President-elect Joe Biden is set to unveil his economic team Tuesday amid growing concerns about the pace of the nation's economic recovery as governments reimpose restrictions to curtail the surging coronavirus pandemic.
Biden has assembled a team of liberal advisers who have long focused on the nation’s workers and government efforts to address economic inequality, as unemployment remains high and as the COVID-19 outbreak widens the gulf between average Americans and the nation's most well off. The virus, which has killed more than 268,000 Americans, is resurgent across the country amid holiday travel and colder weather sending people indoors.
Janet Yellen, announced Monday as Biden’s nominee for treasury secretary, served as chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, when she placed a greater emphasis than previous Fed chairs on maximizing employment and less focus on price inflation. Biden also named Cecilia Rouse as chair of his Council of Economic Advisers, and Heather Boushey and Jared Bernstein as members of the council.
President-elect Joe Biden speaks at The Queen theater, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (AP PhotoCarolyn Kaster)
All are outspoken supporters of more government stimulus spending to boost growth — which Biden embraced on the campaign trail — though their proposals could face a difficult reception in Congress, which has stalemated on a new round of economic relief for months now.
The prospects for a large-scale deal could hang on the outcome of runoff elections for both Georgia Senate seats. Victories in both would give Democrats control of the chamber — and its agenda —- by the slimmest of margins, but Republican victories will quickly test Biden and his team's ability to negotiate across the aisle to deliver on their promised relief for Americans.
The event comes a day after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the pace of improvement in the economy has moderated in recent months with future prospects remaining “extraordinarily uncertain.”
FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 10, 2014, file photo, Neera Tanden, president of Center for American Progress, speaks during an introduction for New Start New Jersey at NJIT in Newark, N.J. President-elect Joe Biden is expected to name several of his most senior economic advisers in the coming days. Tanden could be one of those named. (AP PhotoMel Evans, File)
In remarks released by the Fed on Monday, Powell said that the increase in new COVID-19 cases both in the United States and abroad was “concerning and could prove challenging for the next few months. A full economic recovery is unlikely until people are confident that it is safe to reengage in a broad range of activities.”
It also comes as Steven Mnuchin, President Donald Trump's treasury secretary, announced last month that over the objections of the Fed that he would not grant extensions for five lending programs being operated jointly by the Fed and the Treasury Department that are scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, including backstops for corporate and municipal debt and the purchase of loans for small businesses and nonprofits.
Yellen, if confirmed by the Senate, would be the first woman to serve as treasury secretary, after breaking ground as the first woman to chair the Fed. Rouse would be the first Black woman to lead the CEA in its 74 years of existence. And Neera Tanden, Biden’s pick for director of the Office of Management and Budget, would be the first South Asian American in that job.
Biden also selected Wally Adeyemo to be Yellen’s deputy, which would make him the first Black deputy treasury secretary. Rouse, Tanden and Adeyemo will all require Senate confirmation, and Tanden in particular is already drawing heavy Republican criticism.
Some Republicans panned the announcement of Tanden after she spent years attacking GOP lawmakers on social media — and some doubted she would be able to secure confirmation.
Christopher Rugaber, Aamer Madhani and Martin Crutsinger contributed to this report.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Joe Biden accepted endorsements from at least 15 members of the Kennedy political family during a campaign stop Thursday as he aims to undermine Donald Trump and marginalize the candidacy of independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, niece of former President John F. Kennedy and sister of the current presidential candidate, delivered the endorsements in Philadelphia by calling Biden “my hero.”
“We want to make crystal clear our feelings that the best way forward for America is to reelect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for four more years," she said.
She never directly mentioned her brother, but insisted “there are only two candidates with any chance of winning the presidency” this year, framing the campaign as a choice between Biden and Trump, with no room for a third party contender.
Biden, who keeps a bust of Robert F. Kennedy in the Oval Office, said the endorsements were “an incredible honor." He said Trump, the former Republican president who is the presumptive GOP nominee, was a threat to America's democratic traditions and that "now it's time to keep going and not slow down because there's so much at stake.”
The decision to highlight the Kennedy family's support more than six months from Election Day is an indication of how seriously Biden's team is taking a long shot candidate using his last name’s lingering Democratic magic to siphon support from the incumbent.
Kennedy Jr. played down the endorsements, writing on social media that his family was “divided in our opinions but united in our love for each other." He said his campaign was about “healing America.”
Given Kennedy Jr.'s quixotic political positions and the expectation this year's campaign will be decided by thin margins, both Democrats and Republicans worry that he could play the role of spoiler.
Biden used the campaign event, which capped a three-day swing in a battleground state critical to his reelection effort, to keep up the pressure on Trump.
“Donald Trump’s vision is one of anger, hate, revenge and retribution,” Biden said, adding, "I have a very different view of America, one of hope and optimism."
The Kennedy family endorsements are hardly a surprise. Members of the prominent Democratic family have been vocal that they don't see eye to eye politically with Kennedy Jr., who started as a protest primary challenger to Biden in the Democratic Party and now is running as an independent. Biden last month hosted more than 30 members of Kennedy’s extended family at the White House for St. Patrick’s Day, when family members posed with the president in the Rose Garden and Oval Office.
Later, Biden and members of the Kennedy family were to meet with supporters at a campaign event, and some Kennedy were planning to make calls to voters and knock on doors on Biden's behalf.
Several notable members of the family were not endorsing, including Caroline Kennedy, the U.S. ambassador to Australia, and nonprofit leader Maria Shriver, which the Biden campaign said was due to their nonpolitical professional roles.
Shriver, however, has been a conspicuous White House guest recently, attending the State of the Union and speaking at a women's history month reception last month.
Bernard Tamas of Valdosta State University, an expert on third parties, said it was unclear whether Kennedy Jr. would pull more votes from Democrats or Republicans.
“He is pro-science when it comes to the environment, but a conspiracy theorist when it comes to vaccines,” Tamas said.
Kennedy Jr.'s lack of a clear political lane limits his potential impact on the election, Tamas said, but Democrats appear to be more concerned because his last name could lead some voters to believe that he is carrying on his family’s political legacy.
Other than that, Tamas said, “I don’t know what else he has to attract progressive voters.”
Kennedy Jr. has spoken publicly in the past about disagreeing with his family on many issues, but maintains it can be done in “friendly” ways. After a super political action committee supporting his campaign produced a TV ad during the Super Bowl that relied heavily on imagery from John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential run, Kennedy Jr. apologized to his relatives on the X social media platform, saying he was sorry if the spot “caused anyone in my family pain.”
The Democratic National Committee has hired a communications team to combat the appeal of third-party candidates, Kennedy Jr. first among them. The DNC also filed a recent Federal Election Commission complaint against Kennedy Jr.’s campaign, charging that it coordinated too closely with an affiliated super PAC to get his name on the presidential ballot in some states.
Kennedy Jr. is also viewed warily by the Trump campaign. While Trump has released a recent video saying, “If I were a Democrat, I’d vote for RFK Jr. every single time over Biden," he has sometimes criticized Kennedy Jr. as being more “radical left” than Biden.
Biden's travels across Pennsylvania this week were an opportunity to reconnect with his roots, starting on Tuesday in Scranton, where he lived until age 10. He swung by his childhood home, a three-story colonial that his family rented, and reminisced about attending Mass at St. Paul’s.
In Pittsburgh, he called for higher tariffs on steel and aluminum from China to protect U.S. industry from what he called unfair competition.
But even that event involved some nostalgia, as Biden recalled an endorsement from the steelworkers when he was “a 29-year-old kid” from Delaware running for U.S. Senate.
“It changed everything,” he said.
President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Philadelphia, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Kerry Kennedy, right, introduces President Joe Biden, second from left, at a campaign event, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Philadelphia. Pictured from left are members of the Kennedy family Maxwell Kennedy Sr., Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Rory Kennedy and Christopher Kennedy. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden returns a salute from Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, April 18, 2024. The President is traveling to Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
President Joe Biden boards Air Force One, Thursday, April 18, 2024, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Biden is headed to Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Joe Kennedy speaks to members of the media before President Joe Biden arrives to speak to a Biden campaign event in Philadelphia, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
President Joe Biden waves as he boards Air Force One, Thursday, April 18, 2024, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Biden is headed to Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks to supporters during a campaign event, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Biden scores endorsements from Kennedy family, looking to shore up support against Trump and RFK Jr
Biden scores endorsements from Kennedy family, looking to shore up support against Trump and RFK Jr
President Joe Biden waves as he walks across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, after returning from a trip to Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
