Biden bound for global summits as domestic agenda in limbo

By JOSH BOAK and ZEKE MILLER

WASHINGTON (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 is rushing to finalize a large home legislative package.

Headed archetypal to Rome and past to Glasgow, Scotland, 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 Group of 20 gathering successful Rome: “People, Planet, Prosperity.”

Biden, who planned to present East Room remarks connected his home docket earlier boarding Air Force One connected Thursday, has promised 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 was pitching 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 key-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.

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 alternatively than being locked down. 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 connected Wednesday that overseas leaders tin spot beyond ongoing back-room 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.

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.

The president noted successful a Monday code successful New Jersey that storms, floods, fires and different disasters exacerbated by clime alteration person already outgo the U.S. $100 cardinal this year.

“We’re going to code the basal origin of ever-increasing utmost upwind and destruction: the clime situation — we person a clime crisis,” Biden said.

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Miller reported from Rome. AP Director of Public Opinion Research Emily Swanson contributed to this report.