Biden's Cabinet moonlights for campaign cash
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President Biden is dispatching his Cabinet members to help him sell his three signature legislative accomplishments in swing states. He's also quietly deploying some of them to raise money and attend political events across the country.
Why it matters: By day, they tout the president's agenda. By night, they help collect checks on his behalf.
- The moonlighting secretaries — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo are particularly active — give donors what many desperately crave: An inside view of how Biden's team plans to prevent Donald Trump from returning to the White House.
- It's one of the advantages of incumbency as Biden tries to harness the prestige and power of the presidency to make his case for a second term — and fund that effort.
The intrigue: The fundraisers also are an opportunity for Buttigieg and Raimondo to get better acquainted with donors who have deep pockets, should the secretaries have their eyes on any future bids for president.
- The pair are the most eager fundraisers in the Cabinet, according to donors and the Biden campaign.
- Raimondo sticks to the Acela corridor, headlining events in Washington, D.C., and New York.
- Buttigieg, who prefers a window seat in economy, is crisscrossing the country, with face-to-face donor events in Las Vegas, Seattle, St. Petersburg, Fla., Miami, Kansas City and Dallas.
Zoom in: The Cabinet trips allow Biden's campaign to tap the connections that some secretaries have with specific groups — and shower them with time and attention.
- In January, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona participated in a roundtable discussion with members of the Puerto Rican community in central and south Florida. In April, he opened a campaign office in Las Vegas.
- Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su hit an Asian and Pacific Islander campaign event in Atlanta in April. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai attended a similar affair in Phoenix in May.
Zoom out: Most recent presidents have used their Cabinet members to help raise money and attend political events during their re-election campaigns, including George W. Bush in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2012.
- By tradition, the attorney general and the secretaries of state, defense and treasury do not solicit funds from donors.
Biden is hitting the fundraising circuit again with an event planned for Los Angeles later this month that will feature Obama, George Clooney and Julia Roberts.
- The Cabinet-level fundraisers tend to be less formal and more intimate.
- They also cost less to attend, according to donors and advisers.
- "All events undergo legal review by relevant agency counsel and White House Counsel's Office to ensure Hatch Act compliance," a Biden campaign spokesperson said.
Between the lines: The Biden campaign is convinced that early dollars, raised in the winter and spring, have been more valuable than money that will come in later in the campaign season.
- It has used its early cash advantage to open field offices in swing states. The campaign also went on air with paid advertising back and September, and just finished a $14 million buy in May.
- At the end of April, it had $192 million cash-on-hand, compared to Trump's $91 million.
But Biden's paid ad campaigns don't appear to be doing much to move voters' perceptions about him.
- Trump led most polls before his felony conviction last week, though the guilty verdict has given Biden a small bump in what many polls see as a very tight race.
- April was the first month in which Trump and the Republican National Committee outraised Biden, bringing in $76 million compared to Biden's $51 million.
- And for May, Trump and the RNC said they raked in $141 million, a massive haul they linked to a jump in donations after the former president was convicted in New York.
Editors note: This story has been corrected to say that George Clooney and Julia Roberts (but not former President Clinton) will be attending the L.A. fundraiser.
