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WASHINGTON – Joe Biden’s battle did not end with his victory over Donald Trump. In addition to awaiting the outcome of two more Senate seats to be decided only in January, a decisive dispute to secure his majority in the House and avoid the Republican lockdown, Biden will also face the demands of the most left wing of the Democratic Party, which demands broader action to combat climate change, not necessarily a priority for the party’s centrist majority.
After facing off in the Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden joined forces to defeat Trump. The Social Democratic senator had already tried to run for the party’s presidency in 2016, but was defeated by Hillary Clinton. When he lost, the command of the caption was the target of criticism from the more progressive wing, which accused the centrists – a group that includes Biden and the leader of the House, Nancy Pelos – of not betting on new ideas to fight Trump, a candidate who chose him as the big news for the Republicans.
Basis of victory: Raising the youth vote was key for Biden, and the Democrat owes him it
In 2020, Sanders was back in dispute. His main argument was that the left-wing platform mobilized young people. That mobilization was not enough for the senator’s victory in the primaries, but young people went to the polls to remove Trump from the White House in November, influenced by the endorsement and mobilization of Sanders and the party’s young star, Alexandria Ocasio. -Cortez. According to an analysis by Tufts University, the group’s share increased 10 percentage points this year compared to 2016.
– Climate change was the biggest issue for undecided voters and young people, who attended record levels in key states that turned to Biden, says Garrett Blad, a member of the Sunrise Movement, a progressive organization focused on climate change.
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Partly because of his victory over the mobilization of the left, Biden will have to decide how to implement plans to combat climate change that require more public spending than those proposed by Republicans and the centrist wing of the Democratic Party. A proposal for a large package that also includes economic stimulus was already on the platform that brought him to the elections, and now progressive groups are demanding its implementation and the creation of a special cabinet to ensure that the issue is a priority.
List of ministers
The Sunrise movement, which has the active support of Ocasio-Cortez, last week presented a list of priorities and personalities that I would like to see in the new administration. Sanders was nominated for the Secretary of Labor and Senator Elizabeth Warren for the Treasury. On the list are several congressmen who made legislative motions against the Bolsonaro government in Congress, such as congresswoman Deb Haaland and deputies Raúl Grijalva and Ro Khanna.
– We made this list of nominations, and our main demand for executive action is to create an office for climate mobilization, similar to the one that Franklin Delano Roosevelt created in World War II – says Blad.
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Even if he agrees with the names proposed by the party’s left wing, Biden would need the support of the Senate to pass them, and progressive names like Senator Warren can be excluded from core portfolios like the Treasury. While the majority in the House is already guaranteed for Democrats, the majority in the Senate still hinges on an indefinite dispute in Georgia.
– The last two contested Senate seats in Georgia will have a major impact on how the climate agenda will look in 2021 – says Lindsey Walter, senior analyst for climate and energy policy at the think tank. Third way.
The two state seats were not defined in the first round, since neither candidate reached half the votes, a rule required by the state, and depends on a second in January. The need to keep the base mobilized for that vote is one reason why Republicans, especially Senate Party Leader Mitch McConnell, have been reluctant to publicly admit Biden’s victory.
– The Biden team did an excellent job with the folks from the Sanders coalition to create the Biden climate plan. There is more in common and collaboration between your team and climate activists than you might expect. Biden has the most ambitious climate agenda we’ve ever seen for a president-elect in history, Lindsey says. – The question is: if we are left with a Republican-controlled Senate, how much will Mitch McConnell want to discuss the issue?
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If he achieves a majority in the Senate, Biden would have an open path to follow through on the promises he made to progressives, but he would still have to balance them with the center, the majority in the party, which does not buy into the idea that the actions of energy transition are as urgent as the need to guarantee aid to the population when the pandemic enters its third wave in the country.
Rule by decree
With polarization, passing laws with bipartisan support is challenging. Scott Lincicome of the Cato libertarian institute believes there are few consensus issues between Democrats and Republicans, such as infrastructure or the approval of a new package to combat the economic effects of Covid-19.
On other issues, such as climate, education, health and tax reform, Biden said that he would raise taxes on those who earn more than $ 400,000 a year, the action of the Democrats would be compromised. Executive orders would be required, without congressional approval, to advance the agenda.
– One of the negative aspects of the legislative impasse is that presidents end up doing more and more things unilaterally. All presidents do this, but it has certainly increased in recent years, first under Obama and substantially under President Trump.
Dialogue will be required: Biden’s government plan is the most progressive in decades, but could face roadblocks in Congress
In some areas, the Presidency’s scope of action without Congress is limited. Biden would probably have to give up on his tax reform plan. In other areas, such as the climate, the government has the power to move forward with revising standards to reduce fossil fuel emissions. Biden could also lead the United States back to the Paris Agreement.
– We can see more unilateral actions on trade issues. We will certainly see that the Biden administration will be more aggressive in environmental regulation, says Lincicome, who does not believe that any legislative impasse is negative. – If we look at history, we will see that going slower may be better to make good laws. It shows that bipartisan laws last longer and work better in terms of their design and their effects, because they require more negotiation and attention to detail that may not be present when you have a government that already has a majority.
