President Biden is canceling a trip to Chicago and will instead remain in Washington D.C., the White House announced on Tuesday.
Although the White House claims that Biden is remaining in D.C. to continue haggling with Democrats over his domestic agenda, party insiders say that the president has been almost completely disengaged with the legislative proceedings on Capitol Hill.
“The president needs to pick up the phone and call people,” Politico reported on Monday, citing a ‘moderate source close to the talks.’ The person said the White House has been in “listening mode” for too long and needed to ‘bang heads’ to get the bills across the finish line.
“I don’t understand why the president isn’t whipping his own historic bill,” another moderate House Democrat said.