(NEW YORK) — With the midterm elections three months away, Americans maintain a sour view on the state of the economy and are pessimistic about its future course, with President Joe Biden’s approval rating across a range of issue areas continuing to suffer, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll.
More than two-thirds (69%) of Americans think the nation’s economy is getting worse — the highest that measure has reached since 2008, when it was 82% in an ABC News/Washington Post poll. Currently, only 12% think the economy is getting better and 18% think it is essentially staying the same.
Americans’ views of Biden’s handling of the economic recovery remain overwhelmingly negative — and are virtually unchanged from the same poll in early June, with only 37% of Americans approving of the job the president is doing and 62% disapproving in the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll, which was conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
The president’s rating on inflation is even worse, with 29% of Americans saying they approve, while 69% disapprove. This number is also unchanged since June.
The only area where Biden sees some improvement in this poll is on his handling of gas prices. Just over one in three Americans (34%) approve of the president’s handling of gas prices — up seven points since June.
This comes as the country has seen the average cost for a gallon of gas come down — price drops celebrated by the White House.
The low confidence in Biden’s handling of the economy and inflation comes on the heels of Friday’s jobs report, which showed that 528,000 jobs were added in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Americans also saw the unemployment rate go down to 3.5%.
In a statement released Friday, Biden touted the July jobs report, saying that it shows that his administration is “making significant progress for working families.”
When asked how enthusiastic they were about voting in November, the poll found that 75% of Republicans are either very or somewhat enthusiastic about voting, compared to 68% of Democrats and 49% of independents. In ABC News/Ipsos polls conducted in April and June this year, Republicans were more likely to report that they were very enthusiastic about voting than Democrats. That gap has narrowed to five points in this August poll.
There are other glimmers of hope for the Democrats in the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll when it comes to the potential impact abortion could have on how voters cast their ballots this November.
The poll asked voters which candidate they would support if one favored keeping abortion legal and available and the other candidate supported limiting abortion except to protect the mother’s life. About half of Americans (49%) would be more likely to support the candidate who would keep access to abortion legal compared to the 27% of Americans who would be more likely to support the candidate who favors limiting abortion. Meanwhile, 22% of Americans say that abortion would not have an impact on how they would vote.
This comes after voters in the deep red state of Kansas voted to preserve the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution, shocking the country in the first state-level test since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
In a statement from Biden on the defeat of Kansas’s abortion amendment, he called on Congress to “listen to the will of the American people and restore the protections of Roe as federal law.”
This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted using Ipsos Public Affairs‘ KnowledgePanel® August 5-6, 2022, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 665 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 4.2 points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 29-25-40 percent, Democrats-Republicans-independents. See the poll’s topline results and details on the methodology here.
ABC News’ Ken Goldstein and Dan Merkle contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Nearly uniform Republican opposition in the Senate on Sunday stripped a proposed cap on insulin prices in private insurance from Democrats’ party-line climate, health and tax bill.
Democrats had sought to overrule a decision from the Senate rules official, the parliamentarian, that a $35-per-month limit on insulin costs under private insurances did not comply with the budget reconciliation process, which allowed Democrats to pass their bill with a bare majority.
The cap, which was proposed by Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., needed 60 votes to pass and remain in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). It ultimately failed by a 57-43 vote.
Republicans Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, John Kennedy of Louisiana and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan voted for the measure with Democrats. All 43 “no” votes came from Republicans.
The cap’s scrapping was quickly seized on by Democrats and stirred controversy beyond them, with critics of the GOP citing the sometimes startling cost of needed insulin for diabetics.
Republicans, in turn, accused Democrats of being misleading about a vote that they said amounted to a technicality rather than a policy difference.
“Lying Dems and their friends in corporate media are at it again, distorting a Democrat ‘gotcha’ vote. In reality, the Dems wanted to break Senate rules to pass insulin pricing cap instead of going through regular order,” Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson tweeted afterward, noting that he previously “voted for an amendment, that Dems blocked, to provide insulin at cost to low-income Americans.”
While the proposed cap was not expected to get the 10 Republicans needed to have the measure preserved as part of the Democrats’ sprawling reconciliation deal — the 60-vote threshold would have overcome the parliamentarian’s objections about using the 51-vote reconciliation — the process allowed the party to put GOP senators on the record on a popular policy.
Republicans used a similar tactic in voting on Biden’s immigration policy as part of possible amendments to the IRA.
The parliamentarian had said the insulin cap would violate the Byrd Rule, which requires that a measure have an effect on the federal budget that is not “merely incidental” in order to qualify to pass through reconciliation.
The parliamentarian, meanwhile, did allow Warnock’s $35 insulin cap to apply to those covered under Medicare.
(WASHINGTON) — Basketball star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan should hopefully be released from Russia as part of a “two-for-two” prisoner swap, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson said Sunday.
“My view is optimistic, I think she’s gonna be free. There’s gonna be a prisoner swap — I think it’s gonna be two-for-two. Can’t forget about Paul Whelan,” Richardson, who is an outside adviser involved in Griner’s case, said in an exclusive interview with ABC This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos.
Griner has been detained since February and was sentenced last week to nine years in prison after she was found guilty of drug charges in a Moscow-area court; she has said she accidentally traveled with vape cartridges containing hashish oil.
Whelan, who worked in corporate security after the Marines, was convicted of espionage — which he and the U.S. deny.
Late last month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed the administration had made a “substantial proposal” to release Griner and Whelan, which sources told ABC News included freeing notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence in the U.S.
Richardson said Sunday that he didn’t fully agree with the Biden administration’s messaging strategy. “I wouldn’t have gone public as much as they did,” he said.
But, he said, sometimes comments about prisoner negotiations are made strategically when talks stall: “You want to throw a little bit of a bomb, and I think that’s what they did.”
Richardson described himself as a “catalyst” working on Griner’s case, along with other detainees. “I’ve been talking to the Russians. I talked to the White House,” he said, though he would not detail specifics of his communications.
The founder of the Richardson Center for Global Engagement — which “promotes global peace and dialogue,” according to the center’s website — Richardson recently helped free U.S. journalist Danny Fenster in Myanmar, he said. He was also involved in helping free ex-Marine Trevor Reed, who was released by Russia in April in another prisoner exchange.
Stephanopoulos questioned Richardson about why, in its comments on Griner and Whelan, the White House has publicly omitted Marc Fogel, an American educator held in Russia since August 2021.
“He’s facing a prison sentence right now. His infraction was similar to Brittney Griner’s. Shouldn’t he be included in this?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“All of these that are wrongfully detained need to come home. And our objective should be, despite prisoner exchanges that are not popular, to bring American hostages home,” Richardson said. “Some of these prisoner exchanges are not good. They don’t — the optics are not good. But we have to do it sometimes.”
Stephanopoulos followed up to ask if such trades “will encourage America’s adversaries to actually detain more Americans”?
“There’s no data that supports that,” Richardson said. He cited the case of Fenster: “All they wanted was a photo-op. So data doesn’t support that prisoner exchanges are always the case. Yes, they’re increasing, especially with countries like Iran, Venezuela, Russia. But as unpleasant as they are, we have to bring American hostages home.”
Blinken said in late July he had spoken with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, to try and push forward on negotiations.
Richardson on Sunday complimented Lavrov’s role in the issue.
“Lavrov, he and I were U.N. ambassadors together at the same time,” Richardson said. “And I’m pleased that he’s pragmatic, that he’s sort of in charge and sent a good signal. I think the negotiations are going to be undertaken.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday after experiencing a rebound infection but will continue to isolate until he gets a second negative result, the White House physician said.
“The President today continues to feel very well,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor said in a letter to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “Given his rebound positivity which we reported last Saturday, we have continued daily monitoring. This morning, his SARS-CoV-2 antigen testing was negative.”
“In an abundance of caution, the President will continue his strict isolation measures pending a second negative test as previously described,” O’Connor added.
Biden first tested positive for the virus on July 21, experiencing a slight fever, cough and sore throat among other mild symptoms. He isolated at the White House residence and completed a five-day course of Paxlovid, an antiviral treatment for those with mild to moderate symptoms who are considered a high risk for severe illness, before testing negative.
After emerging from isolation, he hailed the available COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.
“We’ve got through COVID with no fear — I got through it with no fear. A very mild discomfort because of these essential, lifesaving tools,” he said in a Rose Garden speech. “And guess what? I want to remind everybody: They are free. They are convenient. And they are safe, and they work.”
But on July 30, he tested positive again in what O’Connor called an example of “rebound positivity” from the Paxlovid treatment.
While uncommon, some patients who take Paxlovid can test positive again after finishing the treatment course but doctors emphasize that doesn’t mean the drug isn’t effective. High-risk patients who take the antiviral treatment still have a dramatically lower risk of being hospitalized due to the virus.
Biden said he was feeling well and made several virtual appearances during his second infection, addressing the nation from the Blue Room balcony about the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri on Monday and touting a strong jobs report and movement on his agenda in the Senate on Friday.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden have plans to travel to Kentucky on Monday, the White House previously announced, in what would be his first trip since his diagnosis. If they do travel, they will join Gov. Andy Beshear and his wife Britainy Beshear in a meeting with families affected by the state’s devastating flooding. At least 37 people died in the flooding, which also left water and electricity systems heavily damaged.
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate parliamentarian has signed off on key climate and health care provisions in the Democrats’ major spending bill.
The rulings from Elizabeth MacDonough, the chamber’s non-partisan rule keeper, come before an expected vote Saturday afternoon to begin debate on the $739 billion climate, health care and tax package titled the “Inflation Reduction Act.”
Democrats are using a fast-track process known as reconciliation to pass the bill through a simple majority vote. The Senate parliamentarian is responsible for issuing opinions on whether provisions meet conditions of the budget reconciliation rules.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the Senate Finance Committee’s clean energy tax package — a major portion of the bill — adhered to the chamber rules.
The Inflation Reduction Act sets out $369 billion for climate, much of which would go toward tax credits to prop up clean energy technologies. Consumer tax credits are included for Americans to make “home energy efficiency improvements” and for those who purchase electric vehicles.
It also provides a tax credit to clean energy developers who pay their workers the prevailing wage.
“I’m especially pleased that our prevailing wage provisions were approved,” Wyden said in a statement. “These provisions guarantee wage rates for clean energy projects. Clean energy jobs will be good-paying jobs.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also announced Saturday that the parliamentarian signed off on most of the drug pricing provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act except for one prescription cost-reducing program Democrats wanted to include.
“Democrats have received extremely good news: for the first time, Medicare will finally be allowed to negotiate prescription drug prices, seniors will have free vaccines and their costs capped, and much more. This is a major victory for the American people,” Schumer said in a statement.
The legislation will allow the federal health secretary to directly negotiate the prices of certain expensive drugs for Medicare starting in 2026. It would also cap out-of-pocket costs for those who use Medicare drug plans at $2,000.
Democrats wanted to penalize drug companies for raising prices of some prescription drugs faster than inflation, in an effort to keep costs down. But, according to a source familiar, the parliamentarian ruled that these penalties cannot be applied on individuals with private health insurance. They’ll stay in affect for Medicare.
“While there was one unfortunate ruling in that the inflation rebate is more limited in scope, the overall program remains intact and we are one step closer to finally taking on Big Pharma and lowering Rx drug prices for millions of Americans,” Schumer said.
Schumer said earlier this week that the first vote on the spending bill is expected Saturday afternoon.
The motion to proceed, if passed, would begin debate on the bill and give lawmakers the opportunity to vote on amendments in what’s been dubbed “vote-a-rama.”
Republicans have pledged to bring up amendments on issues related to immigration, crime and energy. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters on Friday that the voting session will be “hell.”
President Joe Biden on Friday praised the movement on the bill, stating Democrats were “on the cusp” of passing what he said was the “most important step” to combating inflation.
“In short, this bill is a game changer for working families and our economy,” he said. “I look forward to the Senate taking up this legislation and passing it as soon as possible.”
(NEW YORK) — Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed an abortion bill into law Friday, banning the procedure with very few exceptions, making it the first state to pass such a bill since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in June. The ban will go into effect on Sept. 15.
State lawmakers had passed the legislation earlier Friday.
“Following the overturning of Roe, I stated clearly that I would be willing to support legislation that made progress in protecting life. In my view, SEA 1 accomplishes this goal following its passage in both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly with a solid majority of support,” Holcomb said in a statement.
Known as SB1, the GOP-led state Senate 28-19 voted to accept the bill after it was passed by the Republican-controlled state House 62-38 earlier that day.
The bill replaces the state’s current 22-week abortion ban with a near-total ban on abortion. There are exceptions if the woman’s life is in danger and in cases of rape or incest up until 10 weeks’ gestation.
Under the bill, patients cannot use telehealth medicine to seek an abortion and must consult a provider in person.
This bill “makes Indiana one of the most pro-life states in the nation,” Republican Rep. Wendy McNamara, who sponsored the legislation, said at a media briefing after the House voted to pass the bill.
Earlier last week, the state senate voted on several amendments to the bill, including stripping exceptions for rape or incest.
Republican state Sen. Michael Young, who introduced the amendment, said at the time that “exceptions equal death.”
“And what you’re telling me is if they rape the woman, we oughta kill the baby,” Young said during the debate, according to local reports. “That is not right, and I will never, ever accept that.”
However, the amendment failed to pass on a 28-18 vote, with 18 Republicans siding with the Democrats to keep rape and incest exceptions in place.
Republicans in the state house also attempted Thursday to remove exceptions for rape or incest from the bill, but it failed on a vote.
The House also changed some language from the Senate version of the bill. The Senate bill allowed abortions for rape and incest among girls 16 years and older up until eight weeks’ gestation and up until 12 weeks for those aged 15 and younger, which the House changed to 10 weeks for all victims regardless of age.
Additionally, the House removed a portion of the bill requiring rape and incest victims to sign an affidavit attesting the attack happened before being allowed to get an abortion.
(WASHINGTON) — With the Senate Democrats’ last remaining holdout — Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema — tentatively signing onto a $739 billion modified reconciliation deal, her party leaders are looking forward to a first procedural vote on their historic tax, climate and drug-pricing bill as early as Saturday.
The Senate is expected to eventually pass The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 through using a fast-track budget process known as reconciliation as early as this weekend. If all Democrats stick together, they’ll be able to clear the hefty legislative package by their razor-thin majority and avoid a Republican threat of a filibuster.
In a surprise move in late July, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin announced he had brokered a deal on a revised version of a Democrat-only spending bill with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer after it seemed the door was closed on negotiations.
After reviewing the legislation, Sinema on Thursday evening offered her essential but still conditional support for the bill. Her support was conditioned upon Democrats stripping from the bill a tax break favoring wealthy hedge-fund managers called the “carried interest loophole,” while adding instead a new excise tax on stock buybacks.
The current proposed text aims to increase job creation, raise taxes on large corporations and the mega-wealthy, allows the government to negotiate prices of prescription drugs to lower costs, expands the Affordable Care Act health care program and invests in addressing climate change with measure such as extending tax credits for clean energy initiatives.
Together, the climate and ACA provisions would cost the government roughly $433 billion, and Democrats plan to put at least $300 billion of that toward deficit reduction. The tax provisions, prescription drug-pricing reform and increased IRS tax enforcement would raise the estimated revenue the bill would produce to $739 billion.
Republicans have bashed the proposal, saying that any tax increases or spending package while the nation is falling into an economic recession is irresponsible.
“This is not about inflation reduction, this is all about Democrats spending on things they want to spend money on. I’m not going to support it. I don’t think any Republicans are going to support it. Why is that? Well, it’s another taxing and spending bill,” said Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah in response to the bill.
Tax analysts argue that the legislation would help American families who make less than $400,000. Democrats say it would reduce inflation at least in part by lowering the deficit, a key priority for Manchin.
The bill would reduce federal budget deficits by $102 billion over 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
“The legislation would either reduce or have no effect on the taxes due or paid by any family with income less than $400,000 and is fully consistent with the President’s pledge. In fact, the clean energy tax credits and the expanded premium tax credit will cut taxes for millions of Americans,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote in a letter to congressional leadership.
Sinema said she is still waiting to see the results of a scrub by the Senate’s non-partisan rule keeper before signing off, but if Schumer can keep his caucus together and pass this bill, it will be a big win for democratic leaders ahead of a hotly-contested upcoming midterm cycle.
“We have agreed to remove the carried interest tax provision, protect advanced manufacturing, and boost our clean energy economy in the Senate’s budget reconciliation legislation,” the Arizona senator said in a statement. “Subject to the Parliamentarian’s review, I’ll move forward.”
Details of the reconciliation bill were highlighted further Thursday as lawmakers continued to comb through the 700-plus pages of legislation ahead of this weekend’s votes. Once the Senate votes to begin debate on the bill, lawmakers will have the opportunity to offer an unlimited number of amendments, a cumbersome and time-consuming process.
Here’s what’s in the bill from the Democrats’ top-line priorities: the economy, the environment and health care.
Economy
The new proposal will invest $300 billion in “deficit reduction,” backers say, by making the “biggest corporations and ultra-wealthy pay their fair share,” and by providing funds to enhance IRS tax enforcement.
But some of Democrats’ most ambitious efforts to tax the ultra wealthy were sidelined by Sinema’s insistence that so-called “carried interest” tax breaks for wealthy hedge fund managers and private equity executives be retained.
The original bill aimed to close this carried interest loophole by extending the holding period and therefore forcing investors to hold onto assets for longer — a move Wall Street has adamantly fought.
Sinema sought changes to the Inflation Reduction Act specifically for the removal of the “carried interest” loophole provision.
“Sen. Sinema said she would not vote for the bill, not even move to proceed, unless we took it out. So we had no choice,” Schumer said during a press conference on Friday.
In her statement Thursday evening, Sinema left the door open to future discussions on modifying the carried interest tax.
“Following this effort, I look forward to working with Senator [Mark] Warner to enact carried interest tax reforms, protecting investments in America’s economy and encouraging continued growth while closing the most egregious loopholes that some abuse to avoid paying taxes,” she said in a statement Thursday night.
Changes to secure Sinema’s backing also included the lessening of a proposed 15% corporate minimum tax by preserving the ability of manufacturers to quickly deduct capital purchases. Proposed changes to depreciation policies had some Republicans concerned that the IRA would disproportionately hit manufactures.
“We remain skeptical and will be reviewing the revised legislation carefully,” National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons said in a statement. “We cannot afford to undermine manufacturing competitiveness.”
The proposed corporate minimum tax still apply only to large corporations.
But while Democrats took a loss in revenue to meet Sinema’s demands, they made up for it with the addition of a provision aimed at investors — a new 1% excise tax on stock buybacks that would make companies pay on the amount of stock that they repurchase.
Schumer has said that this excise tax would ensure that the package still reduces the federal deficit by as much as $300 billion, the same amount Democrats aimed for in the original deal and a key priority for Manchin.
“We’re adding in an excise tax on stock buy backs that will bring in $74 billion,” Schumer said.
Chuck Marr, the Vice President of Federal Tax Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, in a Twitter thread called the tax an “excellent policy,” designed to correct tax policy inefficiency and “raises $125 billion over ten years.”
Climate
Most of the $369 billion the Inflation Reduction Act would spend on climate would go to renewable energy tax credits that would prop up clean energy technology such as carbon capture, hydrogen, renewables and energy storage. The climate provisions would also provide consumer tax credits for “home energy efficiency improvements” and for the purchase of clean vehicles.
Backers say the package would cut about 40% of the country’s carbon emissions by 2030.
The bill includes a methane emissions reduction program, an array of reforms that would have a dramatic impact on both the onshore and offshore federal oil and gas royalty rates and undo a 10-year moratorium on offshore wind leasing established by former President Donald Trump, among other provisions.
Democrats are also excited about the bill’s hefty funding initiative — $60 billion overall — for environmental justice projects.
Sinema sought a $5 billion boost to the bill’s spending on drought resiliency funding in addition to the $575 million already written in the bill that would go to the Bureau of Reclamation for drought response and preparedness and $13 million for drought relief for tribes.
On Friday, Sinema’s Arizona colleague Mark Kelly announced a deal to include $4 billion in resources to combat draught in the western U.S. in the bill.
Health care, prescription drug prices
Aside from climate spending, the reconciliation bill also would allocate $64 billion to extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies by three years, through 2025.
It also aims to chip away at a long-held Democratic goal of lowering prescription drug prices for seniors by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices directly.
“The new negotiation policy will ensure that patients with Medicare get the best deal possible on high-priced drugs and pay cost-sharing for those drugs based on the Medicare negotiated price,” according to the bill’s summary.
The bill would also cap out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 for those who use Medicare drug plans, with the option to break that amount into affordable monthly payments. Currently, no cap exists.
It would also impose penalties on drug companies if they increase their prices faster than inflation, which would incentivize them to keep prices down and expand premium and co-pay assistance on prescription drugs for low-income individuals.
“While we’re not there yet, we’re on the cusp of passing the most important step we can pass to take — help Congress to help us lower inflation, the Inflation Reduction Act,” Biden said in remarks at the White House on Friday, touting healthcare wins for Democrats, among the other climate and tax victories.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to eastern Kentucky Monday to visit flood victims, the White House announced, despite another positive COVID-19 test Friday.
Physician to the president Dr. Kevin O’Connor said in a letter Biden’s cough “has almost completely resolved” and he will continue with “strict isolation measures,” after testing positive for the seventh day in a row Friday.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quarantine and isolation guidelines recommend that people who test positive for COVID-19 isolate for at least five days after a first positive test and avoid traveling for a full 10 days.
The Bidens will join Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and his wife Britainy Beshear in meeting with families affected by the devastating flooding, according to the White House. At least 37 people died and at least two more remained unaccounted for as of a Friday morning news conference.
Over 500 people were being housed in state-run emergency shelters Friday. Biden declared a state of emergency in Kentucky on July 29, ordering federal aid to the affected counties and deploying a team from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist in rescue efforts.
“Our hearts break for the families of those who have lost their lives or are missing, and to all those who have been impacted,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a briefing the same day.
The trip will be the second disaster-related visit to Kentucky during Biden’s presidency. He traveled there in December after declaring a state of emergency over the deadly tornadoes that ravaged the region.
ABC News’ Molly Nagle, Will Gretzky and Justin Gomez contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Friday celebrated stronger than expected job growth in July as a strong economic sign as Democrats look to pass a major spending bill focused on climate, health care and tax policies.
Speaking from the Blue Room Balcony because he’s still isolation with COVID, Biden said the 528,000 jobs added in July marks 10 millions jobs created since he entered office.
“That’s the fastest job growth in history,” he said. “Today, we also matched the lowest unemployment rate in America in the last 50 years: 3.5%.”
White House officials initially prepared reporters for data indicating a slowdown in growth but the Bureau of Labor Statistics report marked a significant increase from the 372,000 jobs added in the month of June.
In marking a week of political wins, Biden also took a victory lap on lower gas prices, as costs at the pump have declined for 50 straight days.
JUST IN: Pres. Biden hails strong July jobs report: “Today there are more people working in America than before the pandemic began. In fact, there are more people working in America than at any point in American history.” https://t.co/u0fZFR8Yedpic.twitter.com/lkGEyaIQMm
Still, he acknowledged that a lot of Americans are still feeling the pain of inflation.
“Now, I know people will hear today’s extraordinary jobs report and say they don’t see it, they don’t feel it in their own lives,” he conceded. “I know how hard it is. I know it’s hard to feel good about job creation when you already have a job, and you’re dealing with rising prices, food and gas and so much more.”
More relief could soon be coming, he said, from the Inflation Reduction Act — a $740 billion spending bill Democrats are looking to pass through a fast-track process known as reconciliation.
Biden homed in on provisions in the bill that will allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and provide incentives for Americans to invest in clean energy.
The president said they’re “on the cusp” of passing the legislation after Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., announced Thursday she would move forward with the bill after getting a tax provision she opposed removed from the legislative text.
Sinema was the last holdout and is a critical vote as Democrats need the support of all 50 caucus members to pass the bill amid expected unanimous opposition from Republicans in the chamber.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has teed up the first vote to begin debate on the bill on Saturday afternoon.
Biden said the bill is a “game changer for working families and our economy.”
“You know, I know most families are focused on just putting three meals on the table, taking care of their kids and paying their bills,” he said. “Helping you do that is my job.”
(WASHINGTON) — Fallout continued Friday from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan as China announced it is canceling dialogue with the United States on military talks and climate change.
The Chinese foreign ministry said Friday that working meetings with the U.S. Department of Defense and China-U.S. Maritime Military Security Consultation Mechanism have been canceled as a result of Pelosi’s visit.
The ministry said it will also no longer be cooperating with the U.S. on climate change talks, drug control, repatriation of illegal immigrants, criminal investigations and combating transnational crimes.
These were seen as the remaining guardrails to a fraught U.S.-China relationship, but Beijing has long said that the only guardrail that matters is the “One China” principle — that the U.S. recognizes the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China but only acknowledges the Chinese position that Taiwan is part of China.
The action raises questions on the potential impact for global climate benchmarks, as China and the U.S. are the world’s top climate polluters. Just last year, the U.S. and China issued a joint pledge to take “enhanced climate actions” to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement of limiting warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.
The White House “summoned” China’s ambassador Qin Gang over China’s provocative actions overnight, spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement.
“We made clear to the Ambassador that Beijing’s actions are of concern to Taiwan, to us, and to our partners around the world,” Kirby said.
Kirby also reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the One China policy, as has Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Pelosi and members of a congressional delegation arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday despite warnings not to from mainland China. Pelosi, the highest-ranking American official to visit Taiwan in decades, said the trip — which also includes stops in Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia — is about “advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”
In response, China has also ramped up military drills and imposed new trade restrictions on Taiwan.
Kirby confirmed on Thursday that China launched an estimated 11 ballistic missiles towards Taiwan, impacting areas to the northeast, the east and southeast of the island.
“We condemn these actions, which are irresponsible and at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and in the region,” Kirby said, calling China’s response an overreaction to Pelosi’s visit.
The U.S. expects these actions to continue over the coming days, Kirby said, noting the U.S. is “prepared” for what Beijing decides to do.
The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense released new numbers on Friday stating China’s deployed 68 fighter jets, 13 warships to the areas and waters around Taiwan. Taiwanese President President Tsai Ing-Wen said the nation remains on high alert.
Kirby said Thursday The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and its strike group would remain in the “general area to monitor the situation” and would actually “conduct standard air and maritime transits through the Taiwan Strait in the next few weeks.”
Blinken on Friday called China’s response a “serious overreaction.”
“The fact is, the speaker’s visit was peaceful,” the secretary of state said in between meetings at the ongoing Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference in Cambodia. “There is no justification to this extreme, disproportionate and escalatory military response.”
Pelosi herself commented on China’s reaction to the trip during a press conference Friday alongside the rest of the congressional delegation, stating Beijing was “probably using our visit as an excuse” for their missile strikes.
“Our friendship with Taiwan is a strong one,” she said. “It is bipartisan in the House and the Senate, overwhelming support for peace and the status quo in Taiwan.”
Republicans in Congress this week have applauded Pelosi’s trip, with more than half the GOP caucus in the Senate signing onto a statement backing her decision to go to Taiwan.
Pelosi has also been sanctioned by China, which means that neither she nor her family will be able to visit Mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau.
ABC News’ Molly Nagle, Lauren Minore and Joe Simonette contributed to this report.
