Joe Biden has been declared the president-elect, but his chances of getting major legislation through Congress look poor. The Democrats’ margin in the House is slimmer than expected, and even if Democrats win both runoffs in Georgia, the Senate will be a tie. In their best-case scenario, then, Senate Democrats will need to unanimously back any legislation they want to pass without Republican support, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie. In their worst-case scenario, they won’t be able to do squat without bringing two Senate Republicans on board.
Fortunately for Biden, though, Congress rarely feels like doing its job anyway. Over the years it has simply delegated enormous policymaking powers to the executive branch. So, while he hopes for better results in the 2022 midterms, Biden can occupy himself with another round of executive-order ping-pong, swatting back much of what Trump accomplished and serving some new initiatives of his own as well.
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