The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Biden’s plan to resuscitate his polling

by Cate Martel - 05/31/22 12:37 PM ET

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–> A midday take on what’s happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.*

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha–breaks down crying hysterically.

NEWS THIS MORNING

What if we take the air out of the inflated economy and put it into Biden’s deflated poll numbers?:

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed this morning, President Biden announced a three-part plan this morning to tackle inflation. Read Biden’s op-ed

The first part of the plan: Biden acknowledged that the Federal Reserve “primarily” controls inflation. Biden pledged to allow the agency to act independently without influencing its decisions.

The second part: While blaming Russia for rising gas prices, Biden is seeking to lower the price of goods. How: Fixing supply chains and improving infrastructure.

The third component: Reducing the deficit through changes to the tax code.

➤TIMING — ‘INSIDE A BIDEN WHITE HOUSE ADRIFT’:
NBC’s Carol E. Lee, Peter Nicholas, Kristen Welker and Courtney Kube write, “Amid a rolling series of calamities and sinking approval ratings, the president’s feeling lately is that he just can’t catch a break — and that angst is rippling through his party.” More on the feeling in the White House

➤HAPPENING TODAY:

President Biden is meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the White House.

➤ ‘U.S. POLICYMAKERS MISJUDGED INFLATION THREAT UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE’:
Via The Washington Post’s Mike Madden and Rachel Siegel

➤ ‘WALL STREET’S LOSING STREAK ENDS, BUT UNCERTAINTY THAT DROVE IT LINGERS’:
“As stocks have tumbled this year, predictions that the selling is over have been wrong time and again.” Via The New York Times’s Coral Murphy Marcos

WELCOME BACK — IT’S ALREADY TUESDAY. I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.

Happening on Thursday

Back for an emergency meeting:

“House Democrats are wasting no time taking up gun violence legislation following last week’s school massacre in Texas, scheduling a special session of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday to send a slate of tougher firearms laws to the chamber floor.”

Some of the proposals considered at the emergency markup: “[B]ills to curb gun trafficking; promote the safe storage of firearms; and raise the eligible purchase age for certain semi-automatic rifles.”

What we know, via The Hill’sMike Lillis

🐐In the Democratic Party

If there were two policy issues that could seriously activate Democrats, these would be it:

“Democrats are increasingly energized after the leaked Roe v. Wade draft opinion from the Supreme Court and recent mass shootings put a spotlight on hot-button social issues they see as liabilities for Republicans.”

The potential shift in momentum: “Democrats say the recent developments raise the stakes for the midterms and give them a new opportunity to ramp up pressure on Republicans – a reversal from a monthslong defensive crouch on culture war issues like critical race theory, sex ed in schools and more.”

Democrats had been in a rut without recent accomplishments: “The party has been touting the bipartisan infrastructure bill – passed last year – as its main accomplishment, and some Democrats say they should put aside concerns of alienating elusive crossover voters to seize on a new strategy.”

How this could play out on the campaign trail, via The Hill’s Tal Axelrod

➤ ‘GUNS AND ABORTION THREATEN TO BECOME MIDTERM ISSUES’:

Read Niall Stanage’s column in The Hill

➤ ‘MASS SHOOTINGS RENEW EFFORTS TO TARGET GUN MANUFACTURERS’ LEGAL SHIELD’:
Via The Hill’s Harper Neidig

➤2024 SPECULATION:

The Hill’s Amie Parnes ranked the five Democrats most likely to make a run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2024 if President Biden decides not to run. The ranking

🐘 In the GOP

It’s possible they’ll cooperate with the Jan. 6 investigation:

Via The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch, “Letters from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) demanding documents from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is a surprising signal that some GOP members subpoenaed by the panel may actually be thinking about some level of cooperation with its investigation.” The options they are mulling

➤ANOTHER SUBPOENA:
“Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro says in a draft lawsuit that FBI agents served him a subpoena last week asking him to testify before a grand jury on Thursday over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.” What we know, via The Hill’s Colin Meyn and Zach Schonfeld

In the White House

Some Black White House aides are calling it a ‘Blaxit’:

Via Politico’s Daniel Lippman, “At least 21 Black staffers have left the White House since late last year or are planning to leave soon. Some of those who remain say it’s no wonder why: They describe a work environment with little support from their superiors and fewer chances for promotion.”

“The departures have been so pronounced that, according to one current and one former White House official, some Black aides have adopted a term for them: ‘Blaxit.’”

For example: “The first big exit came in December, when Kamala Harris’ senior adviser and chief spokesperson Symone Sanders announced she was leaving, ultimately for a gig at MSNBC. Since then, Harris senior aides Tina Flournoy, Ashley Etienne and Vincent Evans, and public engagement head Cedric Richmond have left.” The full list of staffers who have left or are planning to leave

🦠 Latest with COVID

Vaccine misinformation is prevalent among pregnant women:

“Seven in ten women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant believe or are unsure about false claims related to COVID-19 vaccines, a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) poll found.” More of the poll’s findings

➤ BY THE NUMBERS

Cases to date: 83.7 million

Death toll: 1,001,313

Current hospitalizations: 20,354

Shots administered: 586 million

Fully vaccinated: 66.6 percent of Americans

CDC data here.

🐥Notable tweets

The Nats were feeling feisty on Monday:

The Washington Nationals tweeted from its official Twitter account, “FINAL // the Mets had a lot of hits, but so did Nickelback.”

Getting traction:

Check out the cover of The New York Times Sunday Review. Photo from Time’s Aman Batheja

⏱On tap

The House and Senate are out and have pro forma sessions today. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C.

9:30 a.m.: Biden received the President’s Daily Brief.
10:30 a.m.: Harris met with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
11 a.m.: Biden held a bilateral meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in the Oval Office.
Noon: Biden and Harris have lunch together.
1:15 p.m.: Biden meets with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to discuss inflation.
3 p.m.: Biden meets with K-Pop band BTS to discuss ant-Asian hate crimes and discrimination. This is closed to press.