On Tuesday, Georgetown’s Institute of Politics and Public Service hosted a conversation between Neera Tanden and ABC News White House Correspondent Karen Travers (C ‘00, MA ‘03) about President Joe Biden’s domestic policy legacy as he leaves the White House and what can be expected with the coming administration.
Tanden currently serves as White House Domestic Policy Advisor for President Biden. Before that, she served as staff secretary in the Biden administration, senior advisor for health reform at the Department of Health and Human Services under President Barack Obama, director of domestic policy for the Obama/Biden presidential campaign, policy director for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, and president and CEO of the Center for American Progress.
Travers, who was a Fall 2019 GU Politics Fellow, began the conversation by asking Tanden the overarching question: what will Biden’s legacy look like? Tanden emphasized the significant progress the Biden administration made in expanding healthcare coverage and affordability through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and lowering prescription drug costs through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). However, Tanden said, there is concern about the disconnect between the administration’s policy successes and the American public’s understanding of them.
“People have broad debates about the direction of the country and can issue attacks on policy, but Congress has to make decisions that can hurt or help people. And when legislated, when you’re going through the legislative process, I hope that we have a press that is making clear to the American people what choices are before them.”
Tanden emphasized the importance of communication, both from political leaders and the media, to make clear to the public how federal policy affects them in everyday life and the consequences of policy decisions. She spoke about the creation of the ACA under President Obama and the fact that so many people do not attribute it to his administration as a prominent example of this.
“Is the media not doing the job of telling people the successes, or is it that people just don’t really care about basic facts? I don’t know which way it is, but at least those two things share some responsibility with political leaders not being able to communicate.”
The conversation took place at Georgetown University’s Capitol Campus, the new home of the McCourt School of Public Policy. Tanden took several questions from students studying public policy about Biden’s healthcare legacy and communication strategies.
While encouraging students to go into public service, Tanden said she is proud of the work the Biden Administration has done over the last four years and stressed the need to maintain institutional integrity in the upcoming transition.
“I think the President will have a profound legacy on health care issues,” Tanden said. “I fundamentally think one of the big questions in moments like this is what has the public support to stay, and what doesn’t.”
This article was written by Anna Canizales, Digital Communications and Content Manager for GU Politics.
Watch the full recording below.
