Sparkle and gravity as Harris makes economic Covid case

It was a quiet day at the White House on Thursday, as the inclement weather put a stop to much of the scheduled activity.

Snowy conditions forced White House press secretary Jen Psaki to hold the White House briefing remotely, and the James Brady press room, the venue for the daily briefing, was eerily empty.

President Joe Biden's schedule was also disrupted. A planned trip to Michigan to visit a Pfizer vaccination plant was postponed until Friday, and the president instead spent the day at the White House.

There was some activity, however. Vice-president Kamala Harris pressed ahead with a plan to convene a meeting of women leaders to sell the administration's $1.9 trillion (€1.57 trillion) Covid relief package.

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After attending a briefing with the president on the pandemic in the Oval Office, Harris made the short trip across the White House grounds to the Executive Office building for the virtual event.

Harris and Biden have been spending much of their time since inauguration day on the landmark Covid relief package, liaising behind the scenes with Congress members on Capitol Hill.

Its scope is enormous – $1.9 trillion, on top of the $2.2 trillion and $900 billion already sanctioned by Congress last year.

On Thursday, Harris made her case to a group of female leaders. The group joined Harris in the south court auditorium in the White House complex by video-conference. The participants included four members of Congress and leaders of women advocacy organisations around the country.

Harris highlighted a theme she has raised during her tenure – the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women, and particularly women of colour. It amounted to a “national emergency”, she declared.

“In one year, the pandemic has put decades of the progress we have collectively made for women workers at risk,” she said, noting that 2.5 million have dropped out of the workforce since the start of the pandemic.

Challenges

She said that women have faced three main challenges during the pandemic – job losses, the closure of small businesses and childcare issues.

In particular, she noted that “homes have become makeshift classrooms” and that women are bearing the brunt of home-schooling. Female-run businesses have also been impacted by the pandemic, she said. While last February about five million women were business owners, by April one in four had closed their doors.

The pandemic has created “a perfect storm for women – the longer we wait to act, the harder it will be to bring these millions of women back into the workforce”, she added.

As the four female members of Congress spoke, they stressed the need for a robust economic response. Congresswoman Barbara Lee recalled raising two children as a single mother on food stamps. "I can assure you that there is nothing worse than seeing your children go hungry."

Connecticut congresswoman Rosa DeLauro paid tribute to Harris herself. “You represent everything that millions of American women aspire to and you are not going to leave them behind.”

Throughout the engagement, Harris displayed her trademark mix of sparkle and gravity. She beamed as she introduced her former Senate colleague Patty Murray as "a mom in tennis shoes who runs hard in the Senate".

But for the most part she presented a data-driven analysis of the need for an ambitious economic plan. While those present welcomed her words, it was notable that no Republican members of Congress attended. Securing Republican buy-in for the plan is likely to be a tougher sell.