Quiet Biden presidency confronts noisy world: The Note

The president's approach to diplomacy and politics can feel abnormal amid chaos.

By
Rick Klein
,
Averi Harper
 and
Meg Cunningham
May 26, 2021, 6:00 AM ET
6 min read

The TAKE with Rick Klein

Amid searing and sometimes chaotic events, the story out of the White House of late has been what President Joe Biden isn't saying as much as what he is.

Last week, it was what the president wasn't saying publicly about bloody clashes in the Middle East. This week, it's what Biden isn't saying to influence tense negotiations over issues that are central to his campaign promises and his governing agenda.

On Tuesday, the president largely left it to members of the Floyd family and their attorneys to characterize an Oval Office meeting held on the anniversary of George Floyd's death. The bully pulpit was quiet, with a paper statement from Biden praising "the good-faith efforts from Democrats and Republicans to pass a meaningful bill out of the Senate."

The White House is characterizing his approach as a way to give Capitol Hill negotiating space. But it rankles some on both the left and the right -- for different, though related, reasons.

On infrastructure, Republican senators are not-too-subtly suggesting that Biden's team is going back on the president's private words to them, per ABC News' Trish Turner and Allison Pecorin.

"The president will not be surprised at the more outlined and specific offer that he is going to receive," Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said of the GOP counter-proposal coming Thursday.

Some of what is making the Biden presidency notable is its contrasts to what came before it. Diplomacy that is diplomatic and putting real faith in Congress to work toward solutions -- not to mention staying out of the immediate news cycle -- are just part of what makes normal feel abnormal.

The RUNDOWN with Averi Harper

While much of her family was meeting with the president at the White House to mark her brother George Floyd's death, Bridgett Floyd publicly pushed Biden to work harder to get the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed.

"I was going to D.C. for Biden to sign a bill, Biden has not signed that bill, Biden broke a promise," said Bridgett Floyd during a rally in Minneapolis.

She later added, "My message to the president: get your people in order."

Biden issued a statement on Floyd's death, in part, addressing ongoing police reform legislation negotiations. It made no mention of the deadline he imposed -- and Congress has missed -- to pass the legislation. And even amid criticism that he's taking a hands-off role as it relates to police reform, Biden used tepid language to call for its passage.

"It's my hope they will get a bill to my desk quickly," wrote Biden of the ongoing negotiations.

Rep. Karen Bass, one of the key negotiators on police reform, admitted that the White House is "not directly involved in any negotiations," in an interview with ABC News congressional correspondent Rachel Scott.

For many, the White House's lack of involvement in negotiations will call Biden's commitment to reform into question.

The TIP with Meg Cunningham

The controversial partisan audit in Arizona, after a two-week pause, is off to a rocky restart.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors wrote last week asking the Senate and its contractors to preserve all documents and communications related to the audit for potential use in future litigation.

Wake TSI, the information technology and cybersecurity company handling the processes to hand count Maricopa's 2.1 million ballots, pulled out of the audit on Tuesday, audit officials told ABC News. The processes will now be handled by StratTech, a subcontractor for Wake TSI. Audit officials said no processes will change. It is unclear if StratTech has any election auditing experience, according to local reports.

Later Tuesday, the House and Senate Appropriations committees voted to strip Secretary of State Katie Hobbs -- who has been outspoken about her concerns surrounding the legitimacy of the audit -- of the ability to defend Arizona in litigation related to elections. That power goes to the attorney general.

The change was introduced as an amendment on the state's budget, which appears to be carrying a number of election-related changes that resemble other restrictive bills introduced earlier in the legislative session. Hobbs referred to the bill as "unjustifiable" and said it was a clear play in "partisan politics."

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast. Wednesday morning’s episode features ABC News Medical Unit coordinating producer Sony Salzman, who breaks down Moderna’s data for its vaccine in 12- to 15-year-olds. ABC News senior Investigative reporter Aaron Katersky tells us about a special grand jury impaneled to investigate the Trump Organization in New York. And ABC News chief national correspondent Matt Gutman reports from Israel, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders amid the ongoing cease-fire. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

  • President Joe Biden receives the president's daily brief at 9:50 p.m.
  • The House Appropriations Committee holds a budget hearing for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with testimony from CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and CDC Principal Deputy Director Dr. Anne Schuchat at 10 a.m.
  • The Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies holds a hearing at 10 a.m. on the budget for the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Francis Collins, director of the NIH, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, are among the witnesses.
  • Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appears before the House Appropriations Committee for a hearing at 10 a.m. about management and operations of his department. He appears before the Subcommittee on Homeland Security at 2 p.m. for a hearing on the department's budget.
  • White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds a briefing at 12:30 p.m.
  • Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo appears before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies at 2 p.m. for a hearing on the department's budget.
  • Gary Gensler, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, appears before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government at 2 p.m. for an oversight hearing.
  • Samantha Power, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, appears before the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs at 2:30 p.m. for a hearing on the agency's budget.

    • Download the ABC News app and select "The Note" as an item of interest to receive the day's sharpest political analysis.

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