Sense of urgency grips the White House with Biden facing crises on many fronts
CNN
Nine months into Joe Biden's presidency, a White House suddenly beset on all sides feels a growing sense of urgency.
The coronavirus pandemic Biden thought he had tamed this spring continues to deny Americans a return to normal life and is disrupting the economic recovery by crimping job growth, even as it fuels higher-than-expected inflation. The harrowing withdrawal from Afghanistan has also raised doubts about his international leadership at a time of rising tensions with China.
All of it has eroded the President's public standing, slowed momentum for his domestic agenda in Congress and made the 78-year-old president appear ineffective. Leaders on Capitol Hill insist they can unite the party behind his infrastructure, social policy and climate change objectives by the end of the month, but anxious Biden aides want a faster result.
President Joe Biden has given permission to Ukraine to strike inside Russian territory with American munitions, though he has restricted their use so Kyiv can only hit targets over the border close to Kharkiv after Russia made significant advances around the city in the northeastern part of the country close to the Russian border, two US officials told CNN.