Biden postpones trip to Colorado to discuss domestic agenda as Israel-Hamas conflict intensifies

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden postponed a trip to Colorado on Monday to stay in Washington and focus on the growing conflict in the Middle East.

Biden had been heading to the Colorado district of Rep. Lauren Boebert, where he was to visit CS Wind, the world’s largest facility for wind tower manufacturing. The White House said just a few hours before Biden was set to take off for the trip that it would be rescheduled.

Instead, Biden is expected to hold a series of high-level meetings with aides on Israel and the growing humanitarian concerns in Gaza. The Democratic president is weighing a decision to visit the region in a powerful symbol of support for Israel following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 people including at least 30 U.S. citizens.

The decision reflects the competing pressures for the president, heading into an election year in which he is trying to showcase his domestic agenda as conflicts abroad in Ukraine and now Israel grow.

Boebert, had described Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, his signature domestic legislation and the source of hundreds of billions of dollars for clean energy incentives, as “a massive failure” that “needs to be repealed.”

But Biden was planning to demonstrate otherwise when he visits CS Wind in the town of Pueblo. The company is undergoing a $200 million expansion that is expected to create 850 jobs by 2026 with help from the tax incentives in the law.

Pueblo is one of the anchors of Colorado’s sprawling 3rd Congressional District, which covers more ground than Pennsylvania. Boebert won her seat in 2020 and barely held on to it during the 2022 midterms.

There’s maximum chaos in Congress right now for House Republicans, who ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California as their speaker but have been unable to settle on a replacement. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a prominent ally of Donald Trump, is the current leading candidate to replace McCarthy, but victory for him is uncertain.

Despite low unemployment and slowing inflation, Biden has been struggling to convince Americans that his policies are good for the U.S. economy.

An August poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research said just 36% of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, roughly where his numbers have stood for a year and a half.

The president and other top administration officials have been traveling the country to promote their Investing in America agenda. Last week, the president visited a marine terminal in Philadelphia, where he announced that the area would become one of seven regional hubs for producing and delivering hydrogen fuel.

“I truly believe this country is about to take off,” Biden said. “For the first time in a long time we’re actually investing in America.”