It includes travel to five states with Senate races next year.
With direct payments hitting bank accounts as soon as this weekend, the newly passed American Rescue Plan is quickly going into effect, and President Joe Biden is headed on the road to educate the public on the benefits included in the massive $1.9 trillion law.
Next week, Biden will set off to give his sales pitch as part of the “Help is Here” tour, backed up by Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden, second gentleman Doug Emhoff and members of his Cabinet — all taking part in the effort to secure credit and continue to build support for the massive spending plan.
“In the coming weeks, Jill and I, and Kamala on Doug, and our Cabinet, with all of you, members of Congress, we’re gonna be traveling the country to speak directly to the American people about how this law is going to make a real difference in their lives and how help is here for them. Almost every single aspect would be significant … every one of those pieces standing alone would be viewed as a significant accomplishment,” Biden said at a Friday afternoon Rose Garden event to celebrate the bill’s passage.
In a memo to White House senior staff obtained by ABC News, deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon outlined the outreach efforts included in the tour, which will focus on “10 key aspects of the bill,” including helping veterans, halving child poverty, bolstering rural health care and supporting small businesses.
“We’ll be putting surrogates and senior administration officials on local TV in markets around America. We’ll mobilize our coalition of over 400 supportive mayors and governors – Democrats and Republicans alike – to talk about what the plan means for them and their communities. We’ll continue to engage organized labor, the business community, and other groups, to reinforce why the Rescue Plan is vital in getting Americans back to work,” O’Malley Dillion wrote.
While the White House is preparing for a full court press on the policy, senior officials argue the tour is about educating the public rather than building support.
“This isn’t a question of, of trying to sell it to make it more popular,” White House Senior Adviser Anita Dunn said.
“This is much more a challenge of making sure the American people know exactly what kind of help, what kind of assistance they’re going to get if they’re a small business owner, if they are a farmer, if they are a teacher running a school system trying to get it reopened,” she added.