One of Biden’s top political aides set to leave the White House

A top political aide is leaving the White House as President Joe Biden appears likely to announce a reelection run in the next few months.

Carla Frank, who is currently the deputy director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach and a special assistant to the president, is leaving after working for Biden for almost six years. Her last day is Friday.

Frank plans on doing consulting work after she leaves the administration. A White House official said there was not yet a replacement for her to announce.

Her departure comes at a time of broader, high profile personnel changes inside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, with chief of staff Ron Klain and communications director Kate Bedingfield both announcing their own exits in recent weeks. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh became the first cabinet official to willingly depart as well.

At the White House, Frank managed external political relationships with different political stakeholders, including elected officials from both parties and longtime supporters of Biden. She also oversaw all political invitations to White House events, such as receptions and celebrations at the residence — and went on every domestic trip Biden has taken as president.

“Carla has loyally and capably served President Biden for many years,” deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement. “Her smarts, competence, and work ethic have been an enormous asset to all of us from the campaign to the inauguration to now, which is why we’ve relied on her for so much.” White House counselor Steve Ricchetti said that throughout her time working for Biden, Frank “made his allies feel like part of the Biden family.”

Early in her career, Frank worked in finance for the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Starting in 2017, she entered Biden world and was one of two employees at Biden’s American Possibilities PAC where she worked to build a slate of more than 100 endorsements of candidates and designed Biden’s campaign travel schedule. More recently, she was director of ballot access and delegate operations for the Biden campaign and also worked on the inaugural committee.

Frank is a graduate of Georgetown and last November married White House digital director Rob Flaherty with a number of top White House officials in attendance.

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Canada is 'elbows deep' in helping Haiti, Trudeau says

OTTAWA — Canada is sticking to its plan to help Haiti by boosting its support for the Haitian National Police — for now.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sidestepped direct questions Thursday demanding to know if Canada has been asked to lead a military intervention in Haiti. Canada's response in Haiti is being guided by lessons and “difficult experience” from past interventions and missions, he said.

“Canada is elbows deep in terms of trying to help,” Trudeau said in Nassau, the Bahamas. “The best thing we can do to help is enable the Haitian leadership and the patient people themselves to be driving their pathway out of this crisis.”

Trudeau announced Canada will send two navy vessels to the Haitian coast as part of a surveillance and intelligence operation.

The announcement is the latest in Canada's piecemeal response, short of the military intervention requested by acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

Trudeau said the deployment of the navy vessels is intended to deter gangs from using waterways as “an extra sphere of influence.” They will not be there to intercept migrants, he added.

“They are there to assist the Haitian National Police in their efforts to control the gang activity in Port-au-Prince and along the coast,” Trudeau told reporters, wrapping two days of meetings with Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders.

Haiti and climate change topped the leaders’ agendas.

In addition to the two ships, Canada will airlift three MRAPS (mine-resistant light armored vehicles), purchased by the Haitian National Police, to the country “in the coming days.”

The Canadian leader said his government’s focus is to intervene in an “atrocious situation” by strengthening the Haitian National Police. “What's happening in Haiti is absolutely heartbreaking — and we need to do everything we can that will help.”

Both the White House and Canadian government have for months emphasized the need to find a Haitian-led solution to prevent the country from descending further into lawlessness.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Tuesday that discussions continue with Canada and other partners in the hemisphere, the Organization of American States and the United Nations about what can be done to bring stability and security to Haiti.

A Haitian-led response has yet to emerge, and enduring interlaced humanitarian, political and security crises risk plummeting the country into further misery.

Canada has leaned on sanctions as a tool to choke financial flows to Haitian elites and gangs linked to violence in the country — a strategy that saw the addition of two names to its list of 17 sanctioned individuals Thursday.

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Mitch Daniels rips his critics after backing away from Senate bid

Mitch Daniels may have announced his decision not to run to replace retiring Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) last month. But he still has some strong feelings about it.

The former Indiana governor said he would not be endorsing a candidate in Indiana’s Senate primary, even as the rest of the party has consolidated around Rep. Jim Banks, the only Republican in the race.

Daniels also threw some sharp elbows at David McIntosh, the president of the deep-pocketed and influential Club for Growth and a one-time rival of the former Indiana governor in the 2004 primary. In January, ahead of a possible Daniels bid, the Club took the rare step of running a preemptive statewide ad in January blasting Daniels's political record and casting him as an “old-guard Republican.”

In an interview with POLITICO, Daniels punched back.

“David perfected the art of losing elections in Indiana,” Daniels said of his one-time Reagan administration colleague and a former Indiana congressman who lost the 2000 gubernatorial election to Democrat Frank O’Bannon by a double-digit margin as well as a 2012 congressional primary to Susan Brooks in the 5th Congressional District. “Now he makes money helping other people lose elections. I always thought well of David, but he’s gone in a different direction. I’m not the one to psychoanalyze that.”

A Club for Growth PAC spokesperson said of Daniels in a statement: “We expect he’ll be making these and other criticisms of conservatives on a more regular basis live on CNN from his retirement. David has had a strong record at Club for Growth PAC winning more than 70% of races, including supporting mostly conservative underdogs.

Prior to Daniels deciding not to run, national and state Republican operatives had expressed fear that his entrance into the race would have resulted in an intra-party civil war between the more moderate and Trump-aligned factions. The Club for Growth wasn’t the only one attacking Daniels. Allies to former President Donald Trump also attacked him as a RINO.

Daniels disputed that the race would’ve been hotly contested— "maybe ugly," he said, but "not close." He declined to criticize Banks for not disavowing the attacks on him from Trump world and the Club for Growth.

“That was for him to decide,” Daniels said. “Once again, it wasn’t a factor. We had all the advantages. And frankly, I’m told they knew that. We were allies in the past, and I’ll always think of him that way.”

Banks has said that he respects Daniels, and “learned a lot from him” during his time as a state senator, which overlapped with the former governor’s tenure. Banks quickly consolidated his support as Daniels stepped aside, with NRSC Chairman Steve Daines (R-Mont.) calling Banks one of the cycle’s “top recruits this cycle” and saying he had the “utmost respect” for Daniels’ career.

While Banks faces no challenger at the moment, Daniels allies are shopping for one. Daniels’ friend and adviser Mark Lubbers said retired Rep. Trey Hollingsworth — who could self-fund — “has the intellectual capacity to be a Reagan Republican and if he committed to that path they would eagerly support him.”

Hollingsworth did not respond to a request for comment. Banks did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Daniels declined to discuss whether he would back a presidential candidate in 2024.

“I hope a lot of flowers bloom, and there are lots of choices for the nation,” he said.

He said he was unlikely to enter the political fray again. "I just haven’t decided whether to take up a partisan role again.”

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Biden is ‘healthy’ and ‘vigorous,’ White House doctor says

The White House released Joe Biden’s health report on Thursday, describing a 80-year-old president who is “healthy,” “vigorous” and “fit to successfully execute the duties” of his office.

It was the president’s second annual physical at Walter Reed Medical Center since taking office and comes just before a widely expected announcement for a reelection bid. Biden, the oldest person ever elected to the White House, has been subject to questions of his mental acuity and age — an attack line his challengers are likely to lean into on the campaign trail.

“If you watch him, you’ll see that he has a grueling schedule that he keeps up with — that sometimes some of us are not able to keep up with,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier Thursday, when pressed on the president’s age in the White House briefing room.

She noted that at last week’s State of the Union, “I believe he spent 90 minutes speaking to congressional members in front of him to the American people. After that, he spent an hour shaking hands and saying hello and greeting congressional members and their guests.

Since his last physical, Biden battled a case of Covid and a rebound infection. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, noted in his health summary Thursday that Biden has not experienced any prolonged symptoms that would be considered long Covid.

Biden’s health has remained stable since his last medical exam was released in November 2021. In that report, the doctor noted the president had a “perceptibly stiffer and less fluid” gait and more frequent throat clearing, two addendums that could be explained by relatively minor issues.

As was the case in 2019, Thursday’s summary said Biden was being treated for several common age-related conditions such as a minor heart arrhythmia and an elevated cholesterol level. O’Connor said Thursday that the president’s cholesterol remains “remarkably low” on his current medication.

Biden did have a small lesion removed from his chest on Thursday and sent for biopsy, the letter said. First lady Jill Biden had cancerous tissue removed last month.

The president weighed in at 178 pounds and stands 6 feet tall. He still works out five days a week, the doctor said, and does not drink alcohol or use tobacco products.

“President Biden remains a healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief,” O’Connor wrote.

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Joe Biden: EU conservative hero

The US president’s signature climate bill is offering bitter inspiration for Europe’s conservatives.

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It’s official: Labor chief Walsh jumps ship for hockey players’ union

The National Hockey League Players’ Association on Thursday announced that Labor Secretary Marty Walsh will become its executive director, more than a week after news of the likely move leaked.

Walsh will be the first Cabinet secretary to exit the Biden administration, and his departure will officially launch the jockeying to succeed him atop the Labor Department that had already begun. He is set to take over at the NHLPA in "mid-March," according to the union.

“In accepting this offer I am committing to do all that I can to advocate on players’ behalf,” Walsh said in a release. “So I look forward to working with players and the NHLPA staff to make the NHLPA the best and most effective team we can be to advance and protect the interests of our players and their families.”

Walsh will step in for Don Fehr, who has led the NHLPA since 2010.

Walsh built his political profile as a union leader in Boston, and his ties to organized labor were a key factor in President Joe Biden’s decision to name him Labor secretary. He was a highly visible surrogate for Biden and the White House, selling the administration's message on the road and on television.

"I am forever grateful to President Biden not only for the faith he placed in me, but for his steady, transformative and historic leadership on behalf of working people everywhere," Walsh said in an email sent to Labor Department staff. "I leave the Department with a deeper understanding of why working people are the heart and soul and strength of our nation."

Once he steps down, Deputy Secretary Julie Su is set to take charge of DOL on an acting basis. Su is also a leading contender to succeed Walsh, and has the backing of a number of Senate Democrats and influential union leaders.

In his email, Walsh praised Su as "an incredible leader" and expressed faith in her ability to lead the department when he leaves.

"With the kind of leadership and talent assembled across the Department, I am confident there will be continuity and the work will be sustained," he wrote.

Walsh will become the latest high-profile official to exit the Biden administration in recent weeks, following chief of staff Ron Klain, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, and communications director Kate Bedingfield, among others.

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Biden to speak with Xi Jinping following spy balloon shoot-down

President Joe Biden said on Thursday he expects to speak with President Xi Jinping after the detection and later shoot-down of a Chinese surveillance balloon led to a spike in tensions between the two countries.

"I expect to be speaking with President Xi and I hope we are going to get to the bottom of this," Biden said during an address from the White House. "But I make no apologies for taking down that balloon."

Biden’s comments come days after the U.S. military shot down three unidentified objects last weekend. He said the intelligence community believes these objects were "most likely balloons" involving private companies and scientific research.

He added that "nothing right now suggests they were related to China's spy balloon program" or from any other country.

Lawmakers from both parties have criticized the president over the past few days for remaining mostly silent on the issue. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have called for greater transparency and for Biden to explain the military's rationale for the multiple shoot-downs and the policy moving forward.

“At some point in time, the president needs to talk to the American people. There's a lot of people very concerned,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said on Fox News Wednesday. “Freedom of privacy is a big issue in Montana and across this country. People are concerned. I think it would help.”

The Senate attended a classified briefing on Wednesday on the initial Chinese balloon. Senators from both parties said they had unanswered questions following the briefing.

The day the military shot down the spy balloon, Feb. 4, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attempted to speak with his Chinese counterpart. But Chinese Minister of Defense Wei Fenghe refused to take the call.

In the days after, Beijing accused the U.S. of sending its own spy balloons over China, a claim the White House denied.

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