Biden’s advisors, upset that they could not win the congressional election, promise to govern the country through presidential decrees from day one after their inauguration.
In the Senate, the majority is likely to remain with the Republicans – this will be decided for sure in December, when the second round of the two Senate elections in Georgia will take place. In the House of Representatives, Democrats are losing 7-9 seats, reducing their already small majority.
There is an old Obama phrase that he said at the beginning of 2014: “I have a pen and a phone”. What he meant was that he can make many decisions with his decrees, without the approval of Congress. Trump also partly adapted this strategy by resorting to decrees at the end of the presidency.
And the same strategy will become relevant (and only possible) for Biden. He will be able to pass specific technical laws through Congress – for example, the annual budget or the American crisis support programme. But the issue of major reforms is now closed.
This is particularly unfortunate for left-wing democrats who have already set out to win congressional elections and begin to transform American society by introducing a “Green New Deal” or public health system.
The range of things that Biden can do with his orders is largely limited. He will surely bring America back into the Paris Climate Agreements, repeal Trump’s decrees banning immigrants from a number of countries or the production of oil in the federal lands.
In fact, Biden’s presidency will be reminiscent of Obama’s second term: with a divided Congress, where the president’s influence will be mainly directed towards foreign policy. The situation will worsen for him after 2022, when Republicans have a chance to get the House of Representatives back.