White House chief of staff Ron Klain addressed rising consumer costs during a lunch meeting with Senate Democrats on Thursday and indicated that inflation would be a theme of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters the topics of the lunch included inflation and turning a corner on COVID-19.
Biden has received low marks from voters on his job performance and even lower marks on his handling of the economy as inflation hit a recent 40-year high. A Quinnipiac University Poll this week found most voters said inflation was their top concern. A January Gallup poll found 79% expect inflation to continue to rise over the next six months.
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Rising inflation has plagued the first year of Biden’s presidency, and it has driven a dip in his approval ratings. Biden has consistently argued his Build Back Better legislation (which is stalled in the Senate because Democrats failed to secure the support of Sen. Joe Manchin, a centrist member of the party from West Virginia) as a step to addressing rising consumer costs.
The low approval ratings and voter concerns over inflation are additional hurdles for Democrats to try and overcome in November. The sitting president’s party historically loses congressional seats in a midterm election, an obstacle they must overcome to maintain a hold on power.
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Republicans, seeking to win back a majority they lost in 2018, have blamed rising costs on Biden.
