THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

The United States witnessed President Biden's inauguration on January 20th, and now, around two months in, the American electorate can examine Biden's first steps as president. According to FiveThirtyEight, his approval rating has dwindled between 52.9 and 54.5 percent, still strikingly low compared to Obama's first months in office. However, his rating is still higher than that of former-President Trump' by around ten percent.

The administration is dedicating most of its time to pandemic-related issues and has set aside many press conferences to the crisis. Covid rates have fallen sharply throughout the U.S. after the third wave but appear to be flattening out. According to the New York Times, the federal government has been shipping out vaccines to the states. State distribution is inconsistent; however, the national rolling average is more than two million vaccinations a day. Biden has pushed the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, called the American Rescue Plan, including $1,400 individual checks along with mass funding for vaccine deployment and schools. On March 11th, Biden signed the plan into law, right before his administration's target of March 14th.

Biden's administration has pushed on with other minor actions and bills, including those concerning immigration and foreign policy. The administration enacted a 100-day deportation moratorium; however, U.S. District Judge, Drew Tipton, a Trump appointee, has placed an injunction sought by Texas, stating that the moratorium was unconstitutional. Biden’s administration still has failed to stop mass deportation or issue any mass immigration bill. The United States currently has 2,500 troops in Iraq, according to the BBC, to fight against the terrorist group, ISIS. After an Iranian-backed militia targeted a U.S. coalition base on February 15th in Erbil, Iraq, killing one U.S. contractor and injuring other U.S. service members, the administration launched a retaliatory airstrike in Syria, resulting in the death of 22 militia members. Some top Democrats have condemned the airstrike, saying it was unconstitutional and needed congressional approval. Overall, the Biden administration still has weeks before his 100 days are over and is up for a hill climb having crisis on multiple fronts.

BILLS ON CAPITOL HILL

The January 6th attack on the Capitol halted progress from the legislative branch; however, now Congress is back to its regularly scheduled programming. As stated in the previous section, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. It passed with a near party-line vote with 219 yeas and 212 nays. The following week, the Senate passed the bill with major amendments on a 50-49 margin vote; it returned to the House for re-approval. The House also passed the Equality Act (H.B. 5) meant to expand anti-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ+ community and women on the basis of sex, sexual and gender orientation by facilities, education, federal buildings and funding, employment, the jury system, housing, credit, and employment. All Democrats supported the bill along with a few Republicans; it passed with a 224-206 margin with three Republicans crossing over. Many Republicans opposed the bill as they argued that it would infringe on religious rights.

The House passed smaller resolutions, including removing Majorie Green Taylor from her committee posts and designating land in Colorado operated by the Bureau of Land Management or the Forest Service as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The National Defense Act of 2021 moved through the House in the end of last year with a bi-partisan result of 335-78, then progressed to the Senate with a margin of 81-13. Finally, the House passed H.B. 1 or, For The People Act of 2021, which sought to expand voting rights. It included expanding voting registration (same-day, online, e.g.), expanding alternative voting (early in-person voting, mail-in voting, e.g.), and limiting voter purging. In addition, it provided more regulations on campaign finance and ethics along with election security measures (state funding, cybersecurity, transparency, e.g.). Apart from the recess on March 4th, Congress is back on track.

2021 ELECTIONS

While the year after a presidential election is generally a political breather, there are still multiple state and local elections remaining. The two main elections are the gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey. They may be more than seven months away, however, they are crucial to states' function. Virginia's Democratic Party has recently witnessed the emergence of its progressive wing, and there are multiple candidates to win the party's nomination in a likely blue state. The GOP (Grand Old Party, commonly known as the Republican Party) in the state has had a battle between pro-Trump candidates and traditional Republicans. Virginia has swiftly shifted blue, as Ralph Northam is ineligible for re-election; it looks as if the most heated point of Virginia's gubernatorial elections will be the Democrats' primary on January 8th. New Jersey has a similar situation: Phil Murphy, the current governor, has sustained over a 50 percent approval rating and saw an increase over the pandemic even though New Jersey has experienced a high rate of both cases and deaths. He is currently the front runner for the Democrats, and the GOP is now looking to put their best politician forward.

The summer of 2020 was a turbulent one as Seattle and its neighboring municipalities witnessed their largest protests in years. Jenny Durkan, the current mayor, stated that she is not looking for re-election. She has served since 2017. The largest city in Washington State is now looking for a new leader, and multiple people are looking to fill the void. Local elections are crucial to the success of American democracy and representing the people. Government can create the most change at a state or county level; thus, the whole region will be looking on to the Seattle election. The most prominent figures running for mayor include current council member Lorena Gonzalez, Colleen Echokawk (president of the Chief Seattle Club and Seattle's Community Police Commission), Andrew Gran Houston (Seattle architect and policy manager for Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda), and Lance Randall (executive for SEED [SouthEast Effective Development]). This position is crucial to not only Seattle but the whole Puget Sound Region. Washington State will look at the election result on November 2nd of this year.