| Welcome to The Daily 202! Tell your friends to sign up here. On this day in 1959, rock-and-roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed when their small plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa. | | |  | The big idea | |  President Bien speaks at Mill 19, a former steel mill being developed into a robotics research facility, to tout his infrastructure package recently in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images) | | | Time is money, goes the saying. "Where we choose to invest speaks to what we value as a Nation," President Biden says. So The Daily 202 decided to dive into his public schedules for January 2022 to see what we might learn about his priorities this year. The inescapable conclusion: It's the economy, stupid. Biden held three publicly advertised events — each specifically themed to jobs, inflation, and infrastructure — that tied for the most of any topic (covid came in at two specifically themed events). The president's time is arguably a White House's most precious commodity, and much of Biden's 2022 is expected to focus on issues that help Democrats try to save their razor-thin congressional majorities. Here's how he spent the past month, based on events advertised on his public schedule. Supply chain disruptions? Two events, Jan. 21 and 28. Inflation? Three, Jan. 3, 24, 26. On Jan. 14, 20, and 28, infrastructure events. Jobs? Three, Jan. 7, 26, and 28. Covid? Two, Jan. 4 and 13. Voting rights? Two, on Jan. 11 and 13. Meetings, virtual or in person, with foreign leaders? Three, Jan 21, 24 and 31. Crime? Not the kind the GOP is trying to use for advantage in the midterm elections, but yes, one: On Jan. 26, Biden signed an executive order making sexual harassment an offense in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (But Biden's trip to New York today is expected to focus on fighting crime and protecting police.) The border, or immigration more broadly? Zero, meaning the president went out for ice cream (Jan. 25) more often than he had events on his publicly released schedule specifically focused on an issue Republicans have used to hammer him ahead of November's vote. (Biden aides say the policies get full airings in closed-door meetings.) Last month saw a lot of one-off events. Biden addressed Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer's plan to retire on Jan. 27. There was a Jan. 7 trip to Colorado to discuss the federal response to the Marshall Fire, remarks a day later at the memorial service for the late Senate Democratic majority leader, Harry M. Reid of Nevada. Who could forget the Jan. 19 news conference? | | He attended the funeral of General Raymond Odierno (Jan. 12), delivered a blistering speech on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, and gave the Democratic National Committee a pep talk (Jan. 20). He spoke to American mayors on Jan. 21 and addressed the National Governors Association 10 days later. The most frequent event on Biden's public schedule in January was the president's daily national security briefing, which appeared every workday (the only guidance on which it did not appear was Jan. 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.) In her Jan. 5 briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki addressed questions about Biden's schedule, both seen and unseen. "I know the president doesn't have public events today. He does have a number of meetings with policy teams, and that's often what he's doing behind the scenes," she said. "If he were standing here today … he would say we never give him any free time or any time to think, and that's probably true." A White House official told The Daily 202 on the condition of anonymity that Biden's public schedule was driven in part by "recognition that the effectiveness of daily remarks from the White House diminishes over time in every presidency." (Early in the second year of a first term, though? When Democrats are hunting for a midterm message?) | Not everything Biden is doing | | This column was more art than science, admittedly. First, because the public schedule doesn't include anywhere close to a president's full daily doings. Former president Donald Trump's "daily guidance," as the document is known, didn't officially block off any "executive time" for him to watch cable news and tweet about what he saw, but his Twitter feed gave ample evidence he did a lot of that. Official White House visitor logs record eight appearances by Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va) between Jan. 20 and the end of September. I could find evidence in the public schedule for just two, though several were discussed in Psaki's briefings. Second, because some public events cover multiple topics. I counted one Jan. 26 event toward jobs, inflation and Biden's stalled "Build Back Better" social spending and climate legislation because that's how it was advertised on the schedule. | | Third, because delegate, delegate, delegate. Biden may only have done three events last month dedicated to touting the merits of the bipartisan infrastructure law he signed last year, but Cabinet officials have done more, which also reflects his priorities. (While the White House couldn't provide a breakdown of how many events top Biden aides have done on infrastructure, an official tally provided to The Daily 202 says Biden, Vice President Harris, Cabinet and other senior advisers have done "more than 2,300 local interviews in every state … to amplify the president's agenda.") Finally, because it's one of the things over which a White House has the most control. What Biden discussed in January isn't necessarily predictive of what he'll talk about in July. Though jobs and infrastructure will most likely still be on the list, you can bet the White House hopes inflation will have dropped off the radar. | | |  | What's happening now | | 'This horrible terrorist leader is no more,' Biden says after ISIS leader killed in U.S. raid | | "President Biden declared that 'this horrible terrorist leader is no more' as he spoke to the nation Thursday about a U.S. Special Operations counterterrorism mission overnight in northwestern Syria in which Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the leader of the Islamic State militant group, was killed," Sarah Dadouch, Kareem Fahim, Dan Lamothe and John Wagner report. | - "Thirteen people, including children, died during the raid on an Islamic State safe house in northwestern Syria, local first responders said. No U.S. casualties were reported in the operation, in which U.S. forces destroyed a helicopter after it became disabled. Biden said the civilian casualties were caused when Qurayshi detonated a huge explosion that killed members of his family."
- Who was Qurayshi? Here's what to know.
| Russia tries to cast Western-backed Ukraine as aggressor, suggests disputed peace deal as path forward | | "Russia is again trying to move the focus of the Ukraine crisis to a disputed peace accord for the country's east, as the United States signaled its encouragement for the agreement as a way to de-escalate tensions," Steve Hendrix and Rachel Pannett report. | On Capitol Hill, ex-Washington NFL employees levy new harassment claims against Daniel Snyder | | "A former employee of Washington's NFL team told members of Congress on Thursday morning that team owner Daniel Snyder harassed her at a team dinner, putting his hand on her thigh and pressing her toward his limo, throwing the team's workplace culture back into the public eye a day after the team unveiled its new brand," Liz Clarke and Nicki Jhabvala report. | Former Human Rights Campaign president alleges racial bias in his firing after Andrew M. Cuomo scandal | | "[Alphonso David,] the former president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBTQ advocacy group, sued the organization Thursday, contending that a pattern of racial discrimination led to his firing last year after he advised the office of then-New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on its response to sexual harassment allegations," Michael Scherer reports. | Fed nominee Sarah Bloom Raskin wants the Fed to tackle climate change risks. It's making her a target. | | "Sarah Bloom Raskin is championed by Democrats eager to install a bank regulator with a focus on climate change, and criticized by Republicans who don't believe climate change belongs in conversations about the financial system or economic stability," Rachel Siegel, Maxine Joselow and Douglas MacMillan report. | | |  | Lunchtime reads from The Post | | Lisa Cook could soon become the first Black woman on the Fed. Republicans say she's not qualified. |  Lisa DeNell Cook, nominated to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, is sworn in before a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Thursday. (Bill Clark/AFP via Getty Images) | | | "If confirmed, Lisa D. Cook, a Michigan State University economist renowned for her research into how racial inequality and violence have stifled economic growth, would be the first Black woman to serve on the Fed in its 108-year history," Tracy Jan and Mike DeBonis report. "However, conservatives have dismissed Cook's academic and professional credentials and cast her as a radical racial justice activist, echoing the charged language deployed against a similar historic prospect on the Supreme Court after Biden vowed to nominate a Black woman to the bench." | Labor groups wary of potential Supreme Court pick backed by top House Democrat | | "Union leaders are increasingly wary of President Biden's potential selection of Judge J. Michelle Childs as a Supreme Court justice, citing her time working on behalf of employers against worker claims. The situation sets up a potential rift with Rep. James E. Clyburn, a top Democrat who has been pushing for her nomination," Jeff Stein and Seung Min Kim report. | High court conservatives call O'Connor, Kennedy opinions into question | | "For years, the Supreme Court moved to the left or right only as far as Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy allowed," the Associated Press's Mark Sherman reports. "They held pivotal votes on a court closely divided between liberals and conservatives. Now, though, a more conservative court that includes two men who once worked for Kennedy at the high court is taking direct aim at major opinions written by the two justices, now retired." | | |  | The latest on omicron | | The White House is preparing to move on from Omicron | | "Emboldened by falling case counts, the Biden administration is plotting a new phase of the pandemic response aimed at containing the coronavirus and conditioning Americans to live with it," Politico's Adam Cancryn reports. | - "There is little serious talk so far about disbanding the Covid response team, though some burnt-out aides have mused about leaving as soon as the spring. And as to what metrics will signal success against the virus, officials said they're still figuring that out — and hope they'll know it when they see it."
| | |  | The Biden agenda | | Biden to expand crackdown on untraceable guns |  Biden speaks about a counterterrorism raid carried out by U.S. special forces that killed top Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in northwestern Syria. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) | | | "President Joe Biden plans to announce the effort during a visit Thursday to New York City, where he'll also showcase his plan to work with state and local law enforcement to get guns and repeat shooters off the streets. Biden also will stop at a school to meet with violence intervention leaders," the AP's Colleen Long, Michael Balsamo and Michelle L. Price report. | President Biden, Mayor Eric Adams and the volatile politics of policing | | "As a candidate, Biden strongly supported changes to policing, forging links with the Black Lives Matter movement and denouncing the misdeeds of law enforcement. Polls now show voters deeply concerned about rising crime, and embracing Adams gives Biden a way to recalibrate his message, balancing his calls for change with a sharper tough-on-crime stance," Annie Linskey reports. | The Biden administration's FDA commissioner pick faces an uphill climb | | "The Biden administration is fighting to confirm Robert Califf as Food and Drug Administration commissioner after some Democrats balked at his pharmaceutical-industry ties, and Republicans raised questions about how he would handle abortion issues," the Wall Street Journal's Stephanie Armour reports. | Biden officials push to hold up $11.3 billion USPS truck contract, citing climate damage | | "The Biden administration launched a last-minute push Wednesday to derail the U.S. Postal Service's plan to spend billions of dollars on a new fleet of gasoline-powered delivery trucks, citing the damage the polluting vehicles could inflict on the climate and Americans' health," Anna Phillips and Jacob Bogage report. | Biden administration weighing new rules to limit TikTok, foreign apps | | "The Commerce Department is reviewing comments on proposed rules that would expand government oversight of apps that could be exploited 'by foreign adversaries to steal or otherwise obtain data,' according to a federal filing. The rules could allow the Commerce Department to require apps to submit to audits, allowing independent scrutiny of their source code and other data they collect," Cat Zakrzewski and Drew Harwell report. | | |  | The number of people shot and killed by police, visualized | | | "In 2015, The Washington Post began to log every fatal shooting by an on-duty police officer in the United States. In that time there have been more than 5,000 such shootings recorded by The Post." Explore our database of victims. | | |  | Hot on the left | | What makes Eric Adams hard to pin down is what makes him so interesting |  New York Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a news conference at City Hall on Jan. 24. (John Minchillo/AP) | | | "Many Black Americans have a friend or relative like Eric Adams, the new mayor of New York. We have uncles who bring up the progressive benefits of Black Lives Matter in the same breath as the conservative talking points about Black-on-Black crime. We have relatives who are cops or former cops who do not want the police defunded nor loved ones stopped, frisked and mistreated by officers. We have friends who are deeply suspicious of the system and come up with their own ways to deal with it — in Mr. Adams's case, proposing that his brother head up his security operation to keep him safe," Christina Greer writes for the New York Times. "But for other New Yorkers, Mr. Adams is a political curiosity, elusive, and they are not sure how to view him after his first month on the job." | | |  | Hot on the right | | The GOP was already split on election reform. Then Trump stepped in. |  Former President Donald Trump gestures during a rally in Conroe, Tex., on Jan. 29. (Go Nakamura/Reuters) | | | "Donald Trump's attacks on the bipartisan Senate effort to prevent unsubstantiated and solo objections to presidential ballots are accentuating a GOP split over whether the work is even worth pursuing," Politico's Burgess Everett reports. "The bipartisan group working on reform of the law Trump's allies used to stoke challenges to his 2020 loss has attracted nine GOP senators, whom the former president has labeled 'RINO Republicans.' Despite that number of Republican negotiators, Trump's comments are deepening the party divide over whether to revisit the Electoral Count Act at all, reflecting long-term fault lines in the GOP over the events of Jan. 6, 2021." | | |  | Today in Washington | | | At 12:15 p.m., Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland will meet with New York Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul to discuss gun violence. The group will visit a New York public school at 2:30 p.m. to "discuss community violence intervention programs with local leaders." Biden will depart Manhattan at 4:20 p.m. and is expected back at the White House at 6:05 p.m.
| | |  | In closing | | | The Washington Football Team announced its new identity on Wednesday: the Washington Commanders. Your favorite late night hosts did not pull any punches. | | Jimmy Kimmel | "Interestingly, the franchise now shares a name with President Biden's dog, who is also named Commander. Good thing they didn't name it after Trump's dog. 'The Washington Pences' — it doesn't have the same ring to it." | | | | | | | | James Corden | "To give you an idea of how fans reacted, shortly after the announcement, this is true, the word 'terrible' trended on Twitter, which is surprising, considering how Twitter is normally so welcoming and so positive." | | | | | | Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow. | | |
