President JOE BIDEN will face the White House press corps today at 4 p.m. He’s due for a grilling given the state of his presidency one year in: His poll numbers are underwater, his agenda is stalled, inflation is soaring, Covid-19 is raging. And the midterms are coming. We reached out to White House reporters and editors at more than a dozen outlets from Fox News to the wires on Tuesday night, inquiring about questions they’d like to hear the president answer. Here’s what we heard from those who responded: — NPR’s MARA LIASSON said she’s “watching to see how Biden tries to reposition himself after a rocky six months.” After a string of failures on everything from Build Back Better to expanding voting rights, she’s curious whether he will articulate a new vision for the future — a question, she notes, many Democrats are asking right now. “How does he plan to proceed on voting rights now that the chances for federal legislation seem nil?” she asks. “Would he accept a BBB bill written by JOE MANCHIN? And on Covid, while we are sure he will tout his free mask and home test distribution program, what about the new Pfizer Paxlovid Covid treatment pill? Does he have plans to make that widely available too?” — SAM STEIN, our indefatigable White House editor, notes that “voters in poll after poll say they think the country is on the wrong track.” He would ask Biden if they’re wrong, and if so, why? He also notes that the party’s much ballyhooed expanded child tax credit just expired. “What is your message to families who were able to lift their children out of poverty because of that and who now have deep financial uncertainty in their lives?” he wants to know. — TheGrio’s APRIL RYAN, who just marked 25 years covering the White House, says Biden owes an explanation to Black voters about why policing reform executive action hasn’t happened and the voting rights push stalled. White House officials have said they wanted to get infrastructure done first. But now many civil rights activists and people of color who helped him clinch the nomination are questioning whether Biden miscalculated by waiting as long as he did. “His disapproval is because many promises have not come through,” Ryan told us Tuesday night. “The White House says people are ‘Covid weary,’ but it’s a little bit more than that. … I’m looking for issues that pertain to Black America, particularly as Black America happened to be the catalyst for Joe Biden.” On a related note, we’re curious whether Biden thinks his failure to pass national voting standards will hurt the party in the midterms, particularly in states where Republican legislatures have made it tougher to vote. — The pandemic is bound to be a major topic. Our health care team colleague ADAM CANCRYN says one of the biggest outstanding questions is what success looks like for Biden when it comes to Covid. “Biden campaigned on eradicating the virus altogether. A year and multiple variants later, there’s virtually no chance of achieving that,” he says. “So what will now be good enough for Biden, and what level of living with Covid-19 does he think Americans should accept — and judge him by in November?” — SCOTT BIXBY of The Daily Beast wants to know what Biden has to say about recent statements from ANTHONY FAUCI and other scientists suggesting we’ll all get Covid at some point. Does Biden “now believe that fully beating the pandemic — à la polio or smallpox — is no longer possible”? — One White House reporter who asked not to be named is curious whether Biden plans to watch the Winter Olympics in Beijing given the diplomatic boycott due to human rights violations. Does he think Americans should watch? The same person wants Biden to weigh in on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling striking down his vaccine mandate for the private sector. “Given that development, are other measures needed to entice people into getting their shots, like a domestic travel mandate?” she asks. Republicans might ask another follow-up: Does Biden think his vaccine mandate was a mistake? — Another White House correspondent is focused on the format of Biden’s presser: “I want a proper press conference, one where the press asks hard questions, and the president gives straight answers, not just to the networks or to the White House’s favorite reporters either. I’m not asking for much.” Here are a few other dynamics we’ll be watching: — How hard does Biden go after Manchin and KYRSTEN SINEMA for tanking his agenda? What does he think of threats from the left to primary them? — Will Biden open the door to any sort of bipartisan action? With his poll numbers dragging, Republicans don’t have much political incentive to work with him. But the GOP did signal a willingness to deal on Electoral Count Act reforms, an offer the White House has snubbed so far. And his press conference comes just hours before Republicans will filibuster the Democratic Party’s voting bill — again. Will Biden double down on the party’s all-or-nothing approach, or crack open the door to compromise? — The newsiest bits could come on Biden’s legislative strategy. The White House has seemed eager to make another attempt to get Manchin back to the negotiating table on BBB. But some Democrats on the Hill say it's time to cut their losses and move on. Frontline Democrats are now pushing for one-off votes on BBB proposals. Progressives are demanding the president use executive action to enact what he can. Will Biden lay out a new game plan? — Don't forget about inflation — it’s only the biggest concern on voters’ minds. Does the president lean into predictions that the worst is behind us, or does that risk setting high expectations that could be dashed with the next CPI release? Also, what’s his long-term plan to deal with the matter? — And lastly, some clarity on messaging: Administration officials said they’re going to stop negotiating in public and focus on talking straight to the American people. What does that even mean? And is that an acknowledgment that the White House needs a reset after failure of BBB and the upcoming failure of voting rights? Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri. | 
