Biden classified documents, the next chief of staff, Virginia battery plant: This week in politics

Kevin Cirilli
·Contributor
Updated ·4 min read
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This week, President Biden remains under scrutiny after FBI officials secured more classified documents from his Delaware residence.

Other top stories include reports that the White House has selected the next chief of staff and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has withdrawn the state's bid for an EV battery plant.

Here are three stories at the intersection of business and politics to watch this week:

Biden criticized over handling of classified materials

President Biden is facing mounting criticism for his handling of classified documents after CNN reported that FBI officials found six more documents when they searched Biden's Delaware residence on Friday.

The latest discovery of classified documents comes after two other incidents in which the FBI was alerted of classified material at Biden's home and at his former office at the Biden Penn Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

FILE - President Joe Biden talks with reporters after speaking in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Jan 20, 2023. Senior Democratic lawmakers turned sharply more critical Sunday of President Joe Biden's handling of classified materials after the FBI discovered additional items with classified markings at Biden's home. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
President Joe Biden talks with reporters after speaking in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Jan 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Republicans have seized on the FBI special counsel investigation and vowed to launch additional congressional investigations. Biden's team is arguing that the president is cooperating with authorities, unlike former President Trump, who was criticized for resisting efforts by the National Archives and FBI to recover documents. FBI officials searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence last year.

"Embarrassed by the situation, as he should have been, [President Biden] invited the government agencies in to carefully look through all the boxes he had accumulated," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the No. 2 ranking Democrat in the Senate, said on CNN's State of the Union Sunday. "It’s a much different approach. It is outrageous that either occurred. But the reaction by the former president and the current president could not be in sharper contrast.”

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who left the door open to a 2024 presidential run, also criticized Biden over his handling of classified materials.

“It’s unbelievable how this could happen," Manchin told CNN. "It’s totally irresponsible.”

President Biden to name Jeff Zients as new chief of staff

President Biden is expected to hire Jeff Zients as his new chief of staff, according to the Associated Press.

Zients will replace Ron Klain, who is preparing to step down after two years in the role. Zients oversaw Biden's COVID-19 response and has a background in the budget and the economy, previously serving as the director of the National Economic Council and acting director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Obama administration.

FILE - Jeff Zients, who has been selected serve as coordinator of the Covid-19 response and counselor to the President, speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, to announce President-elect Joe Biden's health care team. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Jeff Zients, who has been selected serve as coordinator of the Covid-19 response and counselor to the President, speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Zients will take the reins during a time of political uncertainty for Biden in Washington.

The FBI investigation into Biden's handling of classified material has raised questions about whether Biden will seek reelection in 2024. A late-November CNBC All-America Economic Survey of 801 individuals, conducted prior to the classified documents revelations, found that 70% of Americans said they do not want Biden to seek a second term in office.

Zients will also have to spearhead a looming contentious battle with Republicans over raising the nation's debt ceiling, a political calamity likely headed for a showdown this summer or early fall.

Virginia Governor scraps EV battery plant

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has yanked the state's bid on an electric vehicle battery plant, citing concerns over China.

Youngkin, a potential contender for the 2024 Republican nomination, criticized the proposed $3.5 billion joint venture between Ford (F) and Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited, also known as CATL (300750.SZ), to build an EV battery factory in the state.

“I look forward to bringing a great company there," Youngkin said Friday in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "It won’t be one that uses kind of a Trojan-horse relationship with the Chinese Communist Party in order to gain.”

FILE - Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, at podium, speaks before signing the budget bill at a ceremony at a grocery store June 21, 2022, in Richmond, Va. To promote the recently signed Virginia budget and its array of tax cuts, Youngkin hosted two high-energy campaign-style celebrations, complete with bright lighting, throngs of supporters and a booming playlist that harkened back to his winning run last year. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, at podium, speaks before signing the budget bill at a ceremony at a grocery store June 21, 2022, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Youngkin is the latest U.S. official to raise alarms about relying on China for a range of products from EVs to semiconductors. Last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, FBI Director Christopher Wray noted concerns to global business leaders about China's intellectual property theft and aggressive military-civil fusion ambitions.

Kevin Cirilli is a visiting media fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub and the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue. Follow him on LinkedIn here.

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