President Joe Biden may be the most powerful person in the U.S., but the amount of power he actually has pales in comparison to Congress. Yet, he seems to be receiving criticism regarding issues totally out of his control, while Congress is able to limit the amount of criticism the body receives as a whole.
To be fair, Congress, according to Gallup, does have only a 26% approval rating. But many of the criticisms of Biden from those in Congress and their supporters revolve around issues that Biden either has no power to resolve or realistically should be handled through law versus an executive order in order to facilitate change and give it a greater chance of avoiding a drawn-out legal battle.
The first issue that Biden has come under criticism for is the filibuster, a Senate rule that allows a single senator to halt the procedure of bringing a bill to vote. During the 2020 election, and following it to now, Democrats have called for the abolishment of the filibuster, as many of the ambitious proposals they have will likely be blocked using this rule by Republicans.
However, Democratic senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have stated that they oppose fully getting rid of the filibuster, bringing the fight to a standstill. Since then, Democrats have criticized Biden for not speaking more on the issue and what action should be taken. The question is: What power does Biden have to get rid of the filibuster?
The answer is Biden has nothing to do with the filibuster. As mentioned before, it is a Senate rule, which Biden has no control over as the procedures for Senate rules are different than laws. The only action that Biden is able to do is state his opinion, but even then that will not lead to any change as there is no guarantee that Manchin and Sinema would change their opinion just because of Biden.
Some, such as Kelly Dietrech-founder of the National Democratic Training Committee-believe one way to push the holdout senators is to enact other aspects of Biden’s agenda to give them wins to show non-progressive voters at home to protect from any backlash over the filibuster reform. This will do more to allow action to occur sooner than Biden stating his opinion.
Another major issue that Biden is receiving criticism on is student loan debt relief. While he has forgiven the debt of around 92,000 people-through an established borrowers defense program-who were victims of for-profit schools and extended the suspension of student loan payments until October, many want him to use an executive order to cancel up to $50,000 of debt per borrower. Senator Elizabeth Warren ran on this plan during the 2020 election and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has endorsed this plan. The main halt comes from the vagueness of the laws in place and the power of an executive order.
An executive order is defined as “…a signed, written, and published directive from the President of the United States that manages operations of the federal government.” The Emancipation Proclamation, the creation of the Japanese internment camps during World War II and the use of the national guard in Arkansas to enforce desegregation are examples of executive orders. However, there is a debate whether an executive order is able to wipe out what would amount to $1.7 trillion of student loan debt.
The main argument centers around the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965 and the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (HEROES) Act. The HEROES Act is more straightforward, as it specifically states that the Secretary of Education can modify or waive student loan programs during a national emergency the president has declared. This is what allowed President Donald Trump to defer payments of loans until Congress acted as well as allow Biden to extend that deferment. However, the issue stands on whether Biden has the ability to cancel debt incurred before the emergency was declared, or if he gains the power to wipe all debt-regardless of when the debt started-during a national emergency.
The HEA is way broader, stating that the Department of Education can “modify, waive or release” loans. However, it has never been used in a blanket manner such as what Warren and Schumer proposed, instead being used more case-by-case circumstances or for teachers and public sector workers. Additionally, the magnitude of the debt being relieved would instantly lead to legal challenges on the basis that as Congress ‘controls the purse’ that amount of debt can only be canceled through a new law, not an executive order.
This article is not intended to say that the president is immune from criticism as of course his actions should be criticized since he is an elected official. However, these two examples-along with other examples not mentioned-place the blame of inaction on President Biden when in reality the ones criticizing the president can solve the issues mentioned. The true place that the criticism from Congress should be, is on themselves.
