(Headline USA) White House domestic policy adviser Susan Rice has been leading the charge on aggressive gun control policies that President Joe Biden could enact via executive order if Congress fails to reach a resolution.
Rice, who is essentially serving as Biden’s “gun czar,” according to Politico, was tasked with developing a “whole-of-government approach” to gun control back in May, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Since then, she has started meeting with BIden multiple times a week, and helped him prepare for his recent address on gun restrictions.
According to White House aides, Biden trusts her so much that she can “see him whenever she needs to.”
“I’ve seen it,” a recently departed senior White House official said. “You see it in the meetings. You see how he talks about her in meetings even when she’s not around.”
However, Rice’s involvement in Biden’s push for gun control likely means that there will be little collaboration with Congress.
“There is no effort at charming the Hill coming from Susan Rice,” one person familiar with the situation said, adding that it’s “an open secret” among Democrat staffers that Rice makes negotiations more difficult.
“She’s not the friendliest person you’ve ever come across,” a former senior administration official who worked with Rice confirmed.
Another White House official said: “She’s like, ‘Why is this person proposing policy? We are the policy makers and that person is already at the table.’”
Already, Biden has signed four executive orders on gun policy, outpacing past Democrat administrations. But Rice wants Biden to do more.
“That is just impossible work to do because it is so hard to make progress on gun violence through executive action,” said White House Counsel Dana Remus, who works closely with Rice.
“But she and her team have been so creative on how to make progress.”
