Who, really, is in charge at the White House? It sure doesn’t look to be President Biden.
The latest evidence came last week when chief of staff Ron Klain delivered a behind-the-scenes message to Democratic allies and staff, just hours after Biden’s disastrous news conference: The prez had failed to mention that his next Build Back Better bill would fund child and elder care, but Klain insisted it would.
As Axios reported, “Klain’s private comments are yet another indication the White House has a core set of priorities it plans to fight for” … even if the president doesn’t know about it fully yet.
Klain’s real message: Don’t worry, we staff will make sure Biden does what we say.
Yet some in Congress want the actual president to take charge: Politico reports that moderate Democrats complain that Klain is “overly deferential to their liberal colleagues” and want him out. It quotes one House member: “The president was elected because we all thought he was going to be good at governing. … He was going to govern from the center, he was going to work with Republicans. And to have a chief of staff that apparently has decided that he’s going to be Bernie Sanders, I think that’s confusing. It’s just not helpful.”
At the Wednesday presser, Biden said he wanted to broaden the advice he’s getting and lean more on outside advisers. How about actually taking charge? If he’s able, that is.
