President Joe Biden hasn’t yet announced if he’s running for re-election, but his schedule this week will preview some of his messaging and policy priorities ahead of a potential campaign.
On Monday, Biden addressed the International Association of Fire Fighters Legislative Conference, telling the group, “I promise you. I promise. You have my back and I’ll have yours,” per NBC News’ Molly Roecker. Also on Monday, news broke that the Biden administration is considering restarting a controversial family detention policy for undocumented migrants.
On Tuesday, the White House put out a plan to increase a Medicare trust fund’s solvency by raising taxes on the wealthy — a preview of his budget proposal, which he will unveil in Philadelphia on Thursday. The decision to unveil his budget in a battleground state is a departure from the traditional announcement at the White House, per the Associated Press.
And next week Biden is expected to head to California for a fundraising swing, per Politico.
One state he isn’t traveling to — yet — is Ohio, where East Palestine residents are grappling with a recent train derailment. NBC News’ Peter Nicholas, Kristen Welker and Monica Alba report that even though Biden has said he would go to East Palestine, there is currently no trip in the works.
In other campaign news…
Never Trumpers in despair: While CPAC grabbed most of the headlines this weekend, a group of anti-Trump Republicans also gathered together, but they couldn’t agree on the best path forward, per Politico.
Thinking about it: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.., a vaccine opponent, told News 9 in New Hampshire that he’s considering running for president as a Democrat.
So is he: State Sen. Doug Mastriano, last year’s Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial nominee, is considering a bid for Senate, he told Politico. Last year, he lost his 2022 gubernatorial race by about 15 points as he embraced lies about the 2020 election.
Off to the races: Commonwealth PAC, an outside group boosting Republican Kelly Craft in the Kentucky governor’s race, launched a TV ad against GOP Attorney General Daniel Cameron, calling him a “soft, establishment Teddy bear.” The group has reserved $929,000 in airtime from March 6-19, per AdImpact. Cameron told the Louisville Courier Journal facing early attacks “shows the strength of our lead.”
New York state of mind: Politico reports on how New York’s Republican members of Congress have sought to distance themselves from their embattled colleague, Rep. George Santos.
Debatable: The conservative and progressive candidates in Wisconsin’s closely watched Supreme Court race will face off in a debate on March 21, per the Associated Press.
Boy meets Congress: Ben Savage, the actor of “Boy Meets World” fame, officially announced he is running for Congress to fill the seat being vacated by California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff’s Senate bid.
States break up with ERIC: A handful of states with Republican leaders (Florida, Missouri and West Virginia) are leaving the multi-state voter registration data partnership, called ERIC, amid a pressure campaign from the right.
Pay to play?: Politico reports on allegations that a consultant with ties to CPAC asked Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign to pay more than $100,000 if he wanted to get onto the conference’s presidential straw poll.
