The White House is arranging a meeting with President Joe Biden and Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison, a Biden adviser said, which will come after reports of a strained relationship between the chair and the White House’s political operation.
The meeting will be for the pair to discuss strategy "looking ahead to the midterms," the adviser said. The Biden adviser said Wednesday that arrangements were still underway — and had been in the works for weeks, sorting out scheduling — but they did not yet know if it will be a White House visit or a phone call.
Biden met with the heads of the party's House and Senate campaign committees separately last week, the most extensive midterm strategy meetings the president has had to date with top party leaders, NBC News previously reported. Biden also announced that the DNC would transfer $15 million to those groups, split among them equally. Harrison, who lives in South Carolina, wasn't there.
Asked why Harrison wasn’t included in the White House meetings with the chairs, a Biden adviser said Harrison was "fully in the loop" on the meetings and supported the $15 million transfer, adding that Harrison had spoken to White House officials several times before the meetings and after.
The meetings happened after CNN, citing interviews with three dozen Democratic politicians, campaign officials and operatives, reported widespread concern that the White House's political operation appeared unprepared or was not doing enough to help the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee retain the party’s majorities in Congress.
A Biden adviser disclosed the possibility of an upcoming Biden discussion with Harrison in response to questions about whether the White House had reached out to Harrison or involved him in those strategy meetings, which took place days after NBC News reported that Harrison felt marginalized by the White House and at one point considered leaving his post before the conclusion of his four-year term.
Harrison is "an important partner, helping share our message with the American people, and we want him out there representing the party — doing more media, more rallies, and more fundraising — because he's good at it and we need him," the adviser said in a statement.
"Jamie was involved in all decisions about what DNC committed to and his team at the DNC drove the process," the adviser added.
NBC News previously reported that Harrison has told others the White House has left him out of decision-making and message-steering and that he’s not had the kind of direct contact with the president that would empower him as DNC leader.
Jim Messina, who worked as deputy chief of staff for operations under President Barack Obama, said a lack of an invitation for a strategy session isn’t unusual. Obama would often meet with political committees without then-DNC Chair Tim Kaine present, particularly during midterm election planning when, he said, the DNC wasn’t as involved as it would be during a presidential race.
Messina also said "it’s just undeniable" that Kaine and Obama were extremely close.
In a statement to NBC News, Harrison called the White House and the two political committees partners.
"The DNC, the White House, and our sister committees are proud of our close working relationship," Harrison said. "We are a cohesive team that maintain regular communication and are all laser-focused on our collective goals of delivering for the American people and electing more Democrats up and down the ballot."
