WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden plans to take a victory lap across the country following the approval of his $ 1.9 trillion Covid-19 aid package as he sells his first legislative achievement to the American public.
The move was unanimously contested by Republicans in Congress.
Biden, who is due to sign the bill on Friday, will travel on Tuesday to Delaware County, a Philadelphia suburb that was instrumental in his victory in Pennsylvania, and Vice President Kamala Harris will travel on Monday. to Las Vegas; Nevada is another decisive state. The stops are expected to be the first in a series of trips to Biden and Harris in the coming weeks.
The trip will follow Biden’s first prime-time speech to the American people, scheduled for Thursday night.
A senior government official said that Biden, who worked on the Tuesday night speech, would adopt a tone that is partly “dark” in addressing the crisis that Americans faced: the lives that were lost, the jobs that were lost and the broader impact in the past year.
But he will also try to show that “there is light”, the official said, and give an update on what his team has been doing to increase vaccines, vaccinators and vaccine doses.
And while Biden mentions the Covid-19 relief bill, the official did not expect it to occupy a significant part of the speech. Instead, Biden wants to focus on the sacrifices the Americans have made and the way forward.
The government says others who worked on the speech include chief of staff Ron Klain, senior adviser Mike Donilon and Vinay Reddy, the director of speech writing, as well as the Covid-19 team.
The funding package for public school transport programs has broad public approval, with 70 percent in a Pew poll saying it supports the legislation, including 41 percent for Republicans. But Biden was unable to obtain bipartisan support in Congress with a fragmented Republican Party uniting in opposition and accusing Democrats of uncontrolled spending. Government officials said they plan to use Republicans’ opposition to the bill as a key point of discussion in next year’s midterm elections.
“He wants to ensure that people have access to this information, so he will hit the road, the vice president will be hitting the road, the first lady will be hitting the road,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “We will have people communicating directly in the communities, but we will also use a variety of tools at our disposal, including digital engagement and communication, local interviews and also the use of several members of our Cabinet who have important roles in the implementation.”
The White House plans to put representatives and senior government officials on television and work with a group of 400 mayors and governors, both Democrats and Republicans, to promote approval of the project, according to an internal White House memorandum.
United States Mayors Conference officials said they are working with the White House to connect mayors and government officials as they develop their travel agenda. The group is working with mayors to “understand the full extent of the bill and its implementation, as it contains additional funds for cities beyond the state and local aid component”.
The White House said it was limiting Biden’s domestic travel because of concerns about Covid-19. Harris’ visit to Las Vegas will be his first trip as vice president, and Biden made only a few stops as president, including a visit to Texas after the state’s severe winter storms and a visit to a Pfizer vaccine factory in Michigan . Harris will also be in Denver on Tuesday.
Passing the bill has been a top priority within the White House; Officials say much of Biden’s agenda depends on getting the money requested for vaccine distribution and reopening schools and fulfilling his campaign promise to get most Americans a total of $ 2,000 in direct payments.
Biden watched the bill pass on Wednesday with Harris and a small group of White House officials in the Roosevelt Room, a government official said. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, it was a much smaller group than it would otherwise have come together for such a significant initial victory. Klain told senior staff members at Zoom on Wednesday morning that, under normal circumstances, everyone would watch together.
The White House’s message strategy for the return of Biden’s victory will focus on giving the public tangible examples of how the law is helping them and their communities, how to emphasize direct payments of $ 1,400 and the child tax credit, he said. the White House internal memo.
“In total, every day we will talk about one of the top 10 aspects of the plan that will benefit ordinary Americans: from additional money for veterans’ health, lower health premiums, support for small businesses and money to reopen schools safely,” he said. the memo from Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O’Malley Dillon.
Biden already had one graphic on Twitter and Instagram noting that “checks are on the way”.
The White House’s organized effort is a shift from the Trump administration, whose officials spoke of making a similar sales pitch after tax cuts were approved, but struggled to keep the message with a commander-in-chief who created his own series of daily controversies. .
The legislation will direct $ 1,400 for direct payments to individuals with an income of less than $ 75,000 and $ 2,800 for couples earning less than $ 150,000. Individuals earning up to $ 80,000 and joint filers up to $ 160,000 will receive some money, but not the full amount. Direct money includes up to $ 1,400 per dependent, including adult dependents.
In addition to direct payments and child tax credits, the project will provide $ 14 billion to distribute vaccines and $ 49 billion for Covid-19 testing, contact tracking and personal protective equipment. It also includes $ 125 billion for K-12 schools and nearly $ 40 billion for higher education. It will provide US $ 39 billion in daycare grants, US $ 25 billion in rental assistance and US $ 30 billion also in public transport.
The implementation will be a “hands-on effort across the administration,” said the White House memorandum.