'Lasting impact': How Biden is preventing Trump from undoing his legacy in final weeks

23 November 2024

Even though President Joe Biden has pledged to peacefully handing the reins of power to President-elect Donald Trump on January 20th, he's still aiming to make sure his successor won't be able to easily undo his signature legislative accomplishments.

The Financial Times recently reported that both Biden and his Cabinet are working at breakneck pace to spend down tens of billions of dollars in projects that have already been approved by Congress before the Trump administration can claw it back or spend it elsewhere. Domestically, this includes $39 billion in incentives for semiconductor manufacturing plants throughout the U.S. as part of the CHIPS and Science Act, which is fueling approximately 115,000 manufacturing jobs in multiple states.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said her agency is instructing employees to work overtime and through the weekends to make sure the CHIPS and Science Act funds are out the door before Trump's inauguration less than two months from now. This apparently also included one-on-one calls to tech executives in an effort to fast-track several deals currently in the works.

"The CHIPS team has announced preliminary agreements with two dozen companies for CHIPS awards, and over the next two months, plans to announce preliminary agreements for all $39 billion of that funding, and is well on its way towards securing final agreements for may of those entities [where] preliminary awards were announced," an unnamed White House official told the Financial Times.

One of Biden's most significant legislative achievements was the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which Earthjustice referred to as "the largest climate spending bill ever." One major component of that law was the appropriation of $369 billion in clean energy subsidies, which Trump campaigned on repealing. Biden climate advisor John Podesta told the Times that if Trump tries to undo the IRA, he may face unexpected resistance from Republican state governments.

"Many Republicans, especially governors, know all this activity is a good thing for their districts, states and for their economies," Podesta said.

Another big chunk of unspent money Biden is aiming to get out the door is $7 billion in military assistance to Ukraine that has yet to get to Kiev. Biden is aiming to fast-track that money before Trump gets into office, under the assumption that the president-elect will allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to conquer contested territory in Eastern Ukraine without putting up a fight.

The U.S. has already approved Ukraine's use of long-range weapons to strike at Russian targets, and is sending anti-personnel mines to the Ukrainian military to use against Russia along with the larger anti-tank mines it's already been deploying. Biden believes Kiev will be in a stronger negotiating position with Moscow if it has more weaponry at its disposal when Trump is inaugurated.

Finally, Biden is urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to make the most of the Democratic majority's final months to speed through his last remaining judicial nominees. Schumer recently took advantage of several Republicans' absence in the chamber to hold votes on several nominees that had been held up, getting those judges confirmed to lifetime positions while Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and JD Vance (R-Ohio) were with Trump on a SpaceX flight.

"We've been working with [Senate Democrats] very, very closely to get as many of the president's nominees confirmed because he believes that he wants to leave a lasting impact on the judiciary," a White House official said.

Click here to read the Times' report in full (subscription required).

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