Biden tried to have it both ways on COVID-19, but that strategy could soon end
Haisten Willis
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The federal emergency over COVID-19 will end on May 11 and with it, one of President Joe Biden‘s most potent political issues.
The pandemic helped Biden get elected, remained one of his best-polling issues in office, helped him pass the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, and even provided a legal pretext for pausing and then canceling $400 billion in student loans.
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“With the economy reeling and families hurting from COVID, I signed the American Rescue Plan as soon as I took office,” Biden said to applause at a Women’s History Month event this week. “Well, it powered the strongest, more equitable job creation at any point in any administration’s history and created more jobs, 12 million, in the first two years than any administration did in four years. And a majority of those people are women hired.”
But with the official emergency ending and the response team disbanding, Biden loses some of his powers, and with the pandemic itself fading into memory, the president will now be tasked with handling its aftermath.
That may be felt most acutely with the economy. The Federal Reserve took on drastic measures to stabilize things during lockdowns, and Congress passed stimulus bills under both Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Inflation remains nearly three times the Fed’s target rate, and Biden hopes to stick a recession-free “soft landing” to get it back down. But the Silicon Valley Bank failure did not stop the Fed from raising interest rates yet again last week.
Republicans are sharpening their attacks, saying Biden is to blame for inflation and that the American Rescue Plan’s massive spending ignited it.
“Biden’s response is that during one of the worst crises in the country, he was Steady Eddy, maintained the economy, grew jobs, and dealt with inflation that was caused by something that was out of anyone’s control,” Democratic strategist Michael Stratton said. “He maintained it then, he’s maintaining it now, and there’s reason to believe that interest rates will start to stabilize.”
In fact, Stratton argues the GOP attacks Biden over COVID-19 precisely because the public believes he handled it well.
Either way, those criticisms continue. The internationally thorny question of how the virus started, once considered a fringe issue, has attracted bipartisan focus. Congress unanimously passed and Biden has quietly signed a bill declassifying what the government knows about COVID-19’s origins.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is still going after Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s former chief medical officer, comparing his tenure at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to that of notorious FBI leader J. Edgar Hoover and calling to disband the agency.
The pandemic also provided Biden with the legal justification to continue the student loan pause Trump started and even to try and “cancel” $400 billion in loans. That decision was announced six weeks before the midterm elections, potentially driving turnout among younger voters.
But the cancellation plan was blocked by a judge just days after voting ended and now sits in the hands of a conservative-dominated Supreme Court that may scrap it this summer. The loan pause is also going to end within a few months after being in place for more than three years.
Almost all pandemic-related restrictions ended during 2022, and a backlash against mask and vaccine mandates eventually fueled the rise of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who now ranks among Biden’s top 2024 challengers.
Republican strategist Doug Heye doesn’t think the emergency’s end will be a negative for Biden. The president can continue pointing to his handling of the situation when pressed and can even take credit for getting the United States past the worst of the situation.
“There is a conversation about COVID origins and mandates, but that’s not the conversation everyday Americans are having,” Heye said. “They’re talking about inflation and overall economic anxiety, rising crime, and issues impacting their daily lives now and moving forward. That’s where the candidates’ emphasis should be. Polls showing a majority think opportunity will be worse for their kids is much more important here.”
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The bigger pandemic debate, politics-wise, may be on the other side of the aisle for now.
“The more interesting contrast on COVID will be between Trump and DeSantis,” Heye said. “That will tell us more about where the GOP really is on the issue.”