With a string of measures, Biden’s swan song

Since the election of Donald Trump at the beginning of November, the United States has been experiencing a period of transition, where the elected president monopolizes attention. But Joe Biden, humiliated by the victory of his sworn enemy, is multiplying strong decisions before the inauguration on January 20. “Outgoing presidents often try to accomplish as much as possible before leaving office and also shape the public image of their administration,” says Robert Rowland, professor of political communications at the University of Kansas.

There have been many “intense” periods of transition in American history, “especially when power changes hands,” adds Julian Zelizer, professor at Princeton University. And Democrat Joe Biden, whose rare public appearances show him visibly diminished, is no exception to the rule.

His recent decision to commute the sentences of 37 of 40 federal death row inmates has unleashed the wrath of his life’s adversary. Donald Trump has thus promised to seek, once president, to have more defendants sentenced to death.

The outgoing president had previously already granted 39 presidential pardons and commuted sentences for nearly 1,500 people, the White House hailing a single-day record in modern American history. “All presidents use their power to pardon and commute sentences at the end of their mandate,” recalls Wendy Schiller, professor of political science at Brown University. These clemency measures are “a way to honor some of his campaign promises on criminal justice,” Zelizer said.

Another commitment from candidate Biden is the partial erasure of student debts which are poisoning the lives of millions of Americans. On December 20, the former senator announced their cancellation for 55,000 public service employees. In total, according to the White House, nearly 5 million people have had their student debts reduced or erased under the Biden administration.

For Robert Rowland, the outgoing president is trying to “consolidate the achievements of his administration” before the Republican arrives at the White House. As proof, his “most notable decision is the effort to send as much aid as possible to Ukraine before Donald Trump becomes president,” continues this academic. While it is difficult to know what Donald Trump will do, he has declared himself “strongly opposed” to the use of American missiles in Russia.

Another snub from Joe Biden to his successor, a promise, at the end of his mandate, to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The commitment risks being swept aside by Donald Trump, a notorious climate skeptic. President Biden has also appointed diverse federal judges, including the first black woman to the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson.

In all, at least 235 federal judges have been confirmed by the Senate, a record in a single term since the Carter administration, welcomes the Biden team. These magistrates will have their work cut out from January 20 to try to counter the decisions of the new Republican president.

But the most striking decision of the outgoing president remains the pardon granted at the last minute to his son Hunter Biden, who is struggling with the law. This measure “certainly had a major negative impact on Biden’s reputation,” said Professor Robert Rowland. And the outgoing president is also trying to make up for, through all these decisions, the “feeling among many Democrats that he should have left the presidential race much earlier.”