'You will see a real push': Journalist reveals 'main focus' of Biden’s lame duck period

09 November 2024

President Joe Biden is still in office until January 20, 2025, and he's apparently working hard to cement as much of his legacy as possible before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.

That's according to journalist Chris Whipple, who said in a recent interview with MSNBC host Ali Velshi that Biden has been quietly laboring away at maximizing his time in the White House since dropping out of the 2024 race in July. Whipple said that after Biden told chief of staff Jeff Zients he was no longer running for a second term, he committed himself to a final six months that would be just as consequential as his first three and a half years in the Oval Office.

Whipple said Biden has an "unofficial to-do list" for his lame duck period, which aims to "Trump-proof" both his domestic and foreign policy initiatives. He's reportedly scrambling to get an additional $6 billion in military aid to Ukraine that hasn't yet made its way to the embattled eastern democracy between now and January 20th. Trump is expected to end additional support for Volodymyr Zelenskyy's defense against Vladimir Putin's ongoing invasion, meaning that $6 billion could be the last U.S. support Ukraine gets for at least the next four years.

Domestically, Biden is working to ensconce as much of his landmark legislative achievements as possible before Trump takes the oath of office, like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). However, billions of dollars of green energy investments in the IRA are expected to be reversed, given that the incoming president has signaled to the fossil fuel industry that he will grant unprecedented new drilling permits.

"There is no way to really Trump-proof this administration's achievements. But I think, for example, you will see a real push to implement all of the clean energy provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, which is a big deal," Whipple said. "And so John Podesta, who is in charge of that, is presumably a very busy guy right now."

Velshi pointed out that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) has called on her Senate colleagues to finish confirming the dozens of lower court judges Biden has nominated that have yet to get a vote by the full Senate. This will largely depend on whether outgoing Sens. Joe Manchin (I-West Virginia) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona) will show up for the lame duck session and give Democrats the votes they need to confirm judges and "key regulators" who don't have set terms. Whipple said he was optimistic that Democrats could force through several critical last-minute judicial confirmations.

"I think there is time to do a lot of that," Whipple responded. "But I think the main focus is going to be on trying to implement as much as he possibly can all of these provisions of the infrastructure act, Inflation Reduction Act [and] other things to try to make some of these achievements complete — something that Trump can't reverse."

Once Trump takes office, it's expected he'll sign the so-called "Schedule F" executive order he issued during his own lame duck period after the 2020 election, which Biden promptly rescinded. That executive order is designed to remove critical employment protections for the federal civil service, allowing them to be replaced with presidential appointees. But in April, Biden passed a slew of civil service protections that will complicate Trump's efforts to remake the federal workforce in his image. Whipple said Trump may end up being hamstrung by Biden's work to safeguard federal employees from partisan firings.

"Trump is going to try to come in and replace civil service with loyalists who will do whatever he asks. That's going to be a challenge. I think that's going to be difficult for him."

Watch Whipple's segment below, or by clicking this link.

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