saying it was infrastructure season, but we have moved to another season. And we may well move to yet another season. And we will definitely, most definitely still be talking about this. Infrastructure decade. Yeah. For now, we're going to take a quick break. And when we get back, we're headed to Ohio, where former President Trump held a campaign-style rally this weekend.

NPR's No Compromise podcast just won the Pulitzer Prize. We explore a breed of gun rights activism that's online, organized, and unwilling to budge. I'm Chris Haxel. I'm Lisa Hagen. Check out No Compromise wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back and we have Don Gagne here with us. Hey, Don. Hey, how you doing? You know, one of the surest signs that are at least our political lives are getting back to normal is Donald Trump is having rallies again and Don Gagne is in Ohio to cover

them. Maybe an understatement to say a lot has changed since the last time you were at a Donald Trump rally. So how did this one compare to the Trump rallies of the past? Yeah, and you know, he hadn't done one of these since, well, the last rally was January 6, the day of the, you know, the attack on the Capitol, he seemed rusty to me. His delivery seemed kind of rote, you know, kind of sing-songy, kind of meandering. It did get stronger and it did kind of feel like the old Trump in the final half hour as it built to its conclusion, you know, and as the sun had gone down. But it definitely took him a while to get back in the groove. And you could kind of feel that in the crowd. You know, the other thing, there's always that I'm the greatest vibe.

That's certainly still there. But I will tell you, it's now I'm the greatest, but I was robbed. And that's different, you know? But the thing is, you know, Don, I mean, I will tell you it's now I'm the greatest, but I was robbed. And that's different, you know? But the thing is, you know, Don, I mean, we've been to some of these, obviously. And, you know, were people there just as like a, you know, reunion tour trying to see, you know, if Trump still got it or just sort of like, oh, there's someone that they see as famous? Or do they really still feel dug in that this is the person who should be president, deserves to be president, and they want him to run in 2024? Oh, it's very much the latter. Trump 2024 banners, T-shirts, giant flags, you know, like 20 foot by 30 foot. These massive flags are everywhere. And Trump 2024 bumper stickers are everywhere. And I'll tell you what you also see a lot of. You do see a much more pronounced Q, QAnon presence than maybe we saw at past rallies. I mean, you'd see it on t-shirts.

It was always there. But now, again, big banners, big signs mounted in the parking lot that kind of become a focal point. And the connection there is that it was not at all unusual to find people in this crowd who not only think Trump won the election, but they think he's going to be back in office in a matter of months. You know, we know that conspiracy theory is out there. A lot of adherence to that at this rally. Was that the president's main message? Was he there just to continue to sort of throw gasoline on the fire that the election was rigged and keep repeating all these baseless claims about the election? I mean, is that the main point of this? Or was there other messages? his remarks and also in the remarks from opening speakers who included Congressman Jim Jordan and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. So that was certainly the main theme. But the stated purpose

for this rally was to drum up support for a Republican congressional candidate named Max Miller. Max Miller is a former White House aide, and he is challenging Republican Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, who represents this part of Ohio. And Gonzalez's sin is he is one of those very few Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. So Trump was there drumming up support for Max Miller. But I will tell you, even when Max Miller was brought up on stage next to Trump for both the photo op and to speak for a few moments, his first focus was even looking ahead to Trump 2024. And he said, we're all here because we know that Donald Trump is going to win a third time, was the phrase he used in 2024. play you a quick conversation I had with a 31-year-old woman in the crowd, a physical therapist from Strongsville. Her name is Kristen Kinnell. And she admitted she was there because she loved Trump. And I asked her how much attention she's paying the next year, how much she knows Max Miller. Give a listen. How much are you paying attention the next year? The midterm, not the next presidential one, but the next one. Not much. You know who Max

Miller is? Nope. You're going to hear about Max Miller. Yeah, no, I think I like him, right? He's good. He's good for us. So, I mean, Trump is helping her make up her mind and she's never heard of the guy before. Yeah, you know, it's just so interesting. I mean, you know, it always is one of those things of whether or not the people who go to these things are really engaged in the races and are there because they just want to see Trump, this famous guy that they like. Or are they is that going to translate into votes in that primary? Absolutely. All right. I think that's a wrap for us today. We will be back in your feeds tomorrow. I'm Susan Davis. I cover Congress.

I'm Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent. And I'm Don Gagne, covering national politics on the road. And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.