NotedDC — How Biden is trying to flip the script on GOP

Kelsey Carolan
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President Biden is targeting the GOP’s pro-law enforcement message after some Republicans called to defund the FBI in the wake of the agency’s search of former President Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago estate this month.

“I’m opposed to defunding the police, but I am also opposed to defunding the FBI,” Biden said during his speech in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Tuesday.

While White House staff have previously pushed back on calls for defunding the agency, the speech marked the first time Biden directly addressed the increase in the rhetoric against the law enforcement agency.

Some have been concerned that the rhetoric against the FBI could cause a rise in political violence, as The Hill has previously reported.

“You hear some of my friends in the other team talking about political violence and how it’s necessary,” Biden said Tuesday. “No one should be encouraged to use political violence.”

He also amplified his attacks against Republican lawmakers who continue to defend the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

“Cops attacked and assaulted, speared with flagpoles, sprayed with mace, stomped on, brutalized. Police lost their lives as a result of that day,” Biden said. “You can’t be pro-law enforcement and pro-insurrection.”

Welcome to NotedDC: Your guide to politics, policy & people of consequence in D.C.

In today’s issue: The midterm angle to Biden’s Tuesday speech.

Plus: House Republicans preview targets should they reclaim the majority in the fall.

👮‍♂️ Biden touts pro-cop message

President Biden is doubling-down on public safety less than 100 days until the midterm elections, as many GOP candidates have centered their campaigns on supporting law enforcement and blaming Democrats for increases in crime across major cities.

  • The strategy directly contrasts the one Democrats employed in 2020, when many were calling to “defund” the police in the wake of the murders of Black Americans such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

  • Some in the party argue the prior messaging cost Democrats competitive seats, and a number of figures in the party have moderated their tone on the issue over the past year.

“When it comes to public safety in this nation, the answer is not to defund the police, it’s to fund the police,” Biden said Tuesday. “I’ve not met a good cop that’s liked a bad cop.”

Biden touted his recent accomplishments to showcase the party’s commitment to law enforcement, including his Safer American Plan, which would invest in 100,000 more cops to advance community policing.

“We expect them to protect us, to be psychologists, sociologists…we expect them to do everything,” Biden said. “I’m tired of not giving them the help they need.”

The shift in messaging also comes at a time when Republicans are tweaking their messages on abortion rights since it seems to be a winning issue for Democrats, suggested by recent victories in Kansas and New York elections, as our colleague Caroline Vakil reported Tuesday.

🎯 GOP eyes Biden in setting post-midterm agenda

As Republicans attempt to take back the House in November, they’re already coming up with plans to go after top Democrats, including President Biden.

Several rank-and-file Republicans have introduced impeachment articles against Biden. Those resolutions will never see the light of day in the current Democratic-led Congress, but Republicans are vowing to follow through if they win a majority.

  • It could present a headache for House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), our colleague Mike Lillis reports.

  • “On the one hand, impeaching Biden could alienate moderate voters and hurt the GOP at the polls,” Lillis writes. “On the other hand, ignoring the conservatives’ impeachment entreaties might spark a revolt from a Republican base keen to avenge the Democrats’ two impeachments of Trump, who remains the most popular national figure in the GOP.”

McCarthy and former President Trump remain close allies. On Tuesday, the former president responded to an image that identified McCarthy as a “RINO” (Republican in name only), posting on Truth Social that the House leader is “fighting hard for Republican victories in the House.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), the No. 3 House Republican, is also walking a fine line by calling Biden “unfit” to serve but not endorsing his impeachment. Neither her office nor McCarthy’s responded to Lillis’s request for comment.

McCarthy and other top Republicans have suggested they could also take the route of going after high-ranking officials in the Biden administration instead of the president himself.

📝 The Biden officials conservatives want to impeach

House Republicans have identified several members of the Biden administration they would seek to target for impeachment should they win the chamber in the fall:

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

Attorney General Merrick Garland

Secretary of State Antony Blinken

  • Two GOP members — Reps. Ralph Norman (S.C.) and Andy Harris (Md.) — introduced a resolution to impeach Blinken following the U.S.’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

And despite conservatives’ impeachment wishlist, the midterms remain two months away, and the results are far from certain.

The Hill’s Emily Brooks reported on Sunday that analysts who had previously predicted a “red wave” are growing more wary of the GOP’s potential gains.

“The enthusiasm is just not there,” GOP strategist Rick Tyler said. “Last time Republicans had a good year, they were 6 points ahead in the generic poll. Now we’re barely 2 points ahead. So it’s definitely not going to happen.”

Read more from Brooks on the now-bleaker predictions for the GOP.

〰 ELECTION PULSE 〰

There’s a lot at stake this fall as the GOP tries to wrangle control of the House and Senate and Democrats try to keep their grasp of both. The Hill’s NotedDC crew will keep you up-to-date on what the polls are showing:

ARIZONA: In the heated Arizona Senate race, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly is ahead of his GOP challenger, venture capitalist Blake Masters, in a new poll from the Atlanta-based Trafalgar Group. A Fox News poll earlier this month found Kelly 8 points ahead of Masters. Read more on the race here.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Retired Army Gen. Don Bolduc has a big lead in the Republican Senate primary, according to a new poll. The GOP victor will take on will Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) in November.

MAJORITY RULE: The GOP’s chances of taking control of the House have been slightly shrinking, according to a new general poll. The CBS News poll out this weekend estimates that Republicans will win 226 House seats in November — down from 230 seats estimated last month. Read more here.

POTUS: More than half of Democratic voters in a new poll think President Biden should not seek a second term in 2024. The USA Today/Ipsos poll found that 56 percent of Democratic voters are against a reelection bid from their party leader, despite approving of his government experience, policy knowledge and focus on country unification. BUT… Biden also saw his highest approval in a year in a new Gallup poll that saw his approval rating climb to 44 percent.

MEDIA MOVES

Longtime Washington reporter Alan Fram is retiring from The Associated Press after nearly 40 years of covering Congress.

In his farewell article published Tuesday, Fram voiced his concerns about diminishing bipartisanship on the Hill, chronicling how the relationship between Republicans and Democrats has evolved since he began.

“I still overhear Democrats and Republicans making dinner plans. The sorrow over this month’s traffic accident death of Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) and two aides was bipartisan and heartfelt,” Fram wrote. “Yet today’s common ground seems narrower, the atmosphere darker, the stakes higher.”

📚 National Book Festival

Labor Day weekend means the National Book Festival (via the Library of Congress) is heading back to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Saturday.

  • The gathering of authors and booklovers has been running for more than two decades, offering free talks with authors and live-streamed activities.

  • Fan favs like “Parks and Recreation” resident curmudgeon Nick Offerman and COVID-19 TikTok darling Leslie Jordan are part of this year’s lineup.

Find this year’s schedule here and keep up with even more updates on the Library of Congress blog.

Have some news, juicy gossip, insight or other insider info? Send us tips: Elizabeth Crisp and Kelsey Carolan. And encourage friends to sign up here: thehill.com/noted.

We’ll see you tomorrow!

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