President Biden said that he would ‘absolutely’ consider sending in the National Guard to help alleviate the supply chain crisis, even by driving trucks.
After being asked whether he would send in the guard to alleviate supply chain issues that are leading to product shortages and rampant inflation.
“Absolutely, positively,” Biden added.
Asked if he would consider sending in the guard to drive trucks, the president said: ‘Yes, if we can’t increase the number of truckers.’
Biden said his first goal was ‘to get the ports up and running,’ before he would call up the guard.
But industry experts said more drivers won’t alleviate the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach backlog, where an empty shipping container fiasco is preventing trucks from moving product to consumers.
Facing an exodus of 600,000 retiring truckers by 2028, the transportation industry is desperate to recruit more people and estimates that 80,000 new hires are needed this year to offset attrition and clear a backed-up supply chain.
It’s all happening as shipping backlogs delay cripple the supply chain, with Christmas toys and holiday goodies among the items stranded in the Pacific as freightliners queue for weeks to unload cargo.
With shortages such as this, it is advised to do your Christmas shopping early. Some have even started months in advance, worried that the shortage will effect them getting the items they want on their checklists.
A group of 160 Republican lawmakers have addressed the importance of fixing the supply chain crisis in a letter to President Joe Biden while attacking his embattled spending proposals.
The letter, led and signed by Representative Sam Graves, was sent to Biden on Wednesday in an attempt to further address the urgency of the crisis.
Biden has given just 10 interviews in his first nine months in office, falling well short of his two immediate predecessors Donald Trump and Barack Obama who had done 57 and 131, according to Mark Knoller, a former CBS News White House correspondent who maintains a tally.
And the pace of those interviews has slowed – five came in Biden’s first two months in office.
Critics within his own party see a siege mentality in a president even as he reaches a crucial moment in steering his massive spending plans through Congress.
“The guy has always been a gaffe machine. He loves talking but the people around him want to keep him under wraps,” said a Democratic strategist who asked speak on background in order to freely discuss White House strategy.
“This is one way to do it but you lose a bit of what makes Joe tick,” he said.
“Joe Biden can sometimes get off message so putting him in unscripted environments might not be the best way of Joe Biden communicating,” said Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons.
