Biden returns to DC for a Christmas reckoning: President ignores questions and heads straight to the Oval Office with his approval rating dropping to 41%, Omicron cases passing 1,000 and his agenda in tatters
- Joe Biden departed Wilmington, Delaware on Monday for Washington, D.C. as he returns to a Democratic party in crisis
- President's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better agenda was effectively killed on Sunday by Democratic Senator Joe Manchin
- On Tuesday, Biden will announce new measures to address COVID-19 as the Omicron variant rapidly spreads
President Joe Biden arrived back in Washington, D.C. Monday from his Wilmington, Delaware home after his Build Back Better plan was effectively killed over the weekend by Democratic Senator Joe Manchin.
When landing back in D.C., Biden immediately walked to the Oval Office to get to work, ignoring reporters who were shouting questions related to the breakdown of his ambitious agenda.
Also facing the president as he returns to the beltway are record-setting spikes in cases of COVID-19 with the swift spread of the Omicron variant.
Traveling with Biden from Delaware to D.C. on Monday are his son Hunter and grandson Beau.
Biden is also preparing for remarks Tuesday where he will announce new measures to address coronavirus concerns as Omicron spreads through cities leading to case spikes not yet seen before in the pandemic.
Upon returning from his weekend away and going into Christmas week, Biden is facing a new low disapproval of 55 per cent, according to a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll released Monday. The new poll includes 44 per cent who strongly disapprove and shows support among independent voters alone has dropped eight points in the last week.
Forty-one per cent of Americans approve of the job Biden's doing as president.
President Joe Biden departed Wilmington, Delaware on Monday for Washington, D.C. as he returns to a crisis within his party after his Build Back Better agenda was effectively killed during his weekend away
Biden salutes Marines as he boards Marine One to return to Washington, D.C. on Monday, December 20 for a busy week ahead of his Christmas holiday
When landing back on the White House South Lawn on Monday, Biden walked to the Oval Office and ignored reporters shouting questions about Manchin definitively saying he will vote against BBB
Over the weekend, the nation eclipsed 1,000 cases of Omicron strain, with 221 cases being recorded between Sunday and early Monday morning
While Biden's approval rating has been steadily dropping below the 50 per cent mark since mid-August, the recent lows are indicative of how the country feels about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the late spring and early summer, when COVID cases had dropped substantially amidst the initial wave of vaccinations, Biden's approval sat between 51-54 per cent. His approval and disapproval ratings have since then flipped.
Over the weekend, the nation eclipsed 1,000 cases of the strain, with 221 cases being recorded between Sunday and early Monday morning. The country has now joined a dubious group of five countries with more than 1,000 cases of the new variant, reaching 1,079 as of Monday morning.
It comes as experts begin to learn more about the variant, which was first discovered late last month in South Africa. Omicron is the most mutated COVID strain yet, with over 50 mutations total - including 30 on its spike protein. Early data shows it can evade protection provided by all three available COVID vaccines, though getting a booster shot can significantly shore up a person's protection against infection.
On Monday morning, Dr Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told ABC's Good Morning America that America should move past trying to prevent infections, and instead work to stop hospitalizations and deaths.
'The goal cannot be to avoid infection at all costs,' he said. 'That's an unrealistic goal. The goal should be prevent deaths and severe illness which vaccines will do.'
The new low ratings also come as Biden faces obstacles related to his keystone agenda – the Build Back Better social spending and welfare plan.
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia said in an interview on Sunday when talking about BBB: 'I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation.'
'I just can't,' he told Fox News Sunday host Bret Baier. 'I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there.'
He added: 'This is a no.'
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday he will go forward with holding a vote on BBB to force Manchin to vote no after killing the bill by saying he can't support the behemoth social spending legislation.
'Senators should be aware that the Senate will, in fact, consider the Build Back Better Act, very early in the new year so that every Member of this body has the opportunity to make their position known on the Senate floor, not just on television,' Schumer wrote in a letter to colleagues.
'We are going to vote on a revised version of the House-passed Build Back Better Act – and we will keep voting on it until we get something done,' the New York Democrat insisted.
The White House said that Manchin's comments on Sunday were not in line with 'good faith' discussions between the senator and Biden, including a meeting at the president's Delaware home in October.
The White House accused Manchin of breaking his word following months of negotiations.
On Sunday, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin told Fox News that he will not vote to pass Biden's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better agenda – even in the New Year
'Senator Manchin promised to continue conversations in the days ahead, and to work with us to reach that common ground,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Sunday.
'If his comments on Fox and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position,' she added, 'and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator's colleagues in the House and Senate.'
Psaki said the White House will continue to apply pressure on Manchin in hopes he will 'again' change his mind on BBB.
Share this article
'Just as Senator Manchin reversed his position on Build Back Better this morning, we will continue to press him to see if he will reverse his position yet again, to honor his prior commitments and be true to his word,' she said.
'Senator Manchin's comments this morning on Fox are at odds with his discussions this week with the President, with White House staff, and with his own public utterances.'
She added: 'Weeks ago, Senator Manchin committed to the President, at his home in Wilmington, to support the Build Back Better framework that the President then subsequently announced. Senator Manchin pledged repeatedly to negotiate on finalizing that framework 'in good faith.'
