All the president’s mayors

From: POLITICO West Wing Playbook - Thursday Sep 23,2021 10:18 pm

Sep 23, 2021

Presented by The American Petroleum Institute (API)

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Though he was never one himself, President JOE BIDEN has what longtime aides call a love affair with mayors. And if you need any evidence of it, check out his administration.

Biden has filled the ranks of his teams with former mayors.

Four, PETE BUTTIGIEG, TOM VILSACK, MARTY WALSH and MARCIA FUDGE, are in his Cabinet. Three others — RAHM EMANUEL, ERIC GARCETTI and TOM BARRETT — are on their way to ambassadorships. Compare that to Biden’s former boss, President BARACK OBAMA, who had three former mayors in his Cabinet — JULIÁN CASTRO, ANTHONY FOXX and Vilsack — during his eight years in the White House.

Biden has been vocal about his appreciation for those who run towns and cities. Transition officials tasked with nominations knew the president wanted mayors in his Cabinet, a source with direct knowledge told West Wing Playbook.

Biden has admired mayors since his days in the New Castle County Council, Wilmington Mayor MIKE PURZYCKI tells us.

“He understands, as so many people do, that mayors exist really where the rubber meets the road every single day. As important as Congress is, they’re there at a distance. There’s a lot of space between their lives and the lives of people who don’t get the trash collected and people who have crime on their front door,” Purzycki said. “I think Joe intuits that and he responds to it. That’s just who he is.”

That’s one of the reasons that Biden was drawn to Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., who he has compared to his son Beau. During the campaign, Biden’s team put out a web ad that eviscerated his rival for having such limited, provincial experience (installing decorative lights under bridges!). But Biden himself hated the spot, according to BOB WOODWARD and ROBERT COSTA ’s new book, “Peril,” and demanded that it be taken down.

Whatever bad blood existed was patched up quickly, when Buttigieg quickly endorsed Biden upon dropping out. And when it came time to fill out his Cabinet, Biden was drawn to his former primary opponent, appreciating his campaign rhetoric of getting things done without political bickering, which hit on Biden’s potholes-are-bipartisan mentality.

"Mayors don't have time for the ideological and tribal games that dominate Washington's approach to politics,” HARI SEVUGAN, former deputy campaign manager for Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign said.

Biden certainly shares that craving for bipartisan cooperation, but he has had little of the hands-on experience he so admires over the course of his political life. A U.S. senator at 29, he never managed a town, or city or state. And though those close to him don’t think the absence of that experience weighs on him, it is true that throughout his time in public life, and as president as well, he has been prone to pontificate about how the real political work happens at the local level.

“Being a mayor maybe is the toughest job in American politics,” Biden told mayors and governors during an Aug. 11 virtual meeting on infrastructure.

“They know where you live,” he said to laughs, “and you affect their everyday lives more than anybody,” Biden said.

There’s also a clear political advantage to Biden’s love affair for mayors. As he tries to push his infrastructure bill through Congress, winning the support of mayors could influence reluctant lawmakers in the House and Senate.

Mayors are also an integral part of his efforts to “Build Back Better” after the Covid-19 pandemic, as recipients of enormous amounts of federal funding included in the American Rescue Plan.

“Not only does President Biden understand the importance of cities across the U.S. but he also acknowledges the leadership of mayors and that they know what is best for their own municipalities,” Chicago Mayor LORI LIGHTFOOT told us.

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The Environmental Partnership released its third annual report highlighting the industry’s progress in reducing flaring. Participants in the partnership’s new flare management program reported a 50 percent reduction in flare volumes from 2019 to 2020, even as oil and natural gas production remained consistent among participating companies. The partnership and its growing coalition continue to demonstrate the industry’s commitment to further reduce emissions and routine flaring and deliver improved environmental performance.

PRESIDENTIAL TRIVIA

A few readers threw this question our way — which president’s second language was English, and what was his native language?

(Answer at the bottom.)

The Oval

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: A White House economic analysis that found the 400 wealthiest families in America paid an average federal individual income tax rate of only 8.2 percent on $1.8 trillion of income between 2010 and 2018. The White House Twitter account shared that analysis — part of Biden’s effort to increase taxes on the rich as he tries to get Democrats on board his domestic agenda — adding: “It’s time for the wealthy to pay their fair share.”

Former President BARACK OBAMA piggybacked on the push , tweeting a JIM TANKERSLEY New York Times story about the analysis and adding: “If we want to give our children and grandchildren a brighter future, the wealthiest Americans and large corporations must pay their fair share in taxes.”

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: Julián Castro’s tweets about the public health authority known as Title 42 that both the Trump and Biden administrations have used to justify expelling asylum seekers who’ve crossed the southern border. The former Housing and Urban Development secretary and presidential candidate has continued to put pressure on the Biden administration to end Title 42 — especially in light of the violent images of border agents seen grabbing and shouting at Haitian migrants in South Texas. “Suspending the use of horse patrol is nice. Suspending the use of Title 42 would be much better,” Castro tweeted today.

Earlier this week, Castro told the Washington Post, “There are many, many people across the country losing patience with this administration's approach to asylum seekers and immigrants.”

THE BUREAUCRATS

LA CRISE — Tensions between the U.S. and France appear to still be running high despite yesterday’s kiss-and-make-up phone call between Biden and French President EMMANUEL MACRON. French Foreign Minister JEAN-YVES LE DRIAN called the diplomatic feud a “crisis” in a statement released today after his meeting with Secretary of State TONY BLINKEN in France.

That’s much sharper rhetoric than the joint statement the two governments released Wednesday that acknowledged Biden should have consulted France over a submarine deal with Australia and the U.K.

“He [Le Drian] affirmed that a first step had been taken with the call between the two Presidents but noted that it would take time to end the crisis between our two countries and would require actions,” Le Drian’s statement said of today’s Blinken meeting.

The French newspaper Le Monde also called it a “submarine crisis” in a column posted today.

VAX TO SCHOOL: Education Secretary MIGUEL CARDONA declared his support for mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for eligible schoolchildren today, saying the FDA’s full approval of jabs for certain adolescents should clear the way for state officials to implement plans to begin vaccinations.

“Not only do I support it, but I’m encouraging states to come up with a plan to make sure it happens,” Cardona told JUAN PEREZ between stops on a multistate tour of schools and child care facilities.

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Agenda Setting

DEAL OR NO DEAL? Democratic leaders are racing to project momentum on turbulent negotiations over Biden's social spending plans as Congress hurtles toward critical deadlines next week, HEATHER CAYGLE, SARAH FERRIS and JENNIFER SCHOLTES report.

So far, though, those last-ditch efforts to tout unity are only fueling more confusion.

Speaker NANCY PELOSI and Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER on Thursday delivered a cryptic announcement that they had agreed to "a framework" of options to pay for their social spending ambitions, raising questions in all corners of the party about precisely who had signed off, on what and for how much.

YOUR CHECK IS IN THE MAIL: The Biden administration sent school officials in Alachua County, Fla. $147,719 to make up for fines from the Florida Department of Education, ANDREW ATTERBURY reports, marking the first awards granted by the feds in the fight against Republican-led states and their Covid-19 policies. Alachua is one of 11 school districts in Florida to mandate masks for students in defiance of Gov. RON DeSANTIS, who wants parents to have the ultimate say on face coverings in schools.

Filling the Ranks

WALL STREET CRITIC → TOP BANK COP — Biden plans to nominate Cornell Law School professor SAULE OMAROVA to a top job regulating the nation’s banks, the White House announced this afternoon, nearly a day after VICTORIA GUIDA reported the pick late Wednesday night. Omarova has long called for the government to play a more expansive role in providing financial services — and she’s written in favor of restructuring the Federal Reserve.

Advise and Consent

BIPARTISANSHIP LIVES — The Senate voted 68 to 30 to confirm FLORENCE PAN to be a district judge for the District of Columbia. Lawmakers also voted 85 to 11 to confirm SARAH BIANCHI to be deputy U.S. trade representative. Another deputy U.S. trade rep, JAYME WHITE, was confirmed by a similarly big 80-18 margin on Wednesday night.

What We're Reading

Why Biden isn’t hitting the panic button on the debt ceiling — yet (POLITICO’s Christoper Cadelago)

Joe Biden’s poll numbers are plummeting at exactly the wrong time (CNN’s Chris Cilliza)

Regulators racing toward first major rules on cryptocurrency (New York Times’ Eric Lipton, Ephrat Livni and Jeanna Smialek)

Where's Joe

He and Vice President KAMALA HARRIS received the president’s daily brief, and then he received his weekly economic briefing. He and Harris had lunch in the private dining room.

Where's Kamala

With the president for the morning.

Later, she held separate meetings with Ghanaian President NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO and Indian Prime Minister NARENDRA MODI in the vice president’s Ceremonial Office.

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The Oppo Book

One thing Biden’s national climate adviser GINA MCCARTHY likes to do in her free time: golf. Though she admitted to the Washington Post back in 2013 that she doesn’t golf “exceptionally well.”

Instead of using the sport to hobnob with other political insiders — like the rest of D.C. — she said she “prefers to play with her son Daniel, whom she describes as ‘a pretty good golfer.’”

Gina, let us know if you guys ever need to round out a foursome. We’re game.

Trivia Answer

MARTIN VAN BUREN spoke Dutch before learning English in school.

AND A CALL OUT — A big thanks to those who sent over this question. Do you have a really hard trivia question about the presidency? Send us your best one and we may use it: westwingtips@politico.com.

We want your trivia, but we also want your feedback. What should we be covering in this newsletter that we’re not? What are we getting wrong? Please let us know.

Edited by Emily Cadei

A message from The American Petroleum Institute (API):

In 2020, The Environmental Partnership launched its latest environmental performance program, which is focused on reducing flaring of associated gas in oilfield operations. As part of the flare management program, companies are advancing best practices to avoid flaring and minimize emissions. To gauge progress, participants in the program have committed to report data to calculate flare intensity, a measurement of flare volumes relative to production. Participants reported a 50 percent reduction in flare volumes from 2019 to 2020, even as oil and natural gas production remained consistent among participating companies. This progress underscores the industry’s commitment to advancing best practices to reduce flare volumes, promoting the beneficial use of associated gas and improving flare reliability and efficiency. Read more about the partnership’s commitment to environmental progress in its third annual report.