Pandemic, rinse and repeat

Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.

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Just over a year ago, President JOE BIDEN introduced a comprehensive plan to rein in Covid and harden the nation’s defenses against future public health threats.

The 96-page blueprint contained ideas for ensuring the U.S. emerged from the pandemic better prepared than when it entered: New investments in R&D, expanded safety net programs, and more.

“We are not going to just ‘live with COVID,’” the plan vowed.

But as Biden prepares to declare a symbolic end to the pandemic on Thursday, living with Covid is precisely what America is doing.

The White House’s most ambitious proposals have been mothballed. Public health infrastructure constructed to track the virus is being dismantled. The money and enthusiasm for combating Covid and perils like it has long since run dry.

“The United States is probably worse prepared for the next pandemic than it was for this one,” said LAWRENCE GOSTIN, a Georgetown University public health professor who has informally advised the White House. “We’ve gone backwards.”

That’s the consensus expressed to West Wing Playbook by more than a half-dozen health experts and pandemic advisers, who say the horrors of 2020 and the successes in blunting the virus’ worst effects have collectively taught us nothing. They pointed to several factors that have left the U.S. more vulnerable to biological dangers than it was in 2019.

Public health recommendations are now more likely to be viewed through a partisan lens, polling shows, and distrust in science has grown significantly. Americans are worn out by shifting pandemic guidelines and less inclined to listen when new alarms are raised. Lawmakers see little benefit in pushing for investments that have no immediate payoff.

And at every level of government, burned out health officials are fleeing the job.

“It’s truly the question that keeps me up at night,” JENNIFER KATES, director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said of the government’s ability to protect against a next emergency. “The fractured response, the politicization of science, the politicization of basic public health measures — not only are those still there, but they might’ve gotten worse.”

There’s still persistent debate in public health circles over whether it was all inevitable, especially after former President DONALD TRUMP began criticizing his Covid advisers and sowing doubt about pandemic precautions in mid-2020. The move opened the door for Republicans to ramp up their attacks on the Biden administration a year later, transforming the Covid response into a purely partisan issue, said JOHN M. BARRY, author of “The Great Influenza,” a definitive history of the 1918 pandemic.

“It was just off the scale,” he said. “That is a major contributor to where we are now.”

But the Biden administration also shoulders some blame, he said, calling its “confused and uncoordinated” messaging on masks, vaccines and other key issues a significant factor in damaging public trust. Others pointed to Biden’s decision to impose vaccination mandates as a misstep that hardened skepticism in certain populations.

Democrats’ fumbling of a plan early last year to appropriate $15 billion in new Covid funds was also a “singular crucial mistake” that stalled bigger-picture preparedness plans, Gostin said.

The White House has largely dismissed criticism of its Covid response. Aides fault Republicans for blocking access to additional funding and insisting the nation has the vaccines and treatments needed to keep the virus at bay. Some work will continue past May 11, officials note, including temporary support for the uninsured and a potential $5 billion effort to develop next-generation vaccines.

But privately, officials who worked on Covid acknowledge that Biden’s response is as much a story of success in charting a path out of this pandemic as it is a missed opportunity to rally political will and the public behind preparations for the next one.

And within his administration, the public health vacancies are piling up. ASHISH JHA, the White House’s Covid response coordinator, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief ROCHELLE WALENSKY plan to depart soon.

Top National Security Council pandemic official RAJ PANJABI will also leave the administration later this summer. NSC spokesperson ADAM HODGE said Panjabi’s departure was pre-planned to coincide with the end of his detail to the office, and that a successor has already been selected.

The White House’s new pandemic preparedness office, meanwhile, doesn’t have a director and will not have any funding of its own.

In recent days, some officials had speculated over whether Biden would publicly mark the end of the Covid emergency in some significant way.

But with the White House focused on a debt ceiling crisis, worries over the southern border and the coming G-7 summit, there’s currently no plan for Biden to give an address on Covid.

The pandemic, once again, had been overtaken by other priorities.

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POTUS PUZZLER

This one is from Allie. Which president turned down an honorary degree from Oxford University?

(Answer at bottom.)

The Oval

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: Biden traveled Wednesday to the Hudson Valley area in New York to deliver remarks about the debt limit and reinforce his opposition to the GOP budget proposal. The move is strategic ahead of the 2024 elections, our ANNA GRONEWOLD reports, as it’s “already putting the Hudson Valley’s moderate Republicans, who narrowly won a handful of toss-up seats six months ago, back on the defensive. The economic tremors associated with a busted debt ceiling could be felt quickly by their constituents.”

BUT, BUT, BUT: With the Republican congressman whose district Biden had traveled to sitting in the front row at his event, Biden eased up on the pressure, describing Rep. MIKE LAWLER as being “on the other team” but a throwback to the old days. “Mike is the kind of guy that when I was in the congress, that’s the kind of Republican I used to deal with,” Biden said. “He’s not one of these MAGA Republicans.”

Just last week, the White House included Lawler’s name and headshot in graphics accusing House Republicans of undermining veterans’ healthcare. And in a press release Wednesday morning, the DNC called Lawler “a rubber stamp for [the] GOP’s far-right extremist agenda.” Noting how Biden’s comments contradicted the DNC’s press release, RNC spokeswoman SAVANNAH VIAR had a simple response to the president’s comments: “What he said.”

THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY: The remarkable ascent of former CNN Chief White House Correspondent KAITLAN COLLINS continues. The 31-year-old and current morning co-anchor, who is hosting the network’s town hall Wednesday evening with former President Donald Trump, is set to take over the 9 p.m. hour permanently, according to Puck’s DYLAN BYERS.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by Yahoo News’ ANDREW ROMANO about how new poll numbers show the president still narrowly leading Trump in a 2024 general-election matchup. Yet the results also expose significant vulnerabilities for Biden — including his advanced age and the widespread perception that his running mate, Vice President KAMALA HARRIS, would not be “‘ready to assume the presidency’ if necessary.”

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This story by AP’s CHRISTOPHER RUGABER about how inflation has failed to cool down the past month: “Consumer prices in the U.S. accelerated in April after months of declines, with measures of underlying inflation suggesting that rising costs could persist for months to come. Prices rose 0.4 percent from March to April, the government said Wednesday, up from 0.1 percent from February to March. Compared with a year earlier, prices climbed 4.9 percent, down just slightly from March’s year-over-year increase.”

WHY, GEORGIA, WHY? Scheduling ceremonial visits for championship-winning teams continues to be a struggle for this White House. The latest gambit — inviting several title-winning teams from the 2022-23 intercollegiate season to visit on the same day, which is being dubbed “College Athlete Day” — is a no-go for the Georgia Bulldogs. The national football champs declined the invitation, CNN’s KEVIN DOTSON and JACK FORREST reported. “Unfortunately, the date suggested is not feasible given the student-athlete calendar and time of year. However, we are appreciative of the invitation and look forward to other opportunities for Georgia teams moving forward,” the school said in a statement.

HOWDY, MODI!: Biden will host his third state dinner in honor of India’s Prime Minister NARENDRA MODI, the White House announced Wednesday. The June 23 event, which follows state dinners honoring France and South Korea, will be the focal point of a state visit that “will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India,” press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE said in a statement.

THE BUREAUCRATS

COMING SOON TO A CABLE NEWS PANEL NEAR YOU: Former House Speaker NANCY PELOSI will lead the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign’s advisory board, which was announced Wednesday in this video. The 50-member group also includes presidential aspirants supporting governors like PHIL MURPHY of New Jersey, JB PRITZKER of Illinois and GAVIN NEWSOM of California, as well as Sens. CORY BOOKER (D-N.J.) and ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.).

The folks taking part, the campaign says, “will participate in regular media interviews, assist with fundraising efforts and events, leverage their networks and platforms to amplify the campaign’s message to voters, and engage directly with voters through grassroots efforts and events in key battleground states.”

NOT MAKING THE CUT: Conspicuously missing from the group, which includes several mayors, is New York City Mayor ERIC ADAMS. He’d been part of the initial group in March but as our JOE ANUTA reports, “the outspoken mayor of the nation’s largest city has in recent weeks pointedly criticized Biden over the White House’s response to the asylum-seeker crisis.”

Filling the Ranks

MANCHIN’S REBELLION: Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) said in a statement Wednesday he will oppose all Environmental Protection Agency nominees until the agency halts its recent proposal to regulate power plant emissions, a plan Manchin said would “kill the fossil industry by a thousand cuts.” Read the full statement from Punchbowl News’ ANDREW DESIDERIO.

Agenda Setting

BUSY WEEK WE’RE HAVING: The president invited a small bipartisan group of lawmakers to a meeting Thursday to discuss reauthorization of the farm bill, attempting to avert a crisis with the legislation should the debt limit deadline knock it off track, our MEREDITH LEE HILL reports for Pro subscribers. Invitees include Agriculture Secretary TOM VILSACK, as well as House Agriculture Committee Chair G.T. THOMPSON (R-Pa.) and JOHN BOOZMAN (Ark.), the top Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee.

COMER’S MOMENT: House Republicans released a 30-page memo on their findings from their investigation on the president and his family. The document said “family members, business associates or related companies received more than $10 million from companies run by foreign nationals,” our JORDAIN CARNEY reports. Though the findings aren’t directly linked to the president himself, House Oversight Chair JAMES COMER (R-Ky.) said “we believe that the president has been involved in this from the very beginning. Obviously, we’re going to continue to look.”

The Oppo Book

Before Energy Secretary JENNIFER GRANHOLM got involved in politics she wanted to become an actress, even moving to Los Angeles after high school to pursue the career.

Her inspo at the time? “I wanted to be the female Sir Laurence Olivier,” she told the Harvard Law Bulletin in 2002. But it didn’t work out for her, and “it really propelled me to get very serious” about her eventual next step, law school.

What We're Reading

Biden Campaign, Barely in Gear, Inches Toward 2024 (NYT’s Reid J. Epstein and Shane Goldmacher)

Vice President Harris withdraws from MTV event near L.A. that would have forced her to cross writers’ picket line (LAT’s Courtney Subramanian, Seema Mehta and Erin B. Logan)

‘I’ve had the mustache since I was 18 years old!': Coronation guest accused of being Meghan Markle in disguise reveals the truth - as Andrew Lloyd Webber says ‘I can confirm it probably wasn’t MM’ (The Daily Mail’s Matt Powell)

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

MILLARD FILLMORE refused an honorary degree from Oxford University, saying he had “neither literary or scientific attainment,” according to PBS.

A CALL OUT — Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it.

Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.