President Biden may be the Democratic standard-bearer, but his party is taking fewer cues from him than Republicans are from his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.
The emerging dynamic could hinder Biden’s legislative agenda as his political honeymoon winds down, and it already has revealed cracks in his awkward relationship with more liberal Democrats.
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With narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress, Democrats are in less disarray than they were during the first two years of former President Barack Obama’s term. Yet the party, including leadership on Capitol Hill, seems to perceive Biden as a malleable chief executive it can pull in its preferred direction rather than the party’s undeniable leader.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, for instance, issued a rare joint statement on Wednesday imploring Biden to nominate Shalanda Young as his replacement budget chief nominee. Neera Tanden, Biden’s original pick, withdrew her candidacy on Tuesday to become Office of Management and Budget director.
“As longtime members of the Appropriations Committee, we take great pride in recommending Shalanda Young,” the trio wrote. “Her leadership at the OMB would be historic and would send a strong message that this Administration is eager to work in close coordination with members of Congress to craft budgets that meet the challenges of our time and can secure broad, bipartisan support.”
The statement urges Biden into picking Young because not doing so could be interpreted as a slight to key allies. If tapped and confirmed, Young, who is black, would become the first minority woman to head OMB.
Centrist Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are also busy dictating the bounds of Biden’s ambitious $1.9 trillion spending package. And their opposition to nixing the Senate’s filibuster rule has stymied their caucus and Biden, which had planned on teaming up to enact his legislative wish list. Yet Biden is facing pressure, too. His comes from liberal Democrats, wrangled by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who promised during the 2020 campaign to push the president to the left.
Liberal Democrats have been disappointed so far by Biden’s inability to corral the party behind raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour in five years. It was the Senate parliamentarian, though, who ultimately recommended against including it in the sweeping spending package.
The far-left faction of the party feels let down as well. Its disappointment stems from Biden’s recent foreign policy decisions regarding Iran and Saudi Arabia, including last week’s airstrike on Iranian proxy targets in Syria.
For Republican strategist Brad Todd, big labor presents another threat to Biden’s White House, particularly teachers unions, as the administration works to reopen a majority of K-8 grade schools by the end of the president’s first 100 days in office.
“It’s his party’s most organized special interest group, and he’s made it clear it’s a priority, but they aren’t willing to be led by him, and he’s not yet been willing to demand they fall in line,” Todd told the Washington Examiner.
At the same time, Trump still dominates the Republican Party. And he does so with bare-knuckle tactics that Biden has yet to employ.
Trump maintains his status, in part, to his magnetic hold on his supporters, and a handful of potential 2024 presidential nominees are attempting to position themselves to inherit his base if he doesn’t run that cycle. And while the Jan. 6 sacking of the U.S. Capitol building drove away some corporate donors, Trump can still bring in substantial grassroots fundraising dollars.
Trump’s other power is derived from his endorsement. The former president has already weighed in on some races, as House and Senate Republicans look to claw back control of either chamber in 2022.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has made a private trip to Mar-a-Lago as part of an effort to keep Trump onside as he wields his significant post-presidency influence. Yet, Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, who chairs House Republicans’ campaign arm, publicly pleaded with Trump on Wednesday to remain neutral and not seek revenge on lawmakers who voted for his impeachment.
“I would tell him that it’s probably better for us that we keep these people and we make sure that we have a majority that can be sustained going forward,” he said in an interview.
Democratic strategist Brad Bannon similarly warned Republicans that Trump’s stranglehold on the party would be its “undoing.”
“On his watch, Republicans lost the White House and both houses of Congress. If Republicans continue to idolize Trump, they will continue to lose,” Bannon said.
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Citing Biden’s strong approval rating, Bannon added the public is looking for a “uniter” after the hyperpartisanship that defined the Trump era.
“After four years of Trump’s my-way-or-the-highway approach that failed to solve the problems facing the nation, Biden recognizes that consensus rather than domination is the key to move the nation forward,” he said.
