It was reported on Sunday that Joe Biden is eager to defend his Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, in media interviews after he was chastised for pushing the president to the left.
In light of his dearth of press interviews and record-low number of press conferences in his first year in office, it's remarkable that Biden has promised to defend his top aide in interviews with the media.
Ron Klain under pressure as Joe Biden struggles
Biden only held nine news conferences in his first year, compared to five for his immediate predecessors. He only gave the media 22 interviews in his first year as president, compared to six of his immediate predecessors. As Biden's popularity continues to sink as Democrats struggle to enact the president's massive social safety net legislation as well as new voter rights laws, Klain, 60, has recently come under pressure.
Klain, a veteran Democratic insider, has been accused of 'micromanaging' the West Wing, being overly submissive to the party's left-wing, and paying too much attention to television news and social media. This week, two pieces on Klain's work were published, both of which coincided with Biden's first year in office.
The bulk of them come from unnamed sources, most likely because they concern someone in the White House's key chief of staff position. Most of them originate from undisclosed sources. Bret Stephens, a columnist for the New York Times, has also advocated for his dismissal.
On the heels of their on-air appearances in support of Biden and his agenda, a number of Democratic senators have stated they have received surprise phone calls from Biden praising them. According to Politico, moderate Democrats believe that Klain offers too much respect to his liberal colleagues and ought to be removed.
Biden refuses to fire chief of staff
There will be no changes in Biden's White House staff, which is an insular group of Democrats that dates back to Biden's time as vice president and/or Biden's time in the Senate.
Biden's 2020 presidential campaign didn't officially begin until Klain had won the nomination. But the two have a long history: when Biden was a senator, Klain was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and when Biden was vice president, Klain was Biden's chief of staff, according to Mail Online.
A "guaranteed-to-fail vote" on nuking the filibuster was pushed by Sen. Ben Sasse, who said it was only a political tactic to please progressives, and he demanded that President Biden resign his chief of staff, Ron Klain.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promised that if Republicans reject the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, the Senate will vote on whether to defy the Senate's 60-vote filibuster, which is anticipated to happen.
Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., also voted against any attempt to abolish the filibuster, which requires a 60-vote majority to pass legislation. "We are going to vote. We are all going to be on the record," Schumer said earlier Tuesday, warning Republicans and Democrats who support the filibuster ahead of impending votes.
Biden's $1.75 trillion package of social safety net programs are being criticized. Build Back Better is being held up by the Senate. It encompasses projects in the areas of child care, health care, and the environment. In addition, Biden's approval rating has plummeted. According to new NBC News and AP-NORC polls, it was just 43% after his first year.
Klain reached out to the party's progressive wing, including Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal and prominent liberal Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, during Biden's fight to pass his legislative agenda, which included the successful American Rescue Plan and the bipartisan infrastructure deal, Fox News reported.
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