From the earliest days of his presidency, Joe Biden has not only pursued a radical, left-wing agenda, but he’s also pushed for blatant Democrat power grabs such as D.C. statehood, partisan election reform, ending the filibuster, and packing the Supreme Court. So far, these efforts have failed. More than anything, Democrats desperately wanted their election reforms to be made law—and they nearly accomplished it.
Last year, the Democrat-controlled House passed the Freedom to Vote Act, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the For the People Act, all of which either stalled or failed to pass the Senate. These partisan election reform laws would federalize elections, institutionalize mail-in voting, ballot-harvesting, and voting by convicted felons. They would also ban voter photo ID, and included other initiatives designed to make it easier for Democrats to cheat and retain their power.
Thankfully, because of moderate Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), we were spared these grotesque power grabs becoming law. Still, Democrats will undoubtedly try again—and House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) just said the quiet part out loud as to how.
In an interview with CBS News’ “Red and Blue” on Thursday, Clyburn explained why he expects Biden’s poll numbers to go up soon.
First, he expects they will be boosted by Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings, though he says it’s “not the only thing that’s going to impact those numbers.” He had better hope so because, so far, there is no indication that Jackson’s nomination or confirmation hearings are boosting Biden. He nevertheless insisted that the Jackson hearings “will help.”
That’s when he revealed what he really thinks will revive Biden’s presidency. “The things that he will be doing, going forward, I think he’s going to be doing some things on voting that may surprise some people, and a few other things. His numbers will go up.”
What exactly did Clyburn mean here? I have a hunch.
In light of the failure of Democrats to pass their power grabs legislatively, it seems likely that Clyburn believes Biden will attempt to implement these high-priority agenda items via executive action.
It wouldn’t be the first time a Democrat president abused his power to pass laws that failed to get through Congress via executive action.
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In 2012, Obama infamously signed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive action after the DREAM Act failed to pass Congress. He felt entitled to his agenda and didn’t think anything like constitutional checks and balances should get in the way.
“We’re not just going to be waiting for legislation,” Obama infamously claimed in 2014. “I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone…and I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions.”
What else could Clyburn have meant, other than Biden going the Obama route and signing an executive order that implements the objectives of their election-reform proposals? Last year, Clyburn claimed that Democrats would find a way to “get around” the filibuster to pass their radical voting legislation, which they haven’t been able to do yet. So the next attempt most certainly will be for Biden to use executive actions.