Donald Trump will enter the White House in less than three months. And this time, he is better prepared, his supporters have concocted a well-crafted program for him, and he has already started to place his pawns in key positions in his future government. But Joe Biden is still there, and he has a few cards left in his deck to try to put obstacles in his way.
“Now is the time to do as much as possible before Trump arrives”explains Manon Lefebvre, lecturer in American civilization at the Polytechnic University of Hauts-de-France. Two and a half months before the inauguration of Donald Trump, this is the last hope of the Democrats, after the blow of the overwhelming victory of the Republican candidate. If the newly elected 47e American president has already started to place his pawns by naming his future team, Joe Biden still has a few cards left.
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Its advantage? “Project 2025”, a methodical plan from a support group for his rival for his second term. If the 900-page program is scary for the future of democracy and shows that Trump is much more prepared than when he came to power in 2016, it is also a good roadmap for anticipating his return. So the race began, for the “ lame duck », or lame duck in French, name given to presidents still in office, whose successors are elected and waiting to replace them.
Multiply the nominations
But few truly lasting measures are within its purview. “There's not much he can do that Donald Trump can't undo, concedes Marion Lefebvre. As soon as Joe Biden arrived at the White House in 2021, he made sure to withdraw by decree what Trump had put in place. We can expect this one to unravel everything again. » One of his powers as president is the appointment of judges or senior officials in institutions. It could therefore start with prevent the judicial system from slipping further into conservative hands by appointing federal judges to the 47 current vacancies that are difficult to remove without serious misconduct.
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“What Kamala Harris's voters are asking for in particular is that he appoint judges to the Supreme Court who cannot be defeated”adds the specialist. Historically, nine judges serve for life at the highest pinnacle of the United States judiciary, “but the Constitution does not fix the number of judges”. This would therefore be an opportunity to overthrow the very strong Republican majority, six against three Democrats.
A major obstacle to this request arises: it is the Senate which has the last word, and Biden no longer has a majority since the elections, “unless a few moderate Republicans support it “. Especially since the deadlines are very short. “Normally, we avoid naming the years of the elections, that's the norm, we let the future president take care of it. »
Limited room for maneuver
A standard painfully respected by Barack Obama, which gives Trump a lead and leaves him the choice of appointing the conservative Neil Gorsuch. The billionaire does not respect this rule, and in 2020, before leaving his post as president, he imposed Judge Amy Coney Barrett, pro-firearms, unfavorable to migrants, as well as to women wishing to have an abortion, among others . Thus, in total, Donald appointed three ultra-conservative judges to the Supreme Court in just four years, attacking the right to abortion.
In addition to justice, Joe Biden can also appoint senior dignitaries of trust in the country's institutions. Positions are vacant at the National Security Agency, the government agency of the Defense Department, the Internal Revenue Service, which collects taxes, and the US Treasury Department, the top financial authority. If Donald Trump had fired the president of the FBI to place one of his loyalists there, it is unlikely that the 46e President of the United States can do the same: “People in high positions cannot be dismissed unless they have committed serious crimes. » And once again, the directors of large institutions must be confirmed by the Senate, with a Republican majority.
Limit expulsions and executions
Another prerogative of the president, before giving up his seat to Donald Trump in the Oval Office: to pardon those sentenced to death. “It’s purely the function of the president”assures Manon Lefebvre, while Trump had increased the executions before his departure.
Regarding immigration, while the conservative plans the mass expulsion of millions of illegal immigrants, the Biden administration could accelerate and expand the processing of applications for citizenship, work permits or “temporary protected status”. It allows migrants to stay in the United States if returning home is unsafe.
Would public opinion be a brake? “He no longer cares much about his image,” affirms the expert on American civilization.
Cushioning the consequences for Ukraine
Other very worrying issues for Democrats can be anticipated, particularly in terms of diplomacy. While the controversial septuagenarian announced “resolution of the war in Ukraine soon”according to the Washington Post the United States will spend the remaining $6 billion promised to Volodymyr Zelensky before Donald Trump came to power, the president's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Sunday. Private military companies will also be sent to the Ukrainian front to support the war effort.
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Furthermore, hot foreign policy issues are on the menu for the meeting between Joe Biden and Donald Trump scheduled for Wednesday, November 13 to begin the transfer of power. A power that he could first pass to Kamala Harris, to make history.
The most symbolic: “resign”
“What he could do that is very symbolic is resign to let his vice-president Kamala Harris become president. » Even briefly, it would make the failed candidate the first black woman president.
And at the same time, this would be a way of making his successor lose some money. “Donald Trump has invested massively in derivative products, T-shirts, caps, flocks”47e President of the United States.” If he resigns for Kamala Harris, that would make him 48e president “smiles Manon Lefebvre. “A little pettiness”which is always good to take to boost the morale of more than 70 million Americans who have been grieving since his re-election.
