November 12, 2024
We now have what’s called a lame duck president. So, what can President Biden do in these next few awkward months between the election which his party lost — and President Elect Trump’s inauguration?
Well, we’re going to see the first thing tomorrow – which is something we haven’t seen in eight years …but before I tell you all about it … you need to understand — just because Biden is leaving office on January 20th does not mean his powers as president are diminished in anyway. He still has all the presidential powers he had before the election. But the issue now is – the will of Congress to want to work with him especially since the election gave Republicans control of not just the white house next year but the senate and possibly even the house too.
We know one of President Biden’s main priorities over these next few months will be the peaceful transition of power. Tomorrow – we are going to see president elect trump come to the white house for a meeting with President Biden. Oh – to be a fly on that wall. Now – for lots of you who are new to politics – this may be new or weird to you. That’s because when President-Elect Trump lost the 2020 election he did not invite President Biden to the White House which was a significant break in normal protocol. In fact, in 2020 Trump did not engage in any of the normal transition events. The fact is — it is a long-standing tradition for the outgoing president to invite the incoming president to the white house for a meeting and we are going to see that tomorrow.
Aside from the transition of power – we also know – while he still can — President Biden is going to be working with the Democratic controlled Senate to confirm all the remaining federal judges on Biden’s nomination list. If you’ve been paying attention you’d know how powerful federal judges can be. They are seated on the bench for life and have the power to stop laws that are passed by Congress and stop rules enacted by the president’s administration. These are really important and powerful appointments. But to sit on that federal bench every single judge needs to be confirmed by the Senate. With the help of then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, during Trump’s first administration he confirmed 234 federal judges. So far – under Biden the senate has confirmed more than 213 federal judges. There are still more than a dozen judges that are pending approval and Senate Democrats are going to be pushing to get those judges approved before the end of the year.
President Biden and his administration are also going to be following through with all their other priorities and get all the dollars out the door to fund the projects that were legally approved and passed into law by congress. That goes for infrastructure projects, clean energy projects and artificial intelligence among other things.
Lastly we are going to see President Biden continue to engage on the world stage. In fact he’s meeting with the Israeli president at the White House today, but he will also continue to advocate for Ukraine in its war with Russia and continue his support for the all important NATO-alliance.
