President Joe Biden needs history not to repeat itself as his administration starts coordinating with state and local governments over his much-hyped $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal.
And with Biden trying to defend his economic credentials amid a sluggish pandemic recovery and rising consumer prices before next year’s midterm elections, any mistakes similar to former President Barack Obama’s Solyndra drama may be disastrous for him and his party.
BIDEN, A SLOPPY MESSENGER, TO GO ON INFRASTRUCTURE DEAL SALES TOUR
With a spending measure of the infrastructure deal’s magnitude, there is an inherent danger of a problematic policy or “funds will go awry,” according to political commentator Costas Panagopoulos.
“But the Biden administration cannot afford missteps that calcify perceptions of incompetence,” he said, after a handful of presidential gaffes and Biden’s deadly withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
For Panagopoulos, Northeastern University’s politics chairman, disclosure will be Biden’s best antidote against “any scandalous situations” as the president’s average job approval hovers under 43% and his disapproval around 52%, according to RealClearPolitics.
“The administration is mindful of this and will act accordingly, especially given the bipartisan support for this package,” Panagopoulos said. “Even Republicans could be damaged if this investment backfires in some way.”
Darrell West, Brookings Institution’s governance studies vice president, predicted oversight would dominate infrastructure deal news coverage after Congress passed it last week following a monthslong delay.
“With all the spending, people are going to want to know where and how the money was spent,” he told the Washington Examiner.
“What Biden officials have learned is to place more of the responsibility for transparency and accountability at the state than federal level,” he said, adding technology had improved to better spot abnormalities or contracting outliers. “When reporters have questions, top officials are saying go to the states to find answers. That puts the onus on state officials to answer questions and ensure the integrity of the funding decisions.”
Former President Donald Trump also relied heavily on state and local governments in his COVID-19 response, a tactic Democrats criticized early in the outbreak when states were struggling to procure healthcare supplies, such as masks and personal protective gear, and Trump declined to invoke the Defense Production Act.
Biden traveled to Baltimore on Wednesday, the first stop of his sales tour pitching the infrastructure deal to the public, despite waiting until next Monday to sign the bill into law. Liberal House Democrats had blocked the Senate-approved legislation for almost three months as they sought concessions from centrist colleagues regarding Biden’s sprawling $1.75 trillion social welfare and climate framework.
Biden has needled the press, claiming reporters were adamant the White House and congressional leadership would not be able to whip enough votes for the infrastructure deal. But now he, his Cabinet secretaries, and other representatives, from White House chief of staff Ron Klain to spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, are being peppered with implementation queries for which they do not appear to be prepared.
Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo was invited to the White House briefing room this week to underscore the infrastructure deal’s broadband initiatives. But she had to explain, too, why it was exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act’s notice requirements, among other logistical concerns.
“I’ll confess I haven’t gone that deeply into the weeds of that particular provision,” Raimondo said. “But I will say this: As I said here, we are deeply committed to transparency. The way to build public trust is transparency. As a result, every single state plan is going to have to be put online. So, you can comb through every detail of every plan to see where every penny goes. And I think that’s really important.”
Former Democratic consultant Christopher Hahn downplayed any possible political blowback. But he advised his party to be “on guard” and ready themselves to be “much more aggressive in combating these attacks.”
“Risk or not, I’m sure Republicans will find an anecdote that they will attempt to define the entire program with, just as they did with Solyndra,” Hahn said. “Whenever there’s a large pool of money being spent by the government, there’s always a risk that even a good-intentioned company will fail and become the subject of the right-wing echo chamber’s wrath.”
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Solyndra, a California company that manufactured novel solar panel components, filed for bankruptcy in 2011 after it was promoted as one of the initial loan guarantee recipients under Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus. The government lost $528 million over the $535 million loan, and an investigation revealed Solyndra misled the Department of Energy in its application.
