What Do the Midterms Mean for Biden?

May 3, 2022
What Do the Midterms Mean for Biden?

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For President Biden, the result of the midterm elections will probably be crucial, each for the destiny of his coverage agenda and for his means to perform with out partisan distractions for the following two years.

The president has already struggled to go laws he promised as a candidate as a result of Democrats maintain a naked majority within the Home and the flexibility to interrupt a 50-50 tie within the Senate. However that issue will change into a near-impossibility if Republicans take management of the Home or the Senate — or each. Republicans wouldn’t solely have sufficient votes to defeat most of Mr. Biden’s proposed laws, however they’d be capable of maintain Democratic measures from even being thought of.

Moreover, Republican management of Congress would put Mr. Biden’s political enemies answerable for investigative and oversight committees. Republicans have already vowed to make use of these positions to conduct high-profile inquiries into Hunter Biden, the president’s son; the administration’s dealing with of migrants on the border; and the chaotic exit of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

The outcome would almost definitely be a White Home in a defensive crouch, always pressured to answer calls for for info from congressional committees. Some White Home employees would rent legal professionals to defend themselves in opposition to subpoenas requested by Republican-led investigations. And White Home briefings can be full of questions concerning the newly empowered Republican majority.

Earlier presidents have confronted the identical scenario. President George W. Bush referred to as the 2006 midterms a “thumping” after Democrats gained management of each chambers. In 2010, Republicans gained again the Home in what President Barack Obama referred to as a “shellacking” by his adversaries. In each instances, the shift within the majorities hampered the presidents’ agendas and ratcheted up the partisan assaults from Capitol Hill.

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