President Joe Biden has roughly two months left before he hands the reins to another Trump administration. Can he do anything during this lame-duck period to safeguard federal institutions and government protections from the coming deregulation bomb?
According to experts, the answer is yes.
The Biden administration and Democratic majority in the Senate can fill crucial regulatory and judicial roles and make other moves that can serve as guardrails against the next four years of deregulatory and pro-business policies.
“I’ve heard many folks calling this moment in time ‘Y.O.L.O. Joe,’” said Lisa Gilbert, the copresident of consumer advocacy watchdog group Public Citizen. Biden needs “to really think about the things that [the administration] can do right now to create speed bumps, to lock the doors, if you will.”
The following steps, as suggested by experts and consumer advocates, might help establish critical safeguards for the years ahead.
While President Biden is still in office, he has the power to nominate hundreds of appointees to government positions. According to the nonpartisan US Government Accountability Office, there are currently almost seven hundred vacancies across a wide swath of agencies.
Along with filling these vacancies, Biden can renominate a number of agency heads whose terms are set to expire during Trump’s second administration. Presidents can renominate or propose a replacement for presidential appointments during their time in office, even if the president’s term ends by the time the appointee steps in….
Auteur: Helen Santoro
