President Joe Biden’s approval ratings have sunk to near-historic lows as the United States slogs through an ongoing pandemic and faces spiraling inflation.
According to a Democratic leader, Biden is seriously considering not running for reelection in 2024.
And despite her lower approval ratings, Vice President Kamala Harris would likely take charge.
“I’m hoping the president runs for reelection,” Sen. Chris Dodd told The New York Times on Friday. “But for whatever reason that might not be the case, it’s hard to believe there would be a short list without Kamala’s name on it. She’s the vice president of the United States.”
Times reporter Maggie Haberman said she was stunned by the news —
Dodd quote in here is pretty stunning to hear. Usually this kind of thing isn’t said out loud https://t.co/BdZP6vUJ18
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 13, 2021
At the White House, Biden is expected to sign a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill on Monday.
“It’s hard, but we can still come together to get something big done for the American people,” Biden said. “It will create millions of new jobs. It will grow the economy. And we’ll win the world economic competition that we’re engaged in in the second quarter of the 21st century with China and many other countries around the world.”
Biden held off on signing the hard-fought infrastructure deal after it passed on Nov. 5 until legislators would be back from a congressional recess and could join in a splashy photo-op event. The gathering Monday on the White House lawn will include governors and mayors of both parties and labor and business leaders. On Sunday night before the signing, the White House announced Mitch Landrieu, the former New Orleans mayor, would coordinate the implementation of the infrastructure spending.
The president began the process of selling it to the broader public with a trip last week to the Port of Baltimore. He’ll go to New Hampshire on Tuesday to visit a bridge on the state’s “red list” for repair and to Detroit on Wednesday for a stop at General Motors’ electric vehicle assembly plant.
The agreement ultimately got support from 19 Senate Republicans, including Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell. Thirteen House Republicans also voted for the infrastructure bill.
An angry former President Donald Trump condemned the plan and issued a statement attacking “Old Crow” McConnell and other Republicans for cooperating on “a terrible Democrat Socialist Infrastructure Plan.”
McConnell says the country “desperately needs” the new infrastructure money but has indicated that he plans to skip Monday’s signing ceremony, telling WHAS radio in Louisville, Kentucky, that he has “other things” to do.
The Associated Press contributed to this article