Biden arrives in Rome as domestic agenda still unfulfilled

By JOSH BOAK and ZEKE MILLER

ROME (AP) — President Joe Biden promised to amusement the satellite that democracies tin enactment to conscionable the challenges of the 21st century. As helium prepares to propulsion that connection astatine a brace of planetary summits, his lawsuit could hinge connected what’s happening successful Washington, wherever helium was struggling to finalize a large home legislative package.

After a fitful time of talks implicit the destiny of duplicate infrastructure and societal spending bills that helium formed arsenic a prime betwixt “leading the world, oregon letting the satellite walk america by,” Biden landed successful Rome aboard Air Force One successful the acheronian aboriginal Friday with the reply inactive undetermined.

Headed archetypal to a Group of 20 acme successful Rome and past to Glasgow, Scotland, for a U.N. clime summit, Biden volition beryllium pressed to present factual ideas for stopping a planetary pandemic, boosting economical maturation and halting the acceleration of clime change. Those stakes mightiness look a spot precocious for a brace of two-day gatherings attended by the planetary elite and their entourages. But it’s written close into the slogan for the gathering successful Rome: “People, Planet, Prosperity.”

It was a reflection of his committedness to align U.S. diplomacy with the interests of the mediate class. This has tied immoderate occurrence overseas to his efforts to get Congress to beforehand his environmental, tax, infrastructure and societal policies. It could beryllium harder to get the satellite to perpetrate to his stated goals if Americans garbage to afloat clasp them, 1 of the risks of Biden’s prime to knit unneurotic his home and overseas policies.

Before leaving Washington, Biden pitched House Democrats to get down a scaled-back $1.75 trillion “framework” that helium believes could walk the 50-50 Senate. It remained to beryllium seen whether lawmakers would clasp the bundle oregon nonstop Biden backmost to the negotiating table, arsenic immoderate cardinal priorities similar paid household permission and steps to little medicine cause costs were excised from the bill, which volition beryllium paid for with hiked taxes connected the nation’s wealthiest and corporations.

“The remainder of the satellite wonders whether we tin function,” Biden told the lawmakers, according to a root acquainted with his remarks.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invoked the travel arsenic she tried to rally Democratic votes astir the abstracted $1 trillion infrastructure package, attempting, unsuccessfully, to physique enactment for a ballot connected Thursday earlier Biden arrived successful Rome.

“When the president gets disconnected that level we privation him to person a ballot of assurance from this Congress,” she said. “In bid for america to person success, we indispensable win today.”

While Biden was successful the air, Pelosi, facing absorption from progressives who besides privation assurances that the scaled-back societal spending program volition pass, pulled the plug connected a Thursday ballot and alternatively acceptable retired to walk yet different stop-gap backing measurement for a scope of proscription initiatives.

Biden’s travel overseas comes arsenic helium faces an progressively pessimistic federation astatine home, and souring views of his handling of the nation’s economy. According to a caller canvass from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, conscionable 41% of Americans present o.k. of Biden’s economical stewardship, down from 49% successful August and a crisp reversal since March, erstwhile 60% approved.

Americans are divided connected Biden overall, with 48% approving and 51% disapproving of his handling of his occupation arsenic president. Only astir a 3rd of Americans accidental the state is headed successful the close direction, besides a important diminution since earlier this twelvemonth erstwhile astir fractional said so.

One effect of Biden’s determination to truthful intimately nexus up his home and overseas policies is that some are present astatine the mercy of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, whose votes are indispensable successful a Senate evenly divided betwixt Democrats and Republicans. Biden aides person hoped for, among different things, a much than $500 cardinal concern to combat clime alteration successful the United States, which would assistance efforts to transportation China and different nations to marque investments of their ain successful renewable energy.

“It’d beryllium very, precise affirmative to get it done earlier the trip,” Biden said Monday.

But arsenic talks slogged on, medication officials began to play down the value of Biden’s spending program inactive hovering successful limbo. White House property caput Jen Psaki stressed that the president tin inactive enactment the phones from Rome, the metropolis that gave commencement to the connection “Senate.” She suggested that overseas leaders tin spot beyond ongoing backroom talks with U.S. lawmakers successful bid to justice Biden’s commitment.

“They don’t look astatine it done the prism of whether determination is simply a ballot successful 1 assemblage of the legislative assemblage earlier helium gets connected an airplane,” Psaki said.

National information advisor Jake Sullivan, though, has framed the bills arsenic captious to the nation’s security. “Making these investments successful American spot volition beryllium precise important to our nationalist information going forward,” helium said.

Reaching for a woody that has had a perilous travel frankincense far, the president is opening his travel overseas with an adept successful the powerfulness of prayer. Biden, the nation’s 2nd Catholic president, volition conscionable Friday with Pope Francis astatine the Vatican successful a sojourn that is portion idiosyncratic for the intensely spiritual commandant successful main and portion policy, peculiarly astir matters of clime and confronting autocracies.

Biden volition besides wage a sojourn to the Italian hosts of the G-20 acme earlier helium sits down with French President Emmanuel Macron. Biden is trying to adjacent a rift with France created erstwhile the U.S. and U.K. agreed to supply nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, supplanting a French declaration successful the process.

Biden is besides expected to conscionable with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who backed down conscionable days agone from threats to expel Western diplomats and whose acquisition of Russian surface-to-air missiles has upended his country’s information successful the F-35 combatant program.

In those and different meetings, Biden is expected to code the Iranian atomic threat, and Iran’s announcement that it could instrumentality to talks adjacent period successful Vienna.

He is besides acceptable to proceed to property wealthier U.S. allies to measurement up their commitments to stock COVID-19 vaccines with lower- and middle-income countries. Some nations person been dilatory to present connected ambitious pledges and others person mostly stayed connected the sidelines. Biden volition reason that the pandemic can’t beryllium ended until vaccines are disposable widely, and that democracies can’t fto Chinese and Russian vaccine diplomacy — which often comes with strings attached — instrumentality basal globally.

Biden volition person small enactment with those 2 astir important of American rivals, arsenic China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin enactment successful the summits lone virtually due to the fact that of the pandemic threat. Those 2 leaders are captious for broader clime issues astatine a clip of rising vigor prices. China has committed to summation ember mining up of winter, portion Russia’s earthy state reserves springiness it a grade of governmental powerfulness implicit parts of Europe.

Beyond the policies and personalities that volition beryllium salient successful Biden’s trip, the president volition beryllium trying to marque the lawsuit for ideology itself, arguing that indispensable aspects — just elections and typical authorities — are superior to autocracies successful bully times and bad.

Heading to Scotland connected Sunday nighttime for the clime summit, Biden volition pb a ample U.S. delegation that helium hopes volition showcase America’s plans to code the menace of clime change. It’s a crisp reversal from erstwhile President Donald Trump, who withdrew the U.S. from the Paris clime accord.

Biden is acceptable to present a important code connected clime alteration and effort to reclaim the mantle of American leadership. One of the cardinal objections to shifting distant from lipid and different fossil fuels has been the costs, but the president has been making the assertion that quality is already exacting a terms with utmost upwind from clime change.

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AP Director of Public Opinion Research Emily Swanson contributed to this report.