Joe Biden criticized his presidential primary rivals for suggesting so many executive orders to achieve their policy priorities rather than working to generate consensus.
Speaking to a crowd outside a coffee shop and beer garden in Harwich Port, Massachusetts, on Saturday, the former vice president joked that there are “87 people running for president along with me, all good people,” but noted that they talk about getting things done on day one or through executive order.
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“You can’t do a lot by executive order. You can do some things, but you can’t, you need to generate a consensus,” Biden said, according to a pool report.
Though Democrats will try to flip the Senate in 2020, many of their priorities could go nowhere in Congress if Republicans retain control of the chamber or take back the House. In response to that prospect, many candidates say that they will exercise executive authority to achieve their goals.
California Sen. Kamala Harris says she will take executive action to ban assault-style weapons and mandate near-universal background checks if Congress does not pass gun safety legislation in her first 100 days as president. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she will close the “boyfriend loophole” on her first day in office through executive action, which would prevent non-married or live-in romantic partners convicted of domestic abuse from buying a gun.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast earlier this month that he would sign an executive order to end prohibition of marijuana.
Biden said that former President Barack Obama would send him to Capitol Hill to generate consensus and “settle the deal” on tough legislation. He mentioned working with Republicans at a fundraiser in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts, on Sunday.
“There’s an awful lot of really good Republicans out there,” Biden said at the fundraiser. “I get in trouble for saying that with Democrats, but the truth of the matter is, every time we ever got in trouble with our administration, remember who got sent up to Capitol Hill to fix it? Me. Because they know I respect the other team. I do. They’re decent people. They ran because they care about things, but they’re intimidated right now.”
Despite criticizing his primary competitors for relying on executive authority, Biden has also proposed using executive orders to achieve his goals.
“On day one, Biden will sign a series of new executive orders with unprecedented reach that go well beyond the Obama-Biden Administration platform and put us on the right track,” his climate change policy platform says.
Obama came under fire in 2014 when he said, “I’ve got a pen, and I’ve got a phone,” and indicated that he would not wait on Congress to move forward with his policy priorities, the pen representing his ability to take executive action and the phone referring to courting support for his legislative agenda from outside groups.
