Washington Post Daily 202 in News stories

The big idea
Biden backs filibuster exception to codify Roe vs Wade

“Outrageous.” “Destabilizing.” “Mistake.”

President Biden signaled Thursday he’s heard liberals’ mounting criticism of his response to the Supreme Court ruling ending a half-century of constitutional access to abortion but told Americans the best remedy to the decision is to “vote, vote vote” for Democrats in November.

Wrapping up a trip to Europe, Biden announced at a news conference he supports exempting legislation to codify access to abortion (and privacy rights more broadly) from the Senate’s filibuster rule that effectively requires 60 votes to advance bills.

He blasted the nearly week-old Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision as “outrageous,” a “mistake” and even “destabilizing” and said Congress must act to restore access to abortion. “If the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights, we provide an exception for this,” he said.

Asked about liberals’ doubts about his leadership, Biden replied: “I’m the only president they got. And I feel extremely strongly that I’m going to do everything in my power, which I legally can do, in terms of executive orders as well as push the Congress and the public.”

In a nod to the looming midterm elections — and the potential power of the issue at the ballot box — Biden said the best response is to elect more Democrats.

“The bottom line here is, if you care, if the polling data is correct, and you think this decision by the court was an outrage or a significant mistake, vote. Show up and vote. Vote in the off-year, and vote, vote, vote!” he declared. “That’s how we’ll change it.”

WHITHER THE FILIBUSTER?
It’s not clear at all that Democrats can rally the votes to change the filibuster rules to pass the kind of legislation Biden has in mind.

The Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have codified Roe v. Wade, failed to get a majority in the Senate. Among its opponents: All of the Republicans who voted, plus Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III (W.Va.).

It was also unclear what executive actions Biden would take. The president noted he was meeting Friday with governors who have taken steps to safeguard access to abortion.

Biden came into the news conference under considerable, and growing, pressure from liberals to mount a tougher response to the ruling.

Again, the scope of his coming action isn’t clear. But this Reuters analysis from Nandita Bose and Trevor Hunnicutt, a look at what Biden and top aides have said in recent days about the response to the ruling, suggests he’ll disappoint the left flank of the Democratic Party.

“In a speech after the rollback of the [Roe] decision on Friday, President Joe Biden slammed the ‘extreme ideology’ of the conservative-leaning Supreme Court, but said then there are few things he could do by executive order to protect women’s reproductive rights.

“Since then, lawmakers including Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have suggested Biden limit the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction or expand its membership, end the legislative ‘filibuster’ rule, build abortion clinics on federal lands, declare a national emergency and establish Planned Parenthood outposts outside U.S. national parks, among other options.”

Instead, “the White House is pursuing a more limited set of policy responses while urging voters and Congress to act. The White House’s plans include a range of executive actions in the coming days, as well as promising to protect women who cross state lines for abortions and support for medical abortion.”

Party activists both worry about the impact on the health care of millions who might become pregnant and see the issue as energizing the Democratic base as well as potentially winning back swing voters. Which is why this paragraph is making liberals’ heads explode online.

“Biden and officials are concerned that more radical moves would be politically polarizing ahead of November’s midterm elections, undermine public trust in institutions like the Supreme Court or lack strong legal footing, sources inside and outside the White House say.”

THE ADMINISTRATION’S TO-DO LIST
My colleagues Dan Diamond and Rachel Roubein flagged on Tuesday that Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra had promised “to protect reproductive health care nationwide and ensure women can get medication abortion, but offered few specifics.”

“Becerra laid out the health department’s immediate five-point plan, including steps to boost access to medication abortion, shore up access to other reproductive health services and protect private health data amid fears that women will be prosecuted if found to be pursuing abortions in states that ban the procedure,” they wrote.

A day earlier, my colleagues Yasmeen Abutaleb, Cleve R. Wooston Jr. and Marianna Sotomayor had noted unhappy Democrats are criticizing what has become the core of the response: Tell voters to turn out for the president’s party in November, and it will protect access to abortion.

“We have Democrats that are doing the opposite, you know? They just aren’t fighting,” Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) said. “When people see that, what’s going to make them show up to vote? We can’t just tell people, ‘Well, just vote — vote your problems away.’ Because they’re looking at us and saying, ‘Well, we already voted for you.’ ”

Supreme Court limits EPA’s power to combat climate change

“The Supreme Court on Thursday sharply cut back the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to reduce the carbon output of existing power plants, a blow to President Biden’s commitment to battle climate change,” Robert Barnes reports.

Consumer spending growth slows in May, as higher prices weigh on the economy
“Overall consumer spending rose by 0.2 percent in May, down from 0.9 percent growth a month earlier, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said Thursday. The report also showed that one measure of inflation remained steady, with overall prices up 6.3 percent in the last year,” Abha Bhattarai reports.

U.S. continues to get older and more diverse, new estimates show
“Since 2000, the national median age has increased by 3.4 years to 38.8, with the largest single-year gain of 0.3 years coming in 2021, the year after the coronavirus pandemic hit, according to the bureau’s new 2021 population estimates, an annual data set that is used to fine-tune and update existing statistics,” Tara Bahrampour reports.

OPEC reaffirms slightly higher oil output
“OPEC Plus — a combination of the 13-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and an informal group of non-OPEC members led by Russia — met virtually June 30 and reaffirmed an earlier decision to add 648,000 barrels a day to oil markets in July and August. Virtually all of that would come from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, says Helima Croft, the head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets,” Steven Mufson reports.

Ketanji Brown Jackson to be sworn in as Supreme Court justice, making history
“Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is poised Thursday to make history, becoming the first Black woman to join the U.S. Supreme Court. Jackson is scheduled to be sworn in during a ceremony at the court at noon Eastern time, just minutes after Justice Stephen G. Breyer makes his retirement official,” John Wagner and Mariana Alfaro report.

A ban, a lawsuit, an election: Abortion firestorm erupts in Wisconsin
“Democrats hope the fall of Roe — the landmark case that made abortion a constitutional right for nearly half a century — can animate their voters in an otherwise difficult election year. Wisconsin — where a law from 1849 now bans almost all abortions — will be a revealing test case that encapsulates many of the political forces charging an explosive national debate,” Hannah Knowles reports.

Antiabortion lawmakers want to block patients from crossing state lines
“The Thomas More Society, a conservative legal organization, is drafting model legislation for state lawmakers that would allow private citizens to sue anyone who helps a resident of a state that has banned abortion from terminating a pregnancy outside of that state. The draft language will borrow from the novel legal strategy behind a Texas abortion ban enacted last year in which private citizens were empowered to enforce the law through civil litigation,” Caroline Kitchener and Devlin Barrett report.