President Joe Biden is seeing a series of economic, political and personal challenges pile up on the domestic front as he travels to New York City intent on making the case for American leadership on the global stage.
The White House is confronted by an autoworkers’ strike that Biden himself had predicted two weeks ago wouldn’t happen. Biden’s Republican critics in the House have launched an impeachment inquiry. Administration officials are seeing gas prices rise, taking a wait-and-see approach for now. Biden’s son is freshly indicted on federal charges. And Congress is barreling toward a potential government shutdown at month’s end.
While the president meets with world leaders in New York City, he’s dispatching two top officials – acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and White House senior adviser Gene Sperling – to Detroit “early in the week,” an administration official said, to meet in person with the leaders of the United Auto Workers and the Big Three automakers – Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.
Su and Sperling have so far engaged with the parties by phone – as has the president, including in the hours leading up to the strike – and officials say the White House emissaries will be in Detroit in a supportive role, not an intervening one.
“I do not believe that the president should intervene or be at the negotiating table,” Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “I talk to Gene Sperling multiple times a day and have all summer. … I don’t think they’ve got a role at the negotiating table. I think every one of us that are policymakers and other stakeholders need to understand what these issues are, what we can do to support those discussions at the table.”
The impasse presents fresh economic and political tests for the president. Questions remain about the ultimate…
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