As a rail strike looms, President Biden is saying he wants the unions and railroads to resolve the dispute themselves before Congress steps in.
The White House Press Secretary says the President is “directly involved” in talks, noting that a shutdown would harm jobs, families, farms, and communities across the country.
Four rail unions have rejected the agreement. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley thinks the President should do what he can to prevent a strike. Earlier in the year, he used his power to create a Presidential Emergency Board to delay it.
“He should exercise that because he can do it instantaneously, and Congress may have several days of debate before we would get a bill passed.”
Senator Grassley is co-sponsoring a bill to head off this rail strike. Analysts say a strike could cost the U.S. economy about $2 billion per day and halt shipments of biofuels, grain, meat, and produce.
