President-elect Joe Biden is about to be sworn into office, when he will immediately face the left wing of his party and large Republican minorities in both chambers of Congress pulling him in opposite directions.
Before the Nov. 3 elections, Biden appeared confident that Democrats would sweep the House and Senate. That would have made it possible for him to enact Franklin Roosevelt-esque reform to deal with the public health and economic crises.
Fast-forward to Wednesday, and Biden does have Democratic majorities in both chambers of Congress. The problem is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is clinging on to power by the narrowest margin since Republicans’ majority in 2001. The Senate, meanwhile, is split 50-50 seats apiece. Democrats will only control the body from Wednesday, when Vice President-elect Kamala Harris can cast tiebreaking votes.
Biden never cast a tiebreaking vote himself during his eight years as former President Barack Obama’s second in command. And his transition has indicated he and Harris would prefer to make bipartisan pitches for their ideas rather than depending on the heavy-handed move.
At the same time, Biden is already under pressure from more liberal Democrats. So-called “Squad” leader, Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, never endorsed him. And others, such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, have vowed to drag Biden toward the far left on policy.
With President Trump poised to be removed as a common enemy, Biden will now have to woo Republicans while wrangling the more liberal factions of his party.
Republican strategist Brad Todd said the coming weeks and months would test Biden as the centrist Democrat who bested socialist Bernie Sanders for the 2020 nomination but then needed to appeal to his base for the White House.
“The entire premise of Biden’s candidacy was that he was a moderate and would work with Republicans. He boasted that he was not a leftist and that he was the one who had beaten the leftists. Now, we will get to find out if he meant any of that or not,” OnMessage’s co-founder told the Washington Examiner.
Biden’s $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan,” released last week, will present his first challenge. His proposal to dole out $1,400 checks to supplement December’s $600 direct payments, for instance, has splintered both parties.
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, a potential 2024 GOP presidential hopeful, lobbied Biden to include $2,000 checks in his COVID-19 package. But Biden’s $1,400 announcement earned derision from many Republicans, such as centrist Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. Toomey had defended Biden amid Trump’s election disputes.
“Blasting out another $2 trillion in borrowed or printed money — when the ink on December’s $1 trillion aid bill is barely dry and much of the money is not yet spent — would be a colossal waste and economically harmful,” Toomey said in a statement.
A similar spectrum of opinion exists among Democrats.
Ocasio-Cortez was quick to press for the full $2,000, first offered by Trump, and not Biden’s differential of $1,400. Her perspective isn’t shared by West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin. Manchin wants relief targeted to people left unemployed by the coronavirus.
In an admission, incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain described Biden’s framework over the weekend as his administration’s opening gambit.
“Well, I think we’re going to have a conversation. We’ve started one with Sen. Manchin and every other member of the Senate,” Klain told CNN.
Democratic political commentator Christopher Hahn was confident Biden would manage, choosing governing over electoral politics, even if it meant disappointing elements of his party.
“I think they’ll be happy enough,” the Aggressive Progressive podcast host said.
Part of Biden’s ability to look beyond politics is the prediction he’ll be a one-term president, Hahn agreed when asked by the Washington Examiner. Hahn, though, voiced skepticism regarding the rumor.
“That assumption should give him the benefit of doubt with a lot of people, particularly people who’ve been around on both sides of the aisle who are serious about governing, even if they don’t agree on how to govern,” he said.
Hahn believed that, even if Biden lost Manchin’s vote because of the $1,400 checks, there were Republicans whose support would cancel out his opposition. And Manchin’s argument was “not completely unreasonable,” according to Hahn, contending there was “room to compromise.”
Ocasio-Cortez, however, didn’t sound like a lawmaker who would be “happy enough” with a less generous deal during a virtual town hall over the weekend.
“We can’t be slow-walking or minimizing or hedging our ambitions because of Republicans,” she said. “This country elected Democrats, and we elected a Democratic majority to get them healthcare, to get them stimulus checks, to get them rent protection, all of which are provisions that are included in Biden’s relief plan, and I’m thrilled are included in Biden’s relief plan and that we look forward to expanding and building upon.”
