Biden hits back at GOP agenda rollout

President Biden on Friday sought to dismantle the agenda proposed hours earlier by House Republican leaders should they take back the House, hitting Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for dodging key issues and warning that a GOP majority would try to strip away fundamental rights and government programs.

Biden, in remarks at a Democratic National Committee event at the National Education Association (NEA), issued a point-by-point rebuttal to the agenda unveiled by McCarthy.

“We didn’t hear a mention of the right to choose. We didn’t hear a mention of Medicare. We didn’t hear a mention of Social Security,” Biden told the crowd at NEA headquarters.

Biden, pointing to a proposal from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) that would ban abortion after 15 weeks, warned the GOP would attempt to block access to the procedure if they hold the House majority. He pledged to veto any such legislation if it passed, arguing a stronger Democratic majority could help codify abortion access.

“If you give me two more Democratic senators in the United States Senate, I promise you … we’re going to codify Roe,” Biden said to applause. “We’ll once again make Roe the law of the land, and we’ll once again protect a women’s right to choose.”

Democrats would likely need to gain two seats in the Senate to change the chamber’s filibuster rules and codify Roe. Two Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, oppose changing those rules even to codify Roe.

Gaining two Senate seats would be tough for Democrats but not impossible considering the current battleground states.

Yet Biden also would need to keep a House majority, which might be a lot tougher. Republicans are heavily favored to win back the House majority this fall.

Biden hopes to use abortion rights as a key campaign theme to prevent that from happening, however.

On Friday, he ticked through various themes of McCarthy’s policy rollout throughout the speech.