The Biden administration is trying to minimize supply chain issues. It isn't a good look.


The White House has stumbled into a messaging problem when it comes to higher prices and empty shelves.
A week after Chief of Staff Ron Klain elicited pushback for retweeting an economist calling inflation and supply chain issues "high-class problems," Press Secretary Jen Psaki couldn't help but snark from the podium in response to a question about held up holiday goodies. "The tragedy of the treadmill that's delayed," she quipped. Her comment came on the heels of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg attributing the spike in demand for consumer goods to President Biden having "successfully guided this economy out of the teeth of a terrifying recession."
The Biden administration obviously wants to play up the aspects of the economy that are good — new jobs, falling unemployment claims, businesses reopening as COVID-19 restrictions are shed and consumers return to the marketplace — while downplaying shortages in goods and labor that are less positive. And they clearly have an interest in arguing the inflation is transitory, as some economists agree, and wholly unrelated to the vast increases in government spending they are trying to get across the finish line in Congress.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But for people who are sensitive to what makes Republicans pounce, it seems like a strange opening to hand opponents who are going to say they're presenting inflation and shortages as a boutique, First World problem or, alternatively, a sign of how great things really are. And it does sit uneasily alongside all the things that the White House is also assuring the public it is doing to address the supply-chain issues — in particular, increasing port activity and addressing a backlog before the holiday shopping season begins in earnest.
Of course, inflation has remained a sticking point in the Democratic spending negotiations themselves, even leaving Republicans aside. Sen. Joe Manchin and the small number of moderate Democrats on Capitol Hill have made inflationary concerns a major reason for abandoning the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill — and they are making a lot of progress toward arriving at a top-line number closer to their own preferences.
So the desire to minimize these problems isn't working. And the administration is probably going to have to find a different way to talk about it that leaves them less vulnerable to Republican accusations of being out of touch.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
W. James Antle III is the politics editor of the Washington Examiner, the former editor of The American Conservative, and author of Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?.
-
Today's political cartoons - March 29, 2025
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - my way or Norway, running orders, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 tactically sound cartoons about the leaked Signal chat
Cartoons Artists take on the clown signal, baby steps, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Roast lamb shoulder with ginger and fresh turmeric recipe
The Week Recommends Succulent and tender and falls off the bone with ease
By The Week UK Published
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff Published
-
Schumer: Did he betray the Democrats?
Feature 'Schumer had only bad political options'
By The Week US Published
-
Trump purports to 'void' Biden pardons
Speed Read Joe Biden's pardons of Jan. 6 committee members are not valid because they were done by autopen, says Trump
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Resistance: How should Democrats oppose Trump?
Feature The Democrats’ lack of strategy leaves them struggling against Trump’s agenda
By The Week US Published
-
Schumer: Democrats will help pass spending bill
Speed Read The Democrats end the threat of government shutdown
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Extremists still find plenty of digital spaces'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Trump touts early wins in partisan speech to Congress
Speed Read The president said he is 'just getting started' with his sweeping changes to immigration, the economy and foreign policy
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Are we really getting a government shutdown this time?
Talking Points Democrats rebel against budget cuts by Trump, Musk
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published