| | |  | BY MYAH WARD | Presented by AT&T | | 
President Joe Biden answers questions during a news conference in the East Room of the White House. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT — President Joe Biden gives his presidency pretty high marks at the one-year mark. “I think the report cards look pretty good, if that’s where we’re at,” Biden said during today’s press conference, when asked about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s comment that the midterm elections would serve as a report card for Biden’s performance on key issues. That’s the self-evaluation. What does the rest of the class think? Nightly reached out to a panel of insiders and experts and asked them to evaluate the Biden administration’s first 365 days. The assignment: How would you assess the Biden administration’s first year? Give the administration’s performance a letter grade and point out any areas that have room for improvement. These answers have been edited. “On the plus side, I strongly believe we are in an AI and semiconductor arms race to be the dominant military and economy of the world. It is a zero-sum game we have to win. The Biden administration is technologically literate and the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act and the NDAA will make a huge difference and hopefully allow us to win this race. “On the downside, while there have been plenty of mistakes made and policies I disagree with, as in any administration, I think the glaring problem is that there is absolutely zero charisma in the Biden administration. It may be unfortunate that it is even a consideration, but in a social media and sound-bite world where everyone is a performer, someone has to have some charisma that connects to people and overwhelms memes, headlines and soundbites as a source of information.” Grade: B — Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks “Biden may have had some very ambitious promises on his website, but he was elected to be a reassuring, competent, moderate caretaker president — a “bridge” to the next generation as he put it — who would 1) not be Donald Trump, 2) handle the pandemic, and 3) turn down the temperature of American politics by working on a bipartisan basis. He achieved #1 easily enough. But he has failed to one degree or another on the rest. “It didn’t have to be this way. He defeated Sanders, Warren, and the other progressive primary candidates. He was under no obligation to take up the base’s agenda. But misled by a surprise victory in the Georgia senate runoffs, he let himself be convinced that he had a mandate to be a ‘transformational’ FDR-style president, despite the fact Democrats had the narrowest congressional majority in history. So instead of declaring victory after passage of his $1.9 trillion Covid relief package and his traditional infrastructure bill (achieving what Trump could not: “infrastructure week!”), he caved to the demands of Blue Checkmark Twitter liberals and Democratic congressional leaders and swung for the fences, even accusing his opponents of racism in furtherance of a failed project, while letting Covid, inflation, Afghanistan and the confidence of the voters get away from him. He took his eyes off the ball because he had his eye on history.” Grade: D+ — Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Dispatch “After the four most egregious years of racism and hateful rhetoric we’ve ever seen come out of the White House, the fabric of our democracy is worn thin. The fault lines in our society are exposed, and Black Americans are harmed the most. Our nation is in dire need of course-correcting legislation. To do nothing would be a betrayal of the principles America claims to stand on. The Biden presidency has an opportunity to move us forward and ensure equitable treatment of all Americans. “Congress and the Biden Administration must be committed to delivering federal policy in favor of the people who elected them: communities of color. But, unfortunately, we’ve yet to see that happen in a real and meaningful way when it comes to voting rights, police reform, educational outcomes for debt-laden college graduates, and economic opportunities for small businesses. President Biden has made progress on racially diverse appointments in the executive and judicial branches — more than we’ve ever seen. However, it has yet to translate to policy and implementation to detect, address and remedy systemic racism. The real mark of his presidency lies in the outcomes, not the optics.” Grade: B — Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Plenty more insiders pulled out their red pens and graded Biden’s first year as president. Read on to see what Donna Brazile, Alicia Garza, Pat Toomey and more had to say. And reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at mward@politico.com, or on Twitter at @MyahWard.
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| | A message from AT&T: Accessible, affordable broadband helps communities reach their American Dream. That’s why we’re making a $2 billion, 3-year commitment toward helping close the digital divide, so more low-income families have the ability to succeed. Learn more. | | | | | — Supreme Court rejects Trump’s bid to shield records from Jan. 6 committee: The Supreme Court rejected former President Donald Trump’s bid to use executive privilege to block a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection from accessing a trove of records created by Trump’s White House. Investigators have sought the documents to determine Trump’s actions and mindset in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 attack, as well as what he did as his supporters were rioting at the Capitol. — CDC: Vaccinated Americans with a prior infection fared the best during Delta: Americans who received their primary series of vaccines and previously contracted Covid-19 had the highest protection against reinfection and hospitalization during the Delta variant-fueled outbreak, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study, published Wednesday, looked at four categories of people in New York and California — individuals who were unvaccinated with and without a prior infection and vaccinated people with and without a prior infection. — Chaos in the skies averted — for now — as 5G switches on: Today’s debut of new 5G wireless arrived with some isolated diversions or delays of air traffic — but so far, no signs of mass chaos. The single largest disruptions so far appear to involve international airlines, a handful of which had canceled some or even all of their flights to the U.S. starting Tuesday. Among domestic flights, a handful of large cargo jets that were already midair when 5G went into effect overnight ended up diverting to another airport, according to the plane-tracking website FlightRadar24.
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| | BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we’ve got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don’t miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now. | | | | | — Gorsuch, Sotomayor deny beef over masks on the bench: The U.S. Supreme Court sought to defuse speculation of tensions between two of its sitting justices following a recent NPR report that chronicled divisions over Covid protocols within the nation’s highest court. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor, in an unusual joint statement released today, insisted that Sotomayor had not asked Gorsuch to wear a mask during court proceedings. But the statement issued today diverged on key details from the NPR report and denied events that don’t actually appear in the report that the justices seemed to be rebutting. — Top donors threaten to cut off funding to Sinema: A group of big-dollar donors who have spent millions electing Kyrsten Sinema and other Democratic senators is threatening to sever all funding to her if she doesn’t drop her opposition to changing Senate rules in order to pass voting rights legislation. In a letter to the Arizona lawmaker, which was first obtained by POLITICO, 70 Democratic donors — some of whom gave Sinema’s 2018 campaign the maximum contribution allowed by law — said they would support a primary challenge to Sinema and demanded that she refund their contributions to her 2018 campaign if she doesn’t budge.
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| | | | | AND NOW, THE REST OF THE STORY — More Biden grades from our insiders: Grade: A- “Looking back on President Biden’s first year in office, I think his most important accomplishment was securing the passage of the American Rescue Plan, which I was proud to support. Covid-19 has wrought a once-in-a-lifetime crisis, and President Biden, along with congressional Democrats (and not a single Republican) met the moment by acting quickly to get shots in arms, put checks in pockets, support our small businesses, and help our economy get back up and running. Not to mention, slashing child poverty in half and creating more than 6 million jobs. “President Biden showcased tremendous leadership in muscling through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which is nothing short of a historic investment in our nation’s future. And President Biden has already done more than any previous administration for our nation’s cybersecurity, which is among the most pressing threats of the 21st century. Between Chris Inglis, Jen Easterly and Anne Neuberger, the team he has assembled is the most talented I’ve ever seen. It’s no secret that I disagreed with how President Biden handled the Afghanistan evacuation, but prior administrations also left him few good options.” — Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) “Biden entered office facing a Category 5 storm of bad news: the worst pandemic in 100 years; a weak economy and high unemployment; razor-thin majorities in the House and Senate; Republicans opposing almost every administration initiative; two Democratic senators determined to preserve the filibuster; a defeated former president spreading the Big Lie that Biden-Harris didn’t really win the election; and a still dangerous anti-government insurrection. “Given these obstacles, Biden deserves credit for remarkable achievements including: enactment of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that funded the successful rollout of U.S. vaccines while putting money in the pockets of most families and state and local governments; enactment of the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law; winning confirmation of 41 federal judges; repairing U.S. relations with allies; and issuing 76 executive orders and 46 memoranda to make progress on climate change and other major areas. “Even their shortcomings highlight the heroically ambitious nature of their agenda. The biggest disappointments have been the failure to win enough Senate support to pass the Build Back Better Act or voting rights legislation, and the collapse of Afghanistan’s government as a result of former Trump’s failed peace deal. The challenge ahead is to elect more Democrats to overcome congressional obstruction.” — Donna Brazile, former DNC chair Grade: D+ “The Biden administration started off strong: Covid-19 vaccine distribution and child care tax credits. Infrastructure was a significant concession to white communities on economic relief, and the stimulus package was an important first step. Making Juneteenth a federal holiday and speeches (though contradictory) on police reform and voting rights amount to symbolic victories. “Yet attempting to govern like the 1990s in the 2020 political landscape has been disastrous, as evidenced by little progress made to hold white nationalist insurrectionists accountable for attempting to overthrow the government, concessions to obstructionist Democrats on bread and butter issues that matter, immigration reform disasters with no clear policy aims (i.e. don’t come here), too few executive orders to address the failures of Congress, no substantive action on policing and democracy reform, backward motion on Covid relief and economic recovery, and a failed strategy of back-room bipartisanship that has more than earned the low grade. “Black communities, a critical component of the Biden/Harris victory and the slim majority in Congress and its most consistent and active base, gave a mandate for action on issues that matter to America, but have been sorely disappointed and disregarded, spelling disaster for the midterm elections.” — Alicia Garza, principal, Black Futures Lab and cofounder of the Black Lives Matter movement
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President Joe Biden delivers an opening statement during a news conference in the East Room of the White House. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | Grade: D “In only one year, the Biden administration has squandered majority job approval and an opportunity to lessen some of the country’s divisions. The president was nominated and elected as a competent moderate, but he has governed as an incompetent liberal. “The administration was initially successful in passing massive bipartisan Covid relief and infrastructure bills. Rather than go on the road to sell those bills to the country, the president linked the infrastructure bill to a massive BBB bill that obviously had no chance of passing the Senate. By continuing to fruitlessly beat its head against the BBB and voting rights bills in an effort to kowtow to his party’s left wing, the President does three things: raise expectations of the left wing before dashing them, look impotent before Congress, and make many voters believe they were sold a bill of goods when they voted for what they thought was moderate governance. Coupled with the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the administration’s decisions have driven the president’s job approval down to one of the lowest ratings in modern times. That’s quite an accomplishment in only 12 months. — Whit Ayres, political consultant for the Republican Party and president of North Star Opinion Research Grade: F “I am not submitting as a partisan, since I’m retired, but judging from the polls and just from talking to normal people in D.C. and New Orleans and Mauertown, Va., under 50 percent is an F. “Decreasing confidence in every institution, every hallmark of a representative republic from free speech to objective media to equal justice under the law, has accelerated at warp speed under this administration. Not one single kitchen table issue has escaped the wretched fallout of failed so-called progressive policies. “The likely resultant Republican resurgence will not restore confidence or hope in our institutions; the GOP should not presume a victorious political season is the equivalent of support or trust. The only way forward is less federal foolishness and more Federalism. Results will triumph, regardless of their party label.” — Mary Matalin, former Republican Party strategist “President Biden has mistaken a narrow election victory for a mandate to transform America, but his far left agenda fails to align with the majority of Americans. In his inaugural speech, President Biden promised to unify our country, yet, in contrast to his inaugural speech, has pursued divisive policies and rhetoric. “He started with an untargeted and unnecessary $1.9 trillion spending blowout deceptively marketed as Covid relief and that supercharged inflation, which is now at a 40-year high. This was followed by an attempt to ram through the largest tax increase since 1968; create enormous new middle class entitlements; and enact a radical climate plan. All of these have been opposed even by members of his own party. “At the same time that the president was prioritizing polarizing legislation and nominees, he ignored the crisis at the southern border, made a misguided re-engagement with Iran, launched a deadly and humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan, and did nothing to keep Russian aggression at bay.” — Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) The Hampshire College professor: No letter grade “The combination of the Covid virus, razor-thin majorities in Congress, and the likelihood of unyielding Republican opposition gave the new president the toughest set of conditions of any incoming chief executive since Lincoln. “That unhappy reality has defined the first year of Biden’s tenure. Apart from the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, much of what has gone wrong this first year is linked directly to the conditions Biden faced when he was sworn in: a Democratic base that did not understand the fragility of Democratic majorities, leading to legislative overreach; a false dawn of a post-Covid nation that did not anticipate new variants and a political resistance to vaccinations and masks; a failure to understand just how committed the ‘loyal opposition’ was to a narrative that defined the new president as an illegitimate usurper, and that clung to the ex-president even after his (potentially criminal) attempt to cling to power. “Since it is unlikely that Biden and company can travel back in time to avoid the strategic and tactical failure to deal with the hand they were dealt, the question that remains is: Do they have a coherent plan for the next three years?” — Jeff Greenfield, five-time Emmy-winning network television analyst and author
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| | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | BLINKEN SIGNIFIES SOLIDARITY IN KYIV — Secretary of State Antony Blinken, visiting Kyiv today, called on Ukrainians “to stick together,” warning that — with 100,000 Russian troops massed on the border — one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aims was to provoke internal divisions, David M. Herszenhorn writes. “Our strength depends on preserving our unity, and that includes unity within Ukraine,” Blinken said, appearing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy before a meeting. “One of Moscow’s longstanding goals has been to try to sow divisions between and within countries, and quite simply we cannot and will not let them do that. “So our message to all of our friends here and to all of Ukraine’s global leaders, to its citizens alike, is to stick together and to hold on to that unity, to strengthen it. It’s never been more important, particularly as the country faces the possibility of renewed Russian aggression.” Blinken noted that he was among a parade of Western officials to make appearances in the Ukrainian capital in recent days. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was there Monday, ahead of a visit to Moscow Tuesday.
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Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey speaks during a press conference. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | DEMOCRATS GO FOR CLEAN SWEEP IN BEANTOWN — Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, a progressive lawyer known for taking on former President Donald Trump and Purdue Pharma, will launch her campaign for governor on Thursday, according to two people familiar with her planning. Healey’s entrance could maximize Democrats’ chances of retaking the office the party has so rarely held in recent decades, Lisa Kashsinky writes. It’s also likely to keep another potential contender, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, out of the open-seat race. Walsh has been weighing whether to return home and run, but people close to the former Boston mayor have repeatedly said he was unlikely to enter the fray if Healey did, despite the more than $5 million that remains in his campaign war chest. Healey, who’s been “seriously considering” running for governor for the better part of a year, has long been viewed as Democrats’ best shot at reclaiming the governor’s office. Republicans have held the position for most of the past 30 years, a streak broken only by former governor and presidential hopeful Deval Patrick. Her path became much clearer after GOP Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito both bowed out of the 2022 contest in early December, tipping the race toward the Democrats.
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