“This is a big win for America,” Biden said in Rose Garden remarks on Thursday morning, as the White House basked in the relief of last-minute success.
The agreement was the product of a furious effort by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to convince the railroads and their employees to come to a consensus for the sake of the nation’s economic recovery.. Commencing on Wednesday, those talks would last for 20 hours, well beyond the proverbial 11th hour.. In his remarks there, he said nothing about the impending strike.
The full-court press for a deal intensified when Biden called into the negotiations around 9 p.m. “He pushed the negotiators once again to recognize the harm that would hit families, farmers and businesses if there was a shutdown. The economic impacts could have been significant,” the White House official told Yahoo News, describing Biden’s involvement as “crucial.”