According to sources close to the White House, Vice President Joe Biden and his chief of staff Bruce Reed are “no longer involved” in planning for Obama’s long term gun violence prevention program.
The vice president’s disappearance from an issue he’d been spearheading is a clear signal of how much the focus has shifted from passing gun control legislation in Congress to winning reforms at state capitols and building local networks that can pressure and help elect members of Congress over the long term. The background checks bill Obama championed in the Senate isn’t going to get another vote after falling short in April unless several senators publicly change their mind, aides to senators involved in gun control discussions say.
Representatives from the White House Office of Public Engagement will now execute the administration’s gun control program. The OPE reports to Valerie Jarrett.
“It’s pretty fair to say that the vice president’s people were more heavily engaged when there was a game on the legislative front,” said Democratic strategist Bob Creamer, who facilitates the Gun Violence Table meetings.
Weekly meetings on the gun control issue involve Mayors Against Illegal Gun Control, the Brady Camp, Moms Demand Action, Americans for Responsible Solutions, Center for American Progress and Organizing for Action.
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