With his time left as commander in chief waning, President Joe Biden convened his Cabinet at the White House on Friday, where he was expected to direct his team to make his final four months in office a “sprint to the finish,” a White House official said.
Biden used his brief remarks at the top of the meeting to call on Congress to pass a short-term funding patch, known as a continuing resolution, to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1.
“The need for Congress to pass a continuing resolution – it’s critical,” Biden said, noting lawmakers have 10 days left to get it done.
This week, GOP Speaker Mike Johnson’s attempt to pass a continuing resolution – which would have funded the government for six months – with an election security bill attached was tanked, in part by 14 of his fellow Republicans. The election security bill is a non-starter for Democrats, who also want a shorter continuing resolution that would end while Biden is still in office. Former President Donald Trump has called on Republicans to allow the government to shut down if the election bill is not attached to a continuing resolution.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sat on either side of the president for Friday’s meeting, which was also attended by first lady Jill Biden and senior White House aides. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, was set to participate virtually.
It marked Biden’s first Cabinet meeting since Oct. 2023 – nearly a full year ago – and came under dramatically different circumstances. While last meeting Biden was a presidential candidate mapping out a potential second term last October, he is now preparing to leave office in January and is looking to cement his legacy after more than five decades in Washington.
The White House official said the president will make clear that he intends for his final four months in the Oval Office to be as productive as any other period in his presidency.
The official characterized the convening as a chance to not only assess the progress the administration has made since Biden took office but also discuss “accelerating” implementation of the president’s signature pieces of legislation. Some of those include the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act.
The president was set to tell his team to hone in on “moving funding out the door,” putting in place new policies and programs and delivering ones that have already been launched. Biden, the official said, would tell his team to personally bring him any issues or hurdles that arise.
The White House pointed to what the administration has been able to get done in just the two months since Biden dropped his bid for a second term in the White House, including carrying out a massive prisoner swap with Russia to bring Americans home, announcing lower prices for 10 prescription drugs as a result of a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act and investing a new $7.3 billion in funding for clean, reliable and affordable energy in rural parts of the country.
The White House also noted this week’s decision by the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates by a half-point, marking its first cut in more than four years. During a speech at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. on Thursday, the president touted the move as an “important signal” that inflation – an issue that has plagued Biden’s economic approval ratings – is coming down.
The first lady delivered remarks at Friday’s meeting to give an update on the executive order the president signed in March that seeks to boost resources going toward women’s health and close gaps that exist in research and knowledge between men’s and women’s health.
“It's time to write a new story of health care in this country, one where women get the answers we need, where the United States continues to be home to the most cutting-edge research in the world and where everyone can lead healthier lives,” the first lady said on Friday.