President Joe Biden convened his Cabinet Tuesday, bringing his top lieutenants together to discuss a wide range of topics for the first time since he declared his candidacy for reelection and days after Congress passed a bipartisan bill to avert a default.
“This could have been the week that catastrophic default all happened, putting millions of peoples’ jobs in jeopardy, but instead we prevented default and our historic recovery continues,” Biden said as the meeting got underway.
Biden planned to discuss the economy and other issues with his Cabinet. The ending of the Covid-19 public health emergency and the lifting of the Title 42 immigration policy are also expected to be a topic of conversation, two key events since the last Cabinet meeting that have engaged leadership across departments.
He also planned to discuss “the next 100 days” with his Cabinet members, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said ahead of time, pointing to infrastructure, clean energy, manufacturing investment, curbing gun violence, and efforts to protect women’s reproductive rights.
The Cabinet last met on January 5, a meeting in which Biden stressed the importance of implementation of major legislation passed in the first two years of his administration, which will continue to be critical for Biden’s political fortunes heading into the next presidential election.
This Cabinet meeting reflected some turnover, including Jeff Zients replacing Ron Klain in the chief of staff seat. And Marty Walsh stepped down from his role as labor secretary in February. Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, who is currently serving in that capacity while her nomination remains stalled, attended the meeting Tuesday.
It remains unclear if Su can get the votes necessary for her nomination to pass the Senate. Biden, Jean-Pierre said, “has confidence that she (Su) will get through” Congress and she continues to have the administration’s support.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
