The 4PM

The Biden administration suffered a serious of legislative and political setbacks this week that have even the president’s sympathizers questioning his competence.

SO WHAT

With his approval ratings cratering, President Joe Biden can’t afford to take many more “L’s.”

WHAT HAPPENED

In the past two days, it’s been almost all bad news for Biden.

Inflation: The Department of Labor reported Wednesday that inflation hit 7% in December, marking the highest rate since 1982.

Approval numbers: A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday found Biden’s already abysmal approval ratings had fallen even further at only 33%.

Legislative agenda: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., dealt a major blow to Biden’s voting rights agenda Thursday by reaffirming that she will not vote to end the filibuster.

• In a speech Tuesday, Biden said he was ready to blow a hole in the Senate filibuster, or 60-vote threshold, to ram through a pair of GOP-opposed bills that would federalize elections in the U.S.

Vaccine mandate: The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the president’s workplace vaccine mandate, which would require employees at large businesses to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing.

THE ANALYSIS

Pundits have been confounded by Biden’s penchant for shooting himself in the foot.

Every administration has losses and bad weeks. I can't remember one that just takes L after L like this one has been doing for a year. And they keep setting themselves up for them. Even now they are making their central focus legislation that has ~0% chance of passing.

— AG (@AGHamilton29) January 13, 2022

Even critics of the GOP have misgivings about how the president has been stewarding his agenda.

• Washington Post columnist David Ignatius on Thursday said Biden has failed to deliver on the mandate he’d been granted to “bridge a divided country, lower the temperature, dial down the perpetual air of crisis in our politics.”
• “Biden has been losing his way politically. As he chases support from progressives in his own party, he has failed to craft versions of his social spending package and voting rights legislation that he could pass with fragile majorities. He’s been spinning his wheels,” Ignatius wrote.