When the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee delves into the nation’s snarled supply chain today, lawmakers are likely to be snarled themselves in fraught politics and complex logistics.
Republicans say the nation’s backed-up ports, delayed deliveries and resulting inflation reflect President Joe Biden’s policies, nicknaming the problem the “Biden Bottleneck.” The problem emerged right before and is likely to affect the holiday shipping season, making the GOP rhetoric more salient for voters.
Democrats, meanwhile, say the problem is an outgrowth of the pandemic, when many Americans opted to buy more when forced to stay home. The increased consumption, they argue, caused a backup that has yet to abate.
The administration has thrown a series of policy solutions at the problem, but none have effectively moved containers out of port terminals.
Industry leaders, meanwhile, disagree about whether the government can or should try to fix the problem.
It’s into that fray the committee steps, holding a 10:30 a.m. hearing Wednesday featuring witnesses from the American Association of Port Authorities, the American Trucking Associations, the Association of American Railroads and the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO.
Those directly involved compare the problem to a line of dominoes falling, with the pandemic spurring a chain reaction of rampant consumer consumption, manufacturing and shipping shutdowns, exacerbated by a trucker shortage and lousy infrastructure.
“There’s no one single point of failure anyone can point to, because every step along the way there’s been a different challenge,” said Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation.
Still, Republicans see the issue as rife with political potential. In October, more than 100 House Republicans sent Biden a letter urging him to discard his spending bill in favor of an agenda addressing the supply chain problem.
“The policies of your Presidency and party’s leaders in Congress are exacerbating or simply ignoring the underlying supply chain crisis,” the group wrote, warning that Biden’s policies “weaken American competitiveness and shrink our economy, and they will certainly ensure that this Christmas will not be merry.”
Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., the ranking Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said among the policies that have contributed to the logjam are vaccine mandates, which he said drove some supply chain employees out of the workforce.
He said he was frustrated that the recently passed bipartisan infrastructure bill included money for ports designated for electrification and green projects “rather than dredging and making those ports accessible to many of our larger ships.”
Republicans are also calling for additional flexibility to allow 18-year-olds to drive commercial trucks and waiving regulations in order to ease the burden on the supply chain.
There is “not an easy silver bullet solution,” said Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., “but the federal government doesn’t need to be continuing to stay in the way.”
Administration’s response
