BECERRA’s BACKSEAT ROLE ON COVID — President Joe Biden assembled what he’s called a “world-class” team of health experts to lead the fight against Covid-19. But his top health official, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, has played only a minor role in steering the crisis response so far , Adam reports. Over his first six months in office, Becerra’s had little involvement in major pandemic decisionmaking. He’s kept out of internal policy debates between HHS’ scientific agencies. And he’s yet to make an appearance at a White House Covid-19 briefing. Becerra’s low profile is part by design. The White House has consolidated power over the response under Covid coordinator Jeff Zients, who oversees his own team and often works directly with top public health officials at the CDC and FDA. Yet it’s also a recognition of Becerra’s own lack of public health experience. Without a medical background or scientific expertise, Becerra’s ability to contribute to in-depth debates driving pandemic decisionmaking has been limited, administration officials said. Instead, he’s spent nearly every other week on the road, promoting Biden’s broader health agenda and response efforts in local communities. That’s created problems of late, as the White House sparred with CDC officials over vaccine research and the CDC and FDA clashed over the Covid-19 booster rollout. Amid the infighting, some officials questioned why Becerra hasn’t taken a stronger hand in managing relations between the various factions. In an interview, Becerra defended his role in the Covid response – calling HHS “an integral part” that’s been involved in every facet of the effort. He also defended the administration’s decision to roll out a booster plan before the science was settled. Even his allies, though, worry that Becerra’s quieter presence on the pandemic foreshadows future difficulties getting the White House to invest in the rest of his health ambitions. HHS has only recently gotten more involved in Congress’ efforts to craft a drug pricing plan. And despite harboring a lengthy agenda, Becerra acknowledged there’s only so much that can get done until the pandemic is defeated. “You really can’t get to the other things if Covid is still surrounding you,” he said. SUPPLY CONCERNS SHAPE BIDEN BOOSTER PLAN — Top advisers to President Joe Biden pushed for his administration to announce a broad booster rollout for September partly because of fears the U.S. could run short of doses needed to offer the shots to its entire population if vaccines’ protection decreased suddenly, two senior officials with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO’s Erin Banco. Biden’s team wanted to ensure the U.S. would have enough supply for the 40 percent of eligible Americans who still needed their first shots and those who would eventually need a boost, the officials said — despite the country’s deep vaccine stockpile. “No one wants to be the person responsible for not having the doses when we need them,” one individual familiar with the deliberations told Erin. Similar concerns led the administration to delay its first vaccine donations this spring despite an abundance of doses at home, prompting criticism that the U.S. was hoarding shots while the world suffered. But the White House’s booster balancing act comes as the Biden administration this week hosts a global vaccine summit at the U.N. General Assembly, where U.S. officials will push other international leaders to commit more resources to increase vaccination worldwide. In a series of meetings over the past two months, Biden’s chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, and some of the most senior White House officials argued the U.S. needed to protect itself, pointing to data from Israel that showed the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was becoming less effective against infection and severe disease. And if domestic data had yet to catch up to the distressing reality in Israel, it soon would, those officials argued. DEMS TIE DEBT TO FUNDING, SETTING UP A FIGHT — Congressional Democrats are proposing lifting the debt ceiling through the 2022 midterm elections as part of their plans to fund the government into December, leaders said Monday afternoon, POLITICO’s Caitlin Emma and Sarah Ferris report. The problem: That measure, set for a House vote this week, faces an uncertain future as Senate Republicans remain unwilling to help Democrats neutralize the looming crisis over the nation’s debt limit when their party controls Congress and the White House. Democratic leaders are sticking with their hardball tactics to pressure the GOP, still unwilling to publicly discuss possible alternatives to tackle the debt limit unilaterally. But those conversations are happening privately as the House returns Monday for the first time since mid-August, with just 10 days until the funding deadline and just a few weeks until a possible debt default, Caitlin and Sarah write. | 
