The White House goes to bat for Harris

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The White House has long been annoyed by the persistent negative stories about Vice President KAMALA HARRIS. But now they’re taking increasingly aggressive steps to push back on them.

After Reuters last week published a piece about how Harris was “gearing up for another national campaign” despite bad poll numbers and concerns about her from Democrats, senior White House officials publicly rushed to her defense.

“Harris is an invaluable, relentless voice for the American people at home and around the world,” White House chief of staff JEFF ZIENTS tweeted. Communications director BEN LABOLT also tweeted that the Reuters story was “silly season material,” along with a thread detailing Harris’ recent work on issues such as expanding access to high-speed internet — which was promptly quote-tweeted by deputy communications director HERBIE ZISKEND.

The swift and pointed public criticism of the Reuters story from senior officials wasn’t a one off. Indeed, the White House has pushed back against criticism of Harris before. But the current round is part of an intentional effort to do more to defend the vice president. And it is another sign that she remains firmly on the ticket, coming as President JOE BIDEN gets ready to launch his expected reelection campaign.

Even Biden has gotten in on the action. When “Veep” star JULIA-LOUIS DREYFUS visited the White House last week, Biden made a sly, off-handed supportive comment to Dreyfus and Harris, saying: “By the way, she left as president.” (Harris replied: “Oh that’s right!”) The official White House Twitter account tweeted out the 18-second video.

As we were working on this top today and as Women’s History Month draws to a close, the White House posted another tweet in praise of Harris: “This month, I call attention to one remarkable woman in particular: Kamala. She’s shattered barrier after barrier... thank you for your partnership in the progress we’ve made.”

The White House’s more aggressive posture is a late — but welcomed — move to those close to Harris.

When she first took office, the vice president was bludgeoned by story after story about turmoil within her staff. Internally, there was discontent, both with the turnover and the media coverage. There was a sense that the White House could do more to defend her. At the time, a former aide said the vice president’s staff had also pushed for the Democratic National Committee to do more to insulate Harris from the attacks.

“It’s almost as if they forgot that she was part of the administration,” said DONNA BRAZILE, a former acting chair of the DNC who is close to the White House.

But, Brazile added, things have since begun to change. “There’s an effort afoot to make sure that [the public doesn’t] forget that Kamala Harris is doing an outstanding job,” she said.

In a statement, White House spokesperson ROBYN PATTERSON said that “attacks on the Vice President are nothing new.”

“For years, we’ve watched Republicans belittle her qualifications, her experience, and her enormous leadership on complex issues of deep importance to this administration and to the American people. It’s a familiar playbook. The President and Vice President are a team and POTUS – and the entire Biden-Harris administration — have her back every day of the week,” she said.

The White House’s more public defense of Harris comes amid senior-level staff changes. Both Zients and LaBolt are new to their posts.

“The White House is smart in terms of making sure that when they see unreasonable and unrelenting attacks on their administration, they are out there defending,” said top Democratic strategist and close Harris adviser MINYON MOORE when asked about the White House’s recent defense of Harris. “They are protecting each other and their accomplishments is the way I see it.”

Harris’ early struggles were, in part, self-inflicted. The vice president stumbled in early interviews and was handed tricky portfolio items, like stemming migration to the southern border. She also saw a number of top aides leave her office.

But the White House has long argued that coverage of Harris is over-torqued and relies on sources who aren’t actually close to her. Specifically, officials noted that the Reuters piece quoted BUD JACKSON, a Democratic strategist who, as one White House official quipped, “hadn’t worked on a campaign since WESLEY CLARK.”

“The quality of who’s taken on the record makes a lot of these stories into satire,” said the official, who declined to speak on record.

Jackson defended his resume to West Wing Playbook, saying he’s worked in politics for decades. “I agree with the White House if they believe that the establishment is unfairly measuring the vice president’s performance. The point that I made is that folks have unrealistic expectations of a vice president. It’s a difficult position to be in,” he said.

A spokesperson for Reuters, for its part, said: “We stand by our reporting.”

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POTUS PUZZLER

With help from the White House HIstorical Association

Which president once received a message via carrier pigeon from the Chicago mayor at the time, EDWARD J. KELLEY?

(Answer at bottom.)

The Oval

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by WaPo’s TONY ROMM and MARIANNA SOTOMAYOR highlighting the president’s messaging about the GOP’s proposed budget cuts. “The Biden administration is warning Congress that a smaller budget could unleash devastating disruptions to government — underscoring how a political battle in Washington could spell real consequences for Americans nationally,” they write. White House communicantions director Ben LaBolt tweeted out the piece Wednesday.

RESULTS ARE IN: A new AP-NORC poll found that Americans do want the government to reign in spending — just not for things like infrastructure, health care and Social Security. The findings show “how messy the financial tug-of-war between Biden and House Republicans could be,” write the AP’s JOSH BOAK and HANNAH FINGERHUT. “At stake is the full faith and credit of the federal government, which could default on its obligations unless there is a deal this summer to raise or suspend the limit on the government’s borrowing authority.”

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This NBC News article by CAROLINE HOPKINS on how warnings about antibiotic resistance are becoming “more urgent” in light of an upcoming World Health Organization report tallying only a handful of new antibiotics in development. “Preliminary data from the report, released by the WHO this month, paint a dire picture: Just 27 new antibiotics for the most threatening infections are in the clinical trial stage of drug development.”

MISSED CONNECTIONS: Despite the public back-and-forth about debt ceiling talks between the White House and House Speaker KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-Calif.), NBC News’ SCOTT WONG and PETER NICHOLAS report that the two rarely speak.

They also can’t seem to agree on who is at fault for their distant relationship. McCarthy said last week that he “never had somebody from the White House reach out to me” following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

But Scott and Nicholas report that an internal White House memo shows that Biden has reached out to McCarthy repeatedly, even calling him on his birthday and on his becoming speaker. “If anything, the White House says, Biden might be the spurned suitor: McCarthy didn’t visit the building once in 14 months in 2021-22, even though he had been invited repeatedly, a White House official said. Overall, the White House has invited McCarthy to visit more than 20 times; he went eight.”

THE BUREAUCRATS

FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: EMMA RILEY is being detailed to first lady JILL BIDEN‘s office to work on communications, Daniel Lippman has learned. She most recently was advisor for communications and policy at the Labor Department, and used to run MARTY WALSH‘s digital operation when he was Boston mayor in 2017. Among other duties, she will support day-to-day content for @FLOTUS channels. Riley starts on Monday.

STAYING HOPEFUL: Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN expects Biden’s pick to lead the World Bank, AJAY BANGA, to be elected to the position. Reuters reports that Banga, who has no challengers, “recently completed a three-week world tour to meet government leaders, civil society groups and others in borrowing and donor countries as he campaigned for the bank’s top post.” The bank’s board says it plans to elect a new leader by May.

Filling the Ranks

WAITING FOR TAKEOFF? Democratic Senate Commerce Committee members say they haven’t heard from the White House about a new pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration after PHIL WASHINGTON withdrew his nomination over the weekend, our ALEX DAUGHERTY reports for Pro subscribers.

Sen. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-Ill.), the Commerce Committee Aviation subcommittee chair, said she’d “like to see a candidate put up as soon as possible and I’d like to see what the White House does — but sooner than later,” adding that “we don’t have a lot of time to waste.”

NEW NOMINEE ALERT: Biden announced his nomination of HERRO MUSTAFA GARG to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Egypt on Wednesday. Garg previously served as the U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria.

Agenda Setting

BOLSTERING PROTECTIONS: The Education Department on Wednesday sent its proposed Title IX rule, which would bolster students’ rights to play on sports teams in line with their gender identity. The proposal, sent to the Office of Management and Budget, is a key step in the rulemaking process, our BIANCA QUILANTAN reports for Pro subscribers. The move comes as debates over LGBTQ student rights have come to the forefront in recent weeks.

ANOTHER OFFSHORE DRILLING PROJECT: The Interior Department on Wednesday is auctioning off more than 73 million acres of waters in the Gulf of Mexico to offshore oil and gas drilling, CNN’s ELLA NILSEN reports. “It could be the first Gulf of Mexico lease sale under the Biden administration that actually results in new drilling, after previous auctions were embroiled in legal challenges and delays.”

AN OVER-THE-COUNTER OPTION: The FDA approved Narcan, an opioid overdose reversal drug, to be sold without a prescription, our KATHERINE ELLEN FOLEY reports for Pro subscribers. “The approval marks the first time any form of naloxone will be available without a prescription.”

What We're Reading

A small town on Ireland’s coast is eagerly preparing for a Biden visit (CBS News’ Emmet Lyons)

Yellen calls climate change ‘existential threat’ after GOP lawmaker labels it ‘Trojan horse’ for spending (The Hill’s Brett Samuels)

No Labels’ Pitch to Donors Pretends Joe Biden Doesn’t Exist (New Republic’s Daniel Strauss)

The Oppo Book

When Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN went off to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he first touched down in New York City and wasn’t a big fan.

“I’d been to a couple of larger cities in the South, but this was a monster city and it was overwhelming,” he said in a 2017 interview at the West Point Center for Oral History. “It appeared to be hostile and dangerous. It was overwhelming to all of my senses, and I said ‘Wow this is really different.’”

“So it was actually a pleasure to depart that environment and head north, where things were less threatening,” he added.

New York City — it’s not for everyone.

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

President FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT received a carrier pigeon that flew from Chicago to Washington D.C. to deliver a friendly message from the mayor of Chicago in honor of the inauguration of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad’s stream-lined engines on the Capitol Limited Line.

A CALL OUT — Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it.

Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.