Sunday shows preview: Biden administration confronts inflation spike

The Biden administration’s response to inflation hitting a 30-year high is expected to dominate this week’s Sunday talk shows.

The Department of Labor released data on Wednesday showing that the consumer price index, which tracks inflation for a range of goods and services, rose 6.2 percent in the 12 months leading into October, marking the highest annual inflation rate reported since November 1990.

The data comes as President Biden faces pressure to combat rising prices in food and gas — both of which have driven the inflation spike — and as he has pushed Democrats to pass a $1.75 trillion social spending package.

Biden said Wednesday that the package, known as the Build Back Better Act, would combat inflation because it would help get Americans back to work by reducing the costs of health coverage and child and elder care.

But inflation may give Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and other centrist Democrats more leverage to further cut down the spending bill.

Manchin warned Wednesday that lawmakers could “no longer ignore” inflation. While his comment didn’t directly mention the spending bill, the West Virginia senator has previously cited inflation as a reason for not supporting a package above $1.5 trillion.

Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council, told NPR on Tuesday that inflation is “absolutely a concern” for the Biden administration, adding that the president “really understands” how small increases in prices can impact Americans.

“Which is why, if you look at our economic plan, it is focused on how we can relieve those price pressures in both the short term and the long term,” he added.

Deese is scheduled to appear on ABC’s “This Week,” NBC’s “Meet the Press” and CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

In addition to inflation, the Biden administration was dealt another blow this week relating to its COVID-19 vaccine-or-test mandate for large business.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday issued an order upholding a stay it imposed on the mandate last weekend in response to a legal challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).

The mandate, which was set to take effect on Jan. 4, requires businesses with over 100 employees to mandate that their employees either get vaccinated or undergo weekly testing.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said last weekend that the Biden administration was “prepared” to defend the mandate. 

Both Paxton and Murthy will appear on “Fox News Sunday.”

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows:

ABC’s “This Week” — Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council; Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo).

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Deese; Gov. Chris Sununu (R-N.H(; Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)

CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen; Gov. Jared Polis (D-Colo.); David Malpass, president of the World Bank Group; Neel Kashkari, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis; former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. 

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Deese; Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), and Karen Bass (D-Calif.)

“Fox News Sunday” — Dr. Vivek Murthy, U.S. surgeon general; Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas); Kash Patel, Former Chief of Staff for the DOD; Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio); Doug Collins, former Georgia Congressman (R) // Author, “The Clock and The Calendar”