President Biden has been vilified for “quietly quitting” and failing to provide leadership to his fellow Democrats amid the ongoing budget battle in Congress that could lead to a government shutdown just days before Christmas.
The text of the 1,500-page funding bill needed to keep the government functioning normally was released Tuesday evening, just three days before the current funding cycle ends. However, newly elected President Trump threw a spanner in the works of lawmakers’ plans after demanding that Republicans renegotiate the bill to include an increase in the debt ceiling and a reduction in certain Democratic spending initiatives , which Trump described as “giveaways for the Democrats.”
Biden was at home in Wilmington, Delaware, where he attended a memorial service for his late ex-wife and infant daughter, when news of Trump’s demands emerged. He will return to the country’s capital later this afternoon.
FORMER OBAMA AID MOCK BIDEN ‘APPEARS’ IN FINAL MONTHS OF PRESIDENCY: ‘TRUMP IS NOT YET PRESIDENT’
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden leave St. Joseph on the Brandywine after a church service in Wilmington, Delaware, on December 18, 2024. Biden attended a memorial service on Wednesday commemorating the 52nd anniversary of the deaths of his first wife and daughter in a traffic accident. (Getty Images)
So far, the lame-duck president has not commented on the ongoing spending battle in Congress, but on Wednesday White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a statement mocking Trump for “playing politics.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House to inquire whether Biden expects to speak about the legislative battle, but did not receive a response.
“Presidents are elected for four-year terms, but… Joe Biden long ago relinquished the mantle of leadership and the responsibilities of governing. While the rest of the country is busy working the last week before Christmas, the president is on vacation in Delaware and the country he ostensibly still oversees is heading toward a budget cliff,” said GOP strategist Colin Reed.
Reed added that it was “not surprising” to him that the Biden administration is “seemingly content to sneak away before their terms even end.” Reed said it was also not surprising that Americans “voted for a new direction last month.”
Meanwhile, in addition to Republicans, former aides to former President Barack Obama, a cohort known as the “Obama Bros” who run a popular liberal-leaning podcast, have also criticized Biden for his absence, listeners to their podcast this week say it’s “becoming easier to forget” that Trump is not yet in the White House. A recent report from The New York Times also noted that Biden has been “a little older and a little slower” in the final days of his presidency.
The National Christmas Tree Lighting was held outside the White House in Washington, DC on December 5, 2024 (Getty Images)
“I can’t quite figure it out. It seems like he’s doing some sort of ‘quiet quit,'” said GOP campaign expert David Kochel.
Kochel pointed out that he was not only absent during the fight against government spending, Biden was also absent from the reopening ceremony of Notre Dame in Paris, which was attended by dozens of heads of state.
First lady Jill Biden, Brigitte Macron, President-elect Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron attend the ceremony marking the reopening of Notre Dame on December 7, 2024 in Paris.
“If the nation’s second Catholic president skips the reopening of Notre Dame while Trump and Jill Biden were in attendance, you have to wonder if he’s just given up,” Kochel wondered. “That said, does he even have the leadership qualities and acumen at this point to have any real impact on the public funding issue? I doubt it.’
However, Biden’s Cabinet officials seemingly think otherwise. Some of them reiterated their confidence in Biden’s ability to fulfill his duties for the remainder of his lame-duck presidency this week, despite concerns about his old age and apparent decline in cognitive functioning.
“Maybe it’s best that he just disappears into the woodwork. However, it’s really crazy how much he’s disappeared. I think even the Democrats are scratching their heads,” Kochel said.
Michael Chamberlain, director of the ethics watchdog Protect the Public’s Trust, said a lack of leadership from Biden “has essentially been the MO of the Biden-Harris administration from the beginning.”
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“This vacuum has been evident in the areas of ethics and transparency, but also in scientific integrity and other areas. The government that was supposed to bring about a ‘return to normality’, and promised to be the most ethical and transparent in history, has proven to be just that. anything but,” said Chamberlain. “Unfortunately, the abdication of leadership in these spaces appears to have expanded to encompass every aspect of the presidency.”
Earlier this month, White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients sent a memo to staff outlining the ultimate priorities for the Biden administration in the final days before Trump takes over. “Let’s finish strong,” he said.
