President Biden has instituted 39 presidential actions as of this writing.
It was perfectly logical to start there. You do the things you can do by yourself first; then, you bring in the others for heavy lifting (if you bring them in at all), which Biden and his team pledge he will do.
In the meantime, though, he adds to his initial orders, which, as observers note, far exceed those of recent presidents. That’s really the essence of “progress” — more, more, more, and outdo the last guy.
Stepping back, it’s obvious that Biden spent his first week working to calm left-wing skeptics. Holding down their support is way more important to the future of Democratic rule than uniting with non-Democrats, and it will be hard for him to govern with interest groups and outspoken members of Congress demanding his ear. The many orders, proclamations, and memoranda are functionally writs of appeasement.
By some indications, they are working. “It’s almost as if we helped shape the platform,” is how Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded to a reporter who noted the similarities between Biden’s climate orders and the Ocasio-Cortez-championed Green New Deal.
Ocasio-Cortez, a political clone of Sen. Bernie Sanders, notably pledged to push Biden more toward the House Progressive Caucus side of the Democratic coalition. Consider him pushed.
Elsewhere, Paul Waldman of the Washington Post is asking, “What if Biden’s presidency turns out to be far more liberal than anyone thought it would be? We won’t know for some time; he’s only been in office for a week.” Waldman continues, “But Biden’s early moves on both policy and personnel should give liberal Democrats, many of whom were deeply skeptical of him, reason to hope that he could be one of the most liberal presidents of modern times.”
Back on planet Earth, Waldman’s predicate is absurd. The sensible always recognized how liberal Biden would be. President Barack Obama did, and former Vox editor Ezra Klein did, too. And Biden told us: no Hyde Amendment, codify Roe, sweeping (and disruptive) climate action, Equality Act. He didn’t just begin supporting the $15 minimum wage last week.
Biden can’t fully accomplish those aims without Congress, the reason being, they aren’t moderate aims. “But [using orders] is no way to make law,” the New York Times editorialized on Wednesday. “A polarized, narrowly divided Congress may offer Mr. Biden little choice but to employ executive actions or see his entire agenda held hostage. These directives, however, are a flawed substitute for legislation.”
However, they are an effective means of allaying pressure from more strident liberals, of satisfying their fervency, and signaling to them their influence. “See?” Ocasio-Cortez says. “We did this.”
Biden and his team will likely need that cushion when they fall short of enacting fully the liberal vision, which they will.
