US: President Biden is already saddling himself with executive orders to push his agenda. The centralization of power in the presidency has been noted for years, but we are also reminded why it is happening: we do not have a serious Congress.
Republicans recently highlighted this with their election objections, fueling the fantasy that the election was stolen from Donald Trump. Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, who viewed their Senate seats as little more than a stepping stone to higher office, were the push’s high-profile leaders.
They were accompanied by 140 House Republicans, including minority leader Kevin McCarthy and minority whip Steve Scalise. The Republican House caucus has determined to turn its strong play in the 2020 election into a Trump frenzy. While McCarthy urged members not to attack each other publicly, Rep. “Legislator” Matt Gaetz was in Wyoming getting to a member of McCarthy’s leadership team voted into Congress.
It is not much different for the Democrats. After finally earning the Senate Majority Leader label, Senator Chuck Schumer wants Biden to bypass the camera from him entirely. “He can do many, many things under emergency powers … that he could do without legislation,” Schumer said, encouraging Biden to pursue a climate change policy unilaterally.
Of course, this is the exact opposite view that Schumer had in 2019 when Trump used emergency powers for a border wall after Congress considered and rejected his funding request. Most Republicans have lost ground to complain about Biden’s overreach and Schumer’s hypocrisy, given that they agreed with Trump’s emergency declaration.
From Republicans like Representatives, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina to Democrats such as Representatives Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, the most prominent members of Congress are those who pursue media appearances. And controversy. It’s a lot easier to play for the chambers than it is to get tough votes, which is why both parties are fine outsourcing their jobs to the presidency.
Yes, Biden is a hypocrite, after saying in October that he cannot be enacted by executive order “unless you are a dictator.” But he’s capitalizing on a permitting structure that Congress has created for years. Like the Democrats during Barack Obama’s presidency, Republicans in Congress did not take a position in favor of the Trump legislature. The congressional capitulation of his own authority will only continue to fall under Biden unless Congress members begin to find some dignity in their work again.