Progressives focus on Biden Cabinet appointments
Liberals aren’t interested in giving President-elect Joe Biden a honeymoon.
After helping to mobilize election turnout of young people and left-leaning Democrats, leaders of the self-described “progressive” wing of the party want to hold the Biden administration to promises made on the campaign trail: addressing climate change, combating the COVID-19 pandemic and offering student debt relief.
“This isn’t 2015 anymore. This isn’t 2010 anymore. It’s not 2005 anymore,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic socialist from New York, said at a rally last week. “The movement got us here. You all got us a seat at the table.”
As liberals lean into their policy demands, one roadblock remains: Who will control the Senate?
Two runoffs in Georgia will determine whether Republicans maintain control of the chamber when the new Congress is sworn in in January. If the Republican majority holds, not only will it be difficult for Democrats to pass legislation, it will probably mean the progressive wish list will be left on the backburner.
Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, a group that scrutinizes personnel in the executive branch, said liberals understand there will be substantial challenges in getting legislation passed and “this is not a time for peace and prosperity.”
“The Senate picture is somewhere between bad and not good,” he said.
Even if Democrats do control the Senate, far-left legislation might still face an uphill battle, said Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University
“I think it’s going to be a big management problem for (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi, Baker said. “The big problem is managing the expectations of progressives.”
Baker noted passing legislation that makes both wings of the party happy isn’t a given, pointing to the infighting between moderate and liberal Democrats days after the election this month.
He specifically pointed to the “defund the police” movement, which wants funding for police departments to be reallocated for other social services. Many establishment and centrist Democrats said that term, in addition to Democrats being linked to socialism, cost them House seats in the general election.
“The language of progressives becomes an issue to all Democrats,” Baker said.
As a result, liberals are turning to processes where they hope they can make the most impact: the use of executive power and whom Biden appoints to serve in his administration.
Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said progressives urged Biden to limit the appointments of people who have a lobbying or corporate background. Green said if legislation can’t get passed through Congress, and Biden has to use executive power instead, former lobbyists from industries could hinder progress.
“If our desire is that (Biden) use executive power to take on Big Pharma but there is a pharma lobbyist in charge of policies, that will likely get slow walked or vetoed from within,” Green told USA TODAY. “If we want to create clean energy jobs…
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