The White House said on Friday that President Joe Biden will travel to the Pacific Northwest next week, visiting both Portland and Seattle in his first visit to the region as president.
President Joe Biden speaks at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, in Greensboro, N.C., on April 14, 2022. Biden plans to nominate Michael Barr to be the Federal Reserve's vice chairman of supervision. The selection of Barr comes after Biden's first choice for the Fed post, Sarah Bloom Raskin, withdrew her nomination a month ago.
Carolyn Kaster / AP
Additional details are expected in the coming days, but The Seattle Times reported the White House said next Friday’s visit to Seattle will center on the administration’s efforts “to continue bringing down costs for American families and building a more resilient economy.”
A White House release said that the president will start his trip to the region in Portland on Thursday to discuss investments from the infrastructure package.
The visit comes amid sagging national approval numbers for the president and growing worries among Democrats that inflation will cost the party control of Congress in the 2022 midterm elections.
Biden has blamed the inflation spike on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Biden last visited Seattle in November 2019 while campaigning in the Democratic presidential primaries. He attended a fundraiser at the home of Amazon executive David Zapolsky.