Biden, Congress set to clash over spending, migrants and Hunter
President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on the economy in June in Chicago. Credit: AP/Evan Vucci
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s summer offered a preview of the political battles he is expected to face this fall once Congress reconvenes, with clashes over government spending, his son’s business dealings and the federal response to New York’s migrant crisis all expected to intensify.
Biden spent most of July and August on the road touting his “Bidenomics” economic agenda, but his messages highlighting a new wave of federal infrastructure projects often competed with news about his son Hunter Biden, the subject of a federal probe.
White House officials are bracing for a swirl of potential impeachment inquiries. House Republicans, namely from the chamber’s right wing, have threatened to launch inquiries into Biden over his son, Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas over the response to migrants at the U.S. southern border and Attorney General Merrick Garland over the Justice Department's prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
On Friday, White House spokesman Ian Sams issued a statement denouncing GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for floating the prospect of an impeachment inquiry, calling it an attempt to “throw red meat to the right wing.”
After a nearly monthlong summer recess, the Senate is scheduled to reconvene Tuesday and the House is expected to resume Sept. 12. These are some of the battles looming between Biden and Republican lawmakers:
Right-wing House Republicans largely aligned with Trump, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-Ga.), have been pressing McCarthy to greenlight an impeachment inquiry into Biden and his son who has had business relationships with enterprises in China and Ukraine.
Greene and others have accused Biden of helping his son profit off his time in office. The president has maintained that he has not been involved with his son’s private business matters, and a number of moderate House Republicans have conceded there is no evidence of wrongdoing.
“We should have more confidence that actual high crimes and misdemeanors occurred before starting a formal impeachment inquiry,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) told NBC News last month.
In July, Hunter Biden was expected to plead guilty to federal charges that he failed to pay nearly $200,000 in federal taxes and that he lied about his sobriety status when purchasing a gun in 2018. He entered a not guilty plea after a proposed plea deal between his attorneys and federal prosecutors collapsed. The case is now expected to head to trial as his father seeks reelection.
Days later, AG Garland said the Department of Justice had elevated the federal prosecutor in charge of investigating Hunter Biden to a special counsel. The new status came at the request of the prosecutor — Delaware’s U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss — and will allow him wider reach in an investigation that was launched in 2018.
Former Long Island congressman Steve Israel, a Democrat who advised Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, said he believed an inquiry would cost moderate House Republicans, including those who flipped districts won by Biden.
“The Republicans need a narrative going into a very close presidential and congressional cycle,” said Israel, who serves as director of the nonpartisan Institute of Politics and Global Affairs at Cornell University. “They cannot attack Biden for lowering prescription drug costs. They cannot attack him for an economy that's growing stronger. So they have to attack him on Hunter Biden. And if it wasn't Hunter, if there was no Hunter, they'd find a distant cousin to go after.”
Former Long Island congressman Pete King, a Seaford Republican, said he didn’t think an inquiry would be a political windfall for Republicans, noting that former President Bill Clinton’s polling numbers increased after his 1998 impeachment.
“I can see the purpose if it’s the only way to get facts out there, and to get the administration to start turning over more documents,” King said.
On Thursday, the White House issued a letter to lawmakers urging them to pass a short-term spending bill that would avert a potential government shutdown and the disruption of federal services at the end of the month.
Last month, the White House also laid out $44 billion in emergency funding requests for Congress to consider in September, including increasing funding to Ukraine in its fight against Russia and boosting disaster recovery funding in the wake of wildfires in Hawaii, flooding in the Northeast and most recently Hurricane Idalia.
House Freedom Caucus members have already threatened to derail any stopgap measure, saying in August they opposed additional funding for Ukraine and wanted an increase in funding for immigration enforcement at the U.S. southern border.
With House Republicans holding a narrow majority over Democrats, McCarthy cannot afford to lose votes from the 45-member caucus in order to pass a spending agreement that the Democrat-majority Senate will also agree to.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaking at a business luncheon in Kentucky, called the pending negotiations “a pretty big mess,” but predicted a short-term bill would be passed “as we struggle to figure out exactly what the government’s spending level is gonna be for next year.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday said White House officials will continue “talking, engaging with Congress” to ensure a bill is passed.
"This is what they are supposed to do — make sure that the government works and key vital pieces of programs continue to get funded," Jean-Pierre said of Congress.
New York has long been friendly terrain for Biden, but he has fielded criticism from state Republicans and Democrats demanding an increased federal response to New York City’s growing migrant crisis.
The Biden administration has requested an additional $600 million from Congress to help states grappling with an increase in migrants, but New York City Mayor Eric Adams has said it falls short of the more than $1.7 billion the city has spent since last year to shelter thousands of migrants who have arrived since last spring either on their own or on buses provided by Republican-led border states.
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas and other top Biden aides met with Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday in the West Wing, promising to boost efforts to identify migrants who may already be eligible for temporary work permits. Officials also committed other federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, to assist with processing and sheltering migrants.
Days earlier, Homeland Security officials met with top Hochul and Adams officials on recommendations to improve the processing of migrants.
Hochul thanked the administration but noted “it is not enough to fully address this crisis or provide the level of support that New Yorkers need and deserve.”
White House officials maintain they are limited in what they can do, saying it is up to Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform package to modernize the nation’s laws. Lawmakers have failed to reach a compromise on immigration reform for more than two decades, and the Democratic majority Senate and Republican majority House are unlikely to consider a compromise package heading into the 2024 election cycle.
Republican campaign strategist Susan Del Percio said the migrant issue could make Biden and New York congressional Democrats vulnerable in the coming election.
“This is going to become a Republican mobilizing message,” Del Percio said. “It's no longer a border issue. And not that Biden is in any chance of losing New York, but there are some House seats where even though they're redrawing the lines, that issue is a mobilizing line.”
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s summer offered a preview of the political battles he is expected to face this fall once Congress reconvenes, with clashes over government spending, his son’s business dealings and the federal response to New York’s migrant crisis all expected to intensify.
Biden spent most of July and August on the road touting his “Bidenomics” economic agenda, but his messages highlighting a new wave of federal infrastructure projects often competed with news about his son Hunter Biden, the subject of a federal probe.
White House officials are bracing for a swirl of potential impeachment inquiries. House Republicans, namely from the chamber’s right wing, have threatened to launch inquiries into Biden over his son, Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas over the response to migrants at the U.S. southern border and Attorney General Merrick Garland over the Justice Department's prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
On Friday, White House spokesman Ian Sams issued a statement denouncing GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for floating the prospect of an impeachment inquiry, calling it an attempt to “throw red meat to the right wing.”
WHAT TO KNOW
- President Joe Biden is expected to face clashes over government spending, his son’s business dealings and the federal response to New York’s migrant crisis when Congress reconvenes this month.
- White House officials are bracing for potential impeachment inquiries from House Republicans over the business dealings of Biden's son, Hunter.
- Political analysts say Biden might be more vulnerable on the issue of migrants, where he has faced criticism from Republicans and Democrats over his administration's response.
After a nearly monthlong summer recess, the Senate is scheduled to reconvene Tuesday and the House is expected to resume Sept. 12. These are some of the battles looming between Biden and Republican lawmakers:
Impeachment inquiry
Right-wing House Republicans largely aligned with Trump, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-Ga.), have been pressing McCarthy to greenlight an impeachment inquiry into Biden and his son who has had business relationships with enterprises in China and Ukraine.
Greene and others have accused Biden of helping his son profit off his time in office. The president has maintained that he has not been involved with his son’s private business matters, and a number of moderate House Republicans have conceded there is no evidence of wrongdoing.
“We should have more confidence that actual high crimes and misdemeanors occurred before starting a formal impeachment inquiry,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) told NBC News last month.
In July, Hunter Biden was expected to plead guilty to federal charges that he failed to pay nearly $200,000 in federal taxes and that he lied about his sobriety status when purchasing a gun in 2018. He entered a not guilty plea after a proposed plea deal between his attorneys and federal prosecutors collapsed. The case is now expected to head to trial as his father seeks reelection.
Days later, AG Garland said the Department of Justice had elevated the federal prosecutor in charge of investigating Hunter Biden to a special counsel. The new status came at the request of the prosecutor — Delaware’s U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss — and will allow him wider reach in an investigation that was launched in 2018.
Former Long Island congressman Steve Israel, a Democrat who advised Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, said he believed an inquiry would cost moderate House Republicans, including those who flipped districts won by Biden.
“The Republicans need a narrative going into a very close presidential and congressional cycle,” said Israel, who serves as director of the nonpartisan Institute of Politics and Global Affairs at Cornell University. “They cannot attack Biden for lowering prescription drug costs. They cannot attack him for an economy that's growing stronger. So they have to attack him on Hunter Biden. And if it wasn't Hunter, if there was no Hunter, they'd find a distant cousin to go after.”
Former Long Island congressman Pete King, a Seaford Republican, said he didn’t think an inquiry would be a political windfall for Republicans, noting that former President Bill Clinton’s polling numbers increased after his 1998 impeachment.
“I can see the purpose if it’s the only way to get facts out there, and to get the administration to start turning over more documents,” King said.
Budget battle brewing
On Thursday, the White House issued a letter to lawmakers urging them to pass a short-term spending bill that would avert a potential government shutdown and the disruption of federal services at the end of the month.
Last month, the White House also laid out $44 billion in emergency funding requests for Congress to consider in September, including increasing funding to Ukraine in its fight against Russia and boosting disaster recovery funding in the wake of wildfires in Hawaii, flooding in the Northeast and most recently Hurricane Idalia.
House Freedom Caucus members have already threatened to derail any stopgap measure, saying in August they opposed additional funding for Ukraine and wanted an increase in funding for immigration enforcement at the U.S. southern border.
With House Republicans holding a narrow majority over Democrats, McCarthy cannot afford to lose votes from the 45-member caucus in order to pass a spending agreement that the Democrat-majority Senate will also agree to.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaking at a business luncheon in Kentucky, called the pending negotiations “a pretty big mess,” but predicted a short-term bill would be passed “as we struggle to figure out exactly what the government’s spending level is gonna be for next year.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday said White House officials will continue “talking, engaging with Congress” to ensure a bill is passed.
"This is what they are supposed to do — make sure that the government works and key vital pieces of programs continue to get funded," Jean-Pierre said of Congress.
New York’s migrant crisis
New York has long been friendly terrain for Biden, but he has fielded criticism from state Republicans and Democrats demanding an increased federal response to New York City’s growing migrant crisis.
The Biden administration has requested an additional $600 million from Congress to help states grappling with an increase in migrants, but New York City Mayor Eric Adams has said it falls short of the more than $1.7 billion the city has spent since last year to shelter thousands of migrants who have arrived since last spring either on their own or on buses provided by Republican-led border states.
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas and other top Biden aides met with Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday in the West Wing, promising to boost efforts to identify migrants who may already be eligible for temporary work permits. Officials also committed other federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, to assist with processing and sheltering migrants.
Days earlier, Homeland Security officials met with top Hochul and Adams officials on recommendations to improve the processing of migrants.
Hochul thanked the administration but noted “it is not enough to fully address this crisis or provide the level of support that New Yorkers need and deserve.”
White House officials maintain they are limited in what they can do, saying it is up to Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform package to modernize the nation’s laws. Lawmakers have failed to reach a compromise on immigration reform for more than two decades, and the Democratic majority Senate and Republican majority House are unlikely to consider a compromise package heading into the 2024 election cycle.
Republican campaign strategist Susan Del Percio said the migrant issue could make Biden and New York congressional Democrats vulnerable in the coming election.
“This is going to become a Republican mobilizing message,” Del Percio said. “It's no longer a border issue. And not that Biden is in any chance of losing New York, but there are some House seats where even though they're redrawing the lines, that issue is a mobilizing line.”
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
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