CNN Politics WHAT MATTERS gives an ideas of the road map for the Biden/Harris admin going out the gate Wednesday ….
What Matters talked to CNN’s Dan Merica, who covers Biden for CNN, about what we can expect in the days and weeks after Biden takes office. The email conversation, lightly edited, is below:
What comes first?
WHAT MATTERS: What do we know about what Biden will do Day One as president?
MERICA: One of Biden’s most common promises on the campaign trail was that he would tackle a certain issue on Day One — a pledge he usually made to contrast himself with Trump. Now that he has won, he has to pick what he can actually do via executive order on his first day in office.
The list of promises is long and ranges from climate change policy and union rights to trust in government and foreign policy issues like rejoining the Paris climate accord and rescinding Trump’s targeted travel bans. Right now, it’s a little unclear what exactly Biden will sign on Day One. What is clear: He made a lot of promises, so January 20 could be a very busy day.
What’s the timeline for his top priority?
WHAT MATTERS: He’s announced the $1.9 trillion Covid relief package as his first priority. What’s his timeline to get this passed into law?
MERICA: This is Biden’s most pressing priority heading into his first days in office. Biden, in his prime-time speech on Thursday night about this plan, stressed the need to move “quickly” and in a bipartisan fashion, sounding hopeful about the prospect that his relationships on Capitol Hill, along with the pressing needs across the country, will compel action.
There are clear political ramifications to all this. Biden promised to administer 100 million shots in his first 100 days and his team knows they will be swiftly judged by their ability to hit that target.
Is he thinking past the relief bill?
WHAT MATTERS: What are his second and third priorities after the Covid bill?
MERICA: The list of issues he has promised to tackle is long, but the sequencing is a bit of a mystery.
Biden has mentioned wanting to prioritize something that could receive bipartisan agreement near the start of his term — making something like a sweeping infrastructure measure more likely. But with slim majorities in the Senate and House, what Biden prioritizes beyond coronavirus will be a space to watch.
den’s coronavirus response — focused on rescuing the nation. During his speech on Thursday, Biden said he would unveil his “Build Back Better” recovery plan during his first joint session of Congress address in February. That will likely have more permanent changes….
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How will he deliver on his core promise?
WHAT MATTERS: So much of Biden’s campaign was about being the anti-Trump. What’s going to be his biggest obstacle in delivering on this most basic promise?…
The first months of the Biden Adminstration are going to be spent on the Covid Virus.
As long as it continues to rage out of control the economy is not going to improve and most of this other stuff being talked about is just going to be that,stuff that is “talked about” with very little action.
Biden recognizes the challenge.As he said yesterday ,things are going to get worse before they get better.Thousands are going to die .Biden will be judged initially by his success in delivering a hundred million vaccinations.That will occupy a goodly portion of his time over the next three months.
It will require a gargantuan effort due to the total fiasco that Trump and his minions, more intent on stealing an election than doing their jobs, have done in this vaccine rollout.
Frankly, it’s the only thing I’m interested in right now.