What to Know in Washington: Biden Gains Ground in Swing States

President Joe Biden has gained ground against Donald Trump in six of seven key swing states, and significantly so in at least two of them. The results make for the Democrat’s strongest position yet in a monthly Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll.

The shift was significant in Wisconsin, where Biden leads Trump by one point after trailing him by four points in February, and in Pennsylvania, where the candidates are tied after Trump held a six-point lead last month. They are also tied in Michigan.

Photographer: Rachel Mummey/Bloomberg

Joe Biden gives the thumbs up sign to attendees during a rally.

The move in the president’s direction comes after a State of the Union address that rallied Democrats and seemed to mitigate concerns about Biden’s age. Biden continues to lag the presumptive GOP nominee in four crucial states, but November victories in so-called “Blue Wall” northern battlegrounds would all but vault Biden to a second term.

Biden’s more upbeat numbers come at an inflection point for both campaigns. Trump is currently strapped for campaign cash and holding fewer rallies and events, while the incumbent has kicked his reelection effort into high gear and is barnstorming the swing states, including a trip to North Carolina today.

The poll also finds consumers feel better about the national economy, with a gradual increase in the number of swing-state voters who say it is on the right track. Gregory Korte has more details from the poll.

BIDEN’S AGENDA

• Biden heads to Raleigh, N.C., where he’ll deliver remarks alongside Vice President Kamala Harris around 3 p.m.
• They’ll both participate in a campaign reception around 5:30 p.m.
• Biden will return to the White House shortly after 8 p.m.

Happening on the Hill

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun speaks to reporters as he departs from a meeting on Capitol Hill.

LAWMAKERS say BOEING will have a lot of work to do to regain trust from both passengers and Congress as the company overhauls its leadership and deals with an onslaught of safety concerns following a string of incidents this year.

• “This is not the first leadership shakeup we’ve seen at Boeing, yet problems still persist,” Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), chair of the aviation subcommittee in the Senate, said of CEO Dave Calhoun’s announcement he would resign this year. Read more.
• Calhoun’s announcement came after the CEOs of Boeing’s top US customers — United, Southwest, and American — urged the company’s board last week for a meeting where they could air concerns without him present. Read more.

DATA PRIVACY ADVOCATES are exasperated that the TikTok proposal has seized the spotlight while Congress sits on addressing wider online privacy and safety concerns. Read more.

Defense & Foreign Affairs

ANTONY BLINKEN met with the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant yesterday to reiterate US support for “ensuring the defeat of Hamas, including in Rafah, while reiterating opposition to a major ground operation in Rafah.”

• Blinken also discussed the need for humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Read more.

The WHITE HOUSE said intelligence offering an early warning of the Moscow attack vindicated its handling of the Islamic State by showing the US could “keep tabs” on threats even after withdrawing from the Middle East.

• “It was because of the aggressive way which we have been monitoring that system we were able to give the Russians a warning that, in fact, they were heading for a potential terrorist attack,” a spokesperson told reporters yesterday. Read more.
• Vladimir Putin blamed Islamist militants for the attack for the first time, even as he persisted in trying to tie Ukraine and the West to the massacre that killed more than 130 people. Read more.

People, Power, and Politics

VOTERS in seven swing states say they favor higher taxes on billionaires, and they support higher income taxes on people who make more than $400,000 a year by the same margin, a potential boon to Democratic President Joe Biden’s economic agenda if he wins a second term. Read more.

SEVERAL REPUBLICAN LAWYERS and two House members may be called to testify this week in the ethics case against ex-Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark who is accused of violating legal ethics rules by lying about the 2020 presidential election.

• His prospective witness list includes Mark Meadows, who served as Trump’s White House chief of staff, as well as Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Scott Perry (Pa). Edwin Meese, a well-known GOP lawyer who was US Attorney General in the Reagan Administration, is also on the list. Read more.

A GOP LAWMAKER in Washington state asked the Supreme Court to block a voting map that was adopted after a lower court decided a prior map discriminated against Hispanic voters in the district next to his. Read more.

What Else We’re Watching

Photographer: Phil Walter/Getty Images

Mifepristone, one of two drugs most commonly used for abortions in the US.

AT LEAST EIGHT STATES have been stockpiling abortion pills as the Supreme Court prepares to weigh in on its first abortion case since overturning Roe v. Wade.

• The court will hear oral arguments today on whether to limit the use of mifepristone. At stake is access to the pill through the mail, as well as whether to curb its use from the current limit of 10 weeks pregnancy to seven weeks. Read more.

BALTIMORE’S Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being rammed by a container ship early this morning, threatening chaos — both for shipping at one of the busiest ports on the US East Coast and on the roads. A White House official said there is no sign of nefarious intent.

• The bridge allows commercial ships to enter the Port of Baltimore, the largest US port for handling cars and light trucks. Read more.

APPLE and GOOGLE’S talks about a potential AI deal could open the door for the DOJ in its tussle with other agencies over tackling antitrust issues in the AI space. Read more.

NY GOV. KATHY HOCHUL is relying on a former Obama administration official to help sell the public and lawmakers on her $400 million plan to move the Empire State into national leadership on AI. Read more.

EMPLOYMENT in nearly one-third of US states remains below pre-pandemic levels, with California and New York registering the steepest declines that likely reflect a pickup in migration to other parts of the country. Read more.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kayla Sharpe at ksharpe@bloombergindustry.com; Brandon Lee in Washington at blee@bgov.com; Jeannie Baumann in Washington at jbaumann@bloombergindustry.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Giuseppe Macri at gmacri@bgov.com