President Biden was blasted for “quiet quitting” and failing to steer his fellow Democrats amid the continuing fiscal battle in Congress that would result in a authorities shutdown simply days earlier than Christmas.
Text of the 1,500-page funding invoice wanted to maintain the federal government working as ordinary was launched Tuesday night, simply three days earlier than the present funding cycle ends. However, President-elect Trump threw a wrench in lawmakers’ plans after he demanded Republicans renegotiate the invoice to incorporate a rise within the debt ceiling and a discount in sure Democratic spending initiatives, which Trump described as “Democrat giveaways.”
Biden was house in Wilmington, Delaware, attending a memorial service for his late ex-wife and child daughter, when information of Trump’s calls for got here down. He will return to the nation’s capital later this afternoon.
President Biden and first girl Jill Biden depart St. Joseph on the Brandywine after a church service in Wilmington, Delaware, on Dec. 18, 2024. Biden attended a memorial service Wednesday commemorating the 52nd anniversary of the demise of his first spouse and daughter in a visitors accident. (Getty Images)
Thus far, the lame-duck president has not commented on the continuing spending battle in Congress, however on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre launched a press release deriding Trump for “taking part in politics.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House to inquire whether or not Biden expects to discuss the legislative battle, however didn’t obtain a response.
“Presidents are elected to four-year phrases, however Joe Biden way back ceded the mantle of management and the tasks of governing. While the remainder of the nation is busy at work within the final week earlier than Christmas, the president is on trip in Delaware and the nation he ostensibly nonetheless oversees is careening towards a fiscal cliff,” GOP strategist Colin Reed mentioned.
Reed added that it was “not shocking” to him that Biden’s administration “is seemingly content material to slink away earlier than their time period even ends.” Reed mentioned it wasn’t shocking both that Americans “voted for a brand new course final month.”
Meanwhile, along with Republicans, former aides for former President Barack Obama, a cohort referred to as the “Obama bros” who run a preferred liberal-leaning podcast, additionally slammed Biden for his absence, telling listeners of their podcast this week that it’s changing into “simpler and simpler to overlook” that Trump is not within the White House but. A current report from The New York Times additionally famous that Biden has been “a little older and a little slower” within the closing days of his presidency.
The National Christmas Tree Lighting was held exterior the White House on Dec. 5, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)
“I can’t fairly determine it out. He appears to be performing some form of ‘quiet quitting,’” GOP marketing campaign knowledgeable David Kochel mentioned.
Kochel identified that along with being absent amid the government spending fight, Biden was additionally absent on the reopening ceremony for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which dozens of heads of state attended.
First girl Jill Biden, Brigitte Macron, President-elect Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron attend the ceremony to mark the reopening of Notre Dame on Dec. 7, 2024, in Paris.
“For the nation’s second Catholic president to skip the reopening of Notre Dame, whereas Trump and Jill Biden attended, one has to marvel if he’s simply principally given up,” Kochel questioned. “That mentioned, does he even possess the management abilities and acuity at this level to have any actual impression on the federal government funding concern? I doubt it.”
Biden’s Cabinet officers seemingly really feel totally different, nonetheless. Several of them reiterated their faith in Biden’s ability to fulfill his duties for the rest of his lame-duck presidency this week, regardless of issues over his previous age and obvious diminished cognitive functioning.
“Maybe it’s for the perfect he simply fades into the woodwork. It is actually weird, although, how a lot he has disappeared. I believe even Democrats are scratching their heads,” Kochel mentioned.
Michael Chamberlain, director of ethics watchdog Protect the Public’s Trust, mentioned an absence of management from Biden “has basically been the Biden-Harris administration’s MO from almost the start.”
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“This vacuum has been evident on ethics and transparency, in addition to scientific integrity, and different areas. The administration that was imagined to be a ‘return to normalcy,’ promising to be essentially the most moral and clear in historical past, has confirmed to be something however,” Chamberlain mentioned. “Sadly, the abdication of management in these areas appears to have expanded to embody each facet of the presidency.”
Earlier this month, White House chief of workers Jeff Zients despatched a memo to workers outlining the ultimate priorities for the Biden administration throughout its final days earlier than Trump takes over. “Let’s end robust,” he mentioned.
