Now that Biden is president, however, Clyburn’s bold and straightforward style is not playing the same. Although the president himself has his longtime friend and confidant in the same regard, the congressman has drawn the ire of some White House officials, several sources told POLITICO.
But if Clyburn’s style irritates West Wing officials, he has no qualms. “I don’t like being told how important I am,” said the 80-year-old Congressman in an interview with POLITICO. “You have to show me.”
Clyburn is trying to make his mark in the course of Biden’s presidency and you’re not ashamed of that. He complained about the lack of diversity in the initial distribution of the Biden Office and specifically pushed for ally Marcia Fudge to get a position in the administration. He chose the post of Supreme Court judge before there was even a vacancy. He joined other Democrats in the House to urge the government to elevate Shalanda Young to the post of Administration and Budget to become the first black woman to head the department.
Clyburn says he is only speaking on behalf of African Africans who played a key role in winning the White House and the Senate for Democrats. They deserve a lawyer, at the very least, he emphasizes, and a seat at the table as well. And for all the effort he made, he also, from the beginning, praised the White House and the president himself for keeping his promises to form a diverse team. But for a hyper-disciplined White House messaging operation, Clyburn can occasionally be very direct with his criticism and analysis.
As Clyburn is widely credited with changing the trajectory of the presidential race with his endorsement of Biden, his public statements and demands have additional significance – treated as dictates of the high council of the land of Biden. If they are out of the message, they can trigger a barrage of headlines and questions to the White House.
“The congressman had access and power within other presidential administrations, but he was never named as the person who put the president where he is today,” said Amanda Loveday, a strategist in South Carolina. “It just gives him another bigger portfolio power when it comes to making suggestions and recommendations. ”
Clyburn’s influence is apparent throughout the party today. He easily chose the post of Democratic National Committee chairman – Jaime Harrison, who became a national star after building a fundraising juggernaut in his unsuccessful attempt to oust Lindsey Graham from the United States Senate of South Carolina – for the office. Clyburn also pushed for more diversity in Biden’s office, creating a narrative which influenced internal deliberations around the nominee selection process. Even before Biden took office, Clyburn was in particular stirring up the new administration so that the National Guard would administer vaccines as quickly as possible and for a large flow of initial executive orders, including mitigation efforts around Covid, such as mandates from mask – two strategies implemented by the White House.
Clyburn said he asked his friend and close ally, former deputy Cedric Richmond, of Louisiana, to join the White House. Richmond, who stepped down from Congress, is now a senior adviser in charge of public engagement. He and Clyburn still have an intimate relationship, talking frequently and having dinner together. Perhaps the most important thing for Clyburn, however, is that he maintains the support and support of the president himself.
“The president spoke warmly and often about his long friendship with Congressman Clyburn and how much his support meant. President Biden and the White House have maintained close contact with Congressman Clyburn and his team, and they always welcome their contributions on everything from personnel to politics, ”said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
A person with knowledge of the relationship confirmed that the relationship between Biden and Clyburn remained solid: “If there is meat and Biden knows about the meat, he would not hesitate to call Clyburn personally about it.”
But while Biden and Clyburn remain close, the congressman has angered the building, especially in the midst of battles over staff. Tension increased when Fudge lobbied to be secretary of agriculture and told POLITICO that he was tired of black workers being relegated to places like the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Fudge actually won an appointment to the Cabinet – to head the HUD – after Clyburn campaigned aggressively for her. But some in Clyburn’s world thought the White House was upset with them for making Fudge’s request public.
Two sources with knowledge of the White House’s thinking said that some senior officials were hurt by Clyburn’s public criticism of concerns about the lack of diversity in the administration. And despite his so-called kingship status after the election, sources close to Clyburn and other members of Congressional Black Caucus say that the limitations of Clyburn’s influence with members of the White House beyond the president became more apparent after the episode of Fudge and the continued pressure for Young to lead the OMB.
Some of the tensions predate the launch of Biden’s presidency. During the campaign, Clyburn openly challenged the decision of Biden’s campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, to stop the campaign personally during Covid. And when O’Malley Dillon took a high-profile position in the White House, he questioned “her type of policy”.
“The reality of Jim Clyburn is that he is a team player, but he is not going to be gagged in any way,” said Dick Harpootlian, a South Carolina senator, former party president and a 40-year-old friend of Clyburn. “Jim Clyburn got where he is because he never backed down, either during the Civil Rights Movement or as a college student, being arrested as a college student.”
Clyburn’s daughter, Jennifer Clyburn Reed, said her father is simply doing what he always did: speaking for people of color.
The older Clyburn’s goal in the election was to help Biden get elected. But now that he’s in the White House, he feels a responsibility to hold the president and his administration accountable for his promises.
“The feeling of diversity in the Cabinet or in the black female choice of the Supreme Court, all these things came from the public. He didn’t wake up from a dream and said ‘we need a diversified office’, ”said Reed. “Several entities expressed concern about the diversity of the Office. It was stated by the campaign. Candidate Biden promised diversity. The only thing we wanted as a general public was to see the fulfillment of that. ”
For his part, Clyburn said he sees his role now in fighting vigorously for Biden’s agenda, and said that he and Biden have a strong relationship. He said Biden demonstrated his commitment to diversity, including a promise to nominate a black woman for the Supreme Court. And he says the president has called him several times since he was at the White House.
“Every time he calls, I talk to him,” says Clyburn, adding that Biden “does not have to ask” for his support in certain legislation. Clyburn says he knows Biden’s platform and is ready to support it, saying his job is “To work as hard as you can to pass legislation that needs to be passed.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
In this endorsement
Recently, in his Capitol office, Clyburn reflected on his role in the last election.
This impacted him on a personal level. In telling the story of how he made that decision to support Biden, Clyburn said that his late wife, Emily, who died almost six months before the South Carolina primaries, encouraged him to do so.
When Clyburn announced his decision, resistance at the time, however, was fierce. Social media was enlightened by what he described as an unpleasant and somewhat threatening language. It made his daughters insecure, he said. For his part, Clyburn ignored the resistance, but an online commentary caught him.
“He said, I will not be ‘neither forgotten nor forgiven for pushing Joe Biden down my throat,'” said Clyburn. “‘You will not be forgotten or forgiven’ … I will never forget that.”
Clyburn previously told POLITICO that he had decided to endorse Biden months before the South Carolina primaries and that the campaign pushed him to make it public earlier in the cycle. Clyburn said he resisted because he thought his voice would be much more influential until just before the vote began. Was he right.
“He changed the tide during a period that was absolutely necessary,” said Loveday. “It was not just what he did, but the moment he did it, but the commitment to which he did it.”
Clyburn’s latest vocal effort is feverishly calling for a reform of the obstruction, which he sees as a critical step in implementing the agenda that Biden promised voters, especially African Americans.
“Republicans modified it for Supreme Court justices,” said Clyburn. “It’s time to change it to voting and civil rights.”
In front of the obstruction reform, Clyburn received resistance from the man he helped push for the presidency just over a year ago. He was also rejected by others in his party. Not surprisingly, he felt little reluctance to talk about it.
“I saw [West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin] on TV the other day saying, ‘I am not going to be in favor of reconciliation because I have consideration for my Republicans.’ Oh yeah? What about your Democrats? ”Clyburn said. “I am telling him: obstruction is like the constitution, it changes, it is a living document. Times change, situations change. Slavery was constitutional ”.
Reforming the obstruction is just one of Clyburn’s goals, now that Biden has taken office. And whether maintaining control over the White House and beyond, Clyburn said his philosophy is rooted in ensuring that the United States stays on the path of racial and economic equality.
“I want my headstone to say, ‘He did his best to make the country’s greatness accessible to everyone,'” said Clyburn. “This is my job: to do what I can to help make the greatness of this country accessible to everyone.”
Laura Barrón-López contributed to this report.