Biden goes West on 3-state tour as midterm elections near

By SEUNG MIN KIM and COLLEEN LONG
Associated Press

VAIL, Colo. (AP) — President Joe Biden is on a three-state swing out West aimed at promoting his administration’s accomplishments and rallying the party faithful. Biden has been eager to travel the country, but is facing midterm headwinds against the political party in power, an unsettled economic outlook and presidential approval ratings that have remained stubbornly underwater. Biden’s first stop Wednesday is near Vail, Colorado, where he is designating his first national monument at the behest of Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who’s in a competitive reelection bid. The Biden administration also announced it’s pausing new mining and oil and gas drilling on 225,000 acres of public land in a natural gas-rich area near Camp Hale.