Biden to launch three week travel blitz touting economic agenda

The White House on Friday announced plans for a three-week travel blitz to highlight President Biden’s economic agenda and investments through legislation passed last year.

The “Investing in America tour” will officially start next Tuesday when Biden travels to North Carolina to visit a chips manufacturer. Biden and other administration officials are expected to visit more than 20 states over the next three weeks, a White House official said.

The travel is intended to amplify legislative accomplishments from the past year such as the CHIPS and Science Act that boosted investment in semiconductor chip manufacturing and research domestically, as well as the Inflation Reduction Act, which lowered certain health care costs and created incentives for clean energy investments.

The tour will overlap with a two-week congressional recess, and the White House expects lawmakers to join administration officials at scheduled stops in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin, North Carolina and elsewhere.

“The tour will reinforce what’s at stake for hardworking families across the country if Republicans in Congress get their way and repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and slash funding for manufacturing, research, and innovation,” a White House official said. 

The effort to educate the public on the Biden administration’s accomplishments and agenda is similar to other travel the White House has done around the 2021 American Rescue Plan and the bipartisan infrastructure law signed in late 2021.

It also comes as the White House has made a concerted effort to draw contrasts between legislation Biden has signed during his first two years in office and efforts by House Republicans to claw back some of that funding or reform government programs.

While Biden administration officials maintain the economy is in a strong position and the public should not worry about a recession, public opinion polling has shown a lukewarm response to Biden’s performance.

An Associated Press-NORC poll published Thursday showed Biden’s approval rating at 38 percent, down from 45 percent in February and 41 percent in January.