Description: President Biden, from the country’s seat of power, has boldly proclaimed this week, imploring his Republican successor to abstain from dismantling his groundbreaking law that has launched clean-energy manufacturing initiatives across the nation, reaching even GOP-favored regions and congressional districts. From the platform of the Brookings Institution, a center-left think tank, the outgoing U.S. president articulated his concerns: “Would the incoming president really halt a new electric battery plant in Liberty, North Carolina, one that holds the potential to create thousands of jobs? Or terminate a burgeoning solar plant in Cartersville, Georgia?”
As Biden’s term concludes, he labors to leave a legacy of post-pandemic economic recovery, challenging opponents to his policy – the Republican senators – to uphold the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, a cornerstone of his economic strategy. Biden is determined to protect this law, a catalyst for fiscal incentives promoting the construction of clean-energy product factories.
President-elect Donald Trump has, in the meantime, given his word to dismember considerable laws and policies set in place under Biden’s watch. This move is anticipated to be implemented in his second term, following the projected Republican takeover of Congress and the White House. Against all odds, Biden hopes that the impacted beneficiaries will appreciate these projects enough to discourage GOP adversaries from seeking their removal.
Meanwhile, behind closed doors, the Biden administration is working relentlessly to use the remaining tools at their disposal to safeguard Biden’s other notable achievements – a nod to the typical Washington tradition of late-term policy alteration just before an incoming opposition takes charge.
Biden has directed his team to allocate as many funds as possible from the four major spending proposals he managed to get through Congress: the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act.
In a separate spotlight action next month, Biden is set to enforce a new $2,000 threshold for certain Medicare beneficiaries, part of the Inflation Reduction Act. To add, federal agencies are in the process of finalizing new regulations to limit bank overdraft fees and prevent businesses from hiding extraneous “junk fees” from customers before Biden steps down from office.
On this note, Biden’s chief of staff, Jeff Zients, referred to the next six weeks as a “dash to the finish” in a recent memo to White House staff, urging them to “accomplish as much as possible for the American people.”