With Democrats in Control, Biden Moves to Advance Agenda
By gaining the Senate, Democrats have the chance to move on large parts of the president-elect’s ambitions for the economy, health care, climate change and more.
The ability of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. to push through key parts of his agenda and win confirmation of his cabinet selections received a significant lift this week.Credit.Doug Mills/The New York Times
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WASHINGTON With his victory recognized by Congress and his party set to control both the House and Senate, President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. moved on Thursday to fill out his cabinet, while his aides and allies drafted plans for an ambitious legislative agenda headlined by $2,000 stimulus checks to individual Americans.
Sen. Josh Hawley stood firm Thursday against a barrage of criticism that he had instigated the Capitol riots the previous day, saying he would "never apologize" for questioning the 2020 election results.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., holds a news conference in Washington Jan. 7, 2021, one day after a mob of extremists supporting President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. (CNS/Reuters/Erin Scott)
Washington House Speaker Nancy Pelosi referenced the Epiphany, St. Francis of Assisi, and also uttered a prayer as the House of Representatives reconvened the night of Jan. 6 to confirm the Electoral College win of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the November presidential election. The count had been interrupted by hundreds of marauders who breached the Capitol that afternoon, bringing the count to a halt. Today, Jan. 6, is the feast of the Epiphany, when the Christ Child was first revealed as a human beyond Mary and St. Joseph, Pelosi, D-California, said. On this day of revelation, let us pray that this instigation to violence will provide an epiphany for our country to heal.
Racial Double Standard of Capitol Police Draws Outcry
Black Lives Matter activists said the tepid response from law enforcement officers to mostly white protesters stood in stark contrast to the aggressive tactics they have endured for years.
Hundreds of activists marched through the streets of Minneapolis the day after November’s election, advocating for an end to police brutality. The group eventually marched onto an Interstate where law enforcement surrounded them and demanded that everyone sit down to be arrested.Credit.Kerem Yucel/Agence France-Presse Getty Images
Published Jan. 7, 2021Updated Feb. 11, 2021
While protesting the police killing of a Black teenager in Ferguson, Mo., several years ago, Johnetta Elzie said she was manhandled by officers. She said they pointed rifles at Black women who were pushing toddlers in strollers and cursed at them to turn around.
Walter Shapiro, a staff writer for The New Republic.
He cites in particular “centrist Democrats” Sens.
Joe Manchin III of West Virginia,
Jon Tester of Montana and
Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona among those who, he says, “will decide the fate of the party’s more ambitious legislative goals.”
That could be news to those at the opposite end of the ideological spectrum who can’t wait to push the New Green Deal and Medicare for All but that’s another story.
“Clout in a Democratic Senate will rest with deal-making senators in the center,” says Mr. Shapiro.
Which brings us to Mr. Biden himself, perhaps considering what color drapes should be in the Oval Office. Do Americans perceive him to be an agreeable moderate, what with his campaign promises to make America “normal” again?