Four years after US President Trump pursued the “America First” policy, President-designate Biden is trying to send a message to the United States and the world that the United States, which was previously known, is going to “back”.
Since the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which coordinates the transfer of power, informed Biden that he could carry out the handover on November 23, the Biden team has finalized a series of cabinet candidates. Many of them have served in the Obama administration, and the American media summarized Biden’s selection criteria as “professional” and “experience”, in sharp contrast to Trump.
But there are also voices questioning that Biden is forming the “third Obama administration”. Biden explicitly denied this to NBC on December 1. “Because the United States is completely different from the Obama era, President Trump has changed the whole situation, and ‘America First’ also means the isolation of the United States,” he said.
Biden said that the key consideration in his selection of cabinet candidates is to be able to fully represent the entire American people and the entire Democratic Party. In today’s time when American society is seriously torn and political polarization is deep within the two parties, it is not easy to form a representative U.S. government. For Biden, who has eight years of vice president and decades of political experience, his political qualifications may be a plus or the opposite.
Ross Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University and a resident scholar in the former Office of the Democratic Leader of the United States Senate, told The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) that the two Democratic governments are only four years apart, and the new government is from the previous It is completely normal to absorb talents from the same party government. Obama-era officials are very familiar with the government agencies they will lead, which is a health symbol of government continuity.
On November 24, 2020, local time, Wilmington, Delaware, the United States, “President-elect” Biden and his six national security and foreign policy teams nominated and appointed made a public appearance and speech.
Hope to show the world that “America is back”
On November 24th, local time, at a press conference in Wilmington, Delaware, President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris appeared on the same stage as many key cabinet candidates for the next administration. Biden said he wanted to show the world that “America is back” and “my governance plan is ambitious and very progressive”.
At present, the key foreign policy and national security appointments announced by the Biden team include Secretary of State (Blincoln), Secretary of Homeland Security (Mayocas), Director of National Intelligence (Haines), United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations (Thomas Greenfield), National Security Adviser (Sullivan) and others. Hier-level position.
Among them, the three candidates for the Secretary of State, National Security Adviser and the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations, which constitute Biden’s future “diplomatic core”, are all from the Obama administration. Brolincoln served as Undersecretary State under Obama, Sullivan served as a national security adviser during Obama’s second term, and Thomas Greenfield served as Assistant Secretary of State for Africa in the Obama administration.
Blinkin will serve as Secretary of State.
Broncoln has been called a “centrist” in foreign policy by analysts. For example, he is cautious about the military operations of the U.S. military overseas and has repeatedly supported some overseas military operations that progressives call “interventionism”. He both recognizes the shortcomings of multilateral international organizations and believes that the best way for the United States to play its effectiveness. The path is to rely on these multilateral organizations. According to the analysis of the BBC, Blinkin has been paying attention to the relationship between the United States and allies for many years. He will lead the United States to rebuild its relationship with traditional allies and international organizations, and the United States will return to a “traditional role” in the international arena.
Sullivan is an Iranian nuclear expert. He has served as the director of the policy planning department of the U.S. State Department and an adviser to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He played an important role in the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. When Biden was vice president, Sullivan served as his national security adviser.
Thomas Greenfield has been in African affairs for many years and is one of the high-profile black women diplomats. From 2013 to 2017, she served as the Undersecretary of State for Regional Affairs in Africa.
In addition, Kerry, who served as Secretary of State under Obama, was nominated as the Special Envoy on Climate. In addition to serving as Secretary of State, Kerry also served as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. He not only has rich diplomatic experience, but also a champion of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
BBC reports that in the past four years, a large number of diplomats have retired early in frustration and early retirement under the leadership of Secretary of State Tillerson and Pompeo. According to Charles Kupchan, a senior researcher at the Foreign Relations Committee (CFR), a US think tank, professional diplomats such as Thomas Greenfield are the so-called “deep government” that Trump despises. There are other de facto rulers in addition to power, and the secret groups composed of the army, bureaucracy, consortia, political groups, etc. control the views of the country.) are the “liberal internationalist infantry” that Trump is eager to overthrow.
In the national security team formed by Biden, Haynes, who Biden nominated as the director of national intelligence, served as the former deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Haynes, 51, served as deputy national security adviser under Obama, and she will become the first female director of national intelligence in U.S. history.
Haynes will serve as the director of national intelligence.
Mayokas, a Cuban-American lawyer, was selected to be the Secretary of Homeland Security, who served as the deputy secretary of the department under Obama’s presidency. As the first Latino to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security in the United States and the first non-Native-American-born primary immigrant to hold this position, Mayorkas is believed to overthrow the Trump-era harsh immigration policy.
Biden’s unveiling cabinet mix sends a clear signal that he will reverse a series of Trump-era internal and external policies, including replacing Trump-era bans with loose immigration reform bills, rejoining the United States to the Paris Agreement, staying at the World Health Organization, seeking changes to the Iran nuclear agreement, and strengthening Relations with NATO, etc.
The fight against the epidemic and the recovery of the economy remain the top priorities of the Biden cabinet.
As Biden prepares for power takeover, the unrecovered economy of the United States has been hit again by the comeback of the coronavirus epidemic.
According to real-time statistics from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, the United States is still the country with the worst epidemic in the world, with more than 14.1 million confirmed cases. On December 3rd local time, the number of new deaths in the United States exceeded 2,800, the highest number since the outbreak. Overall projections released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on December 3 show that the number of deaths from COVID-19 in the United States will reach 303,000 to 329,000 by December 26.
In the U.S. Congress, Democrats and Republican parties are deadlocked for months and it is difficult to reach consensus on the latest economic rescue plan, after a series of previously adopted aid relief measures will expire on December 31. If Congress fails to introduce a new bailout bill this time, the livelihoods of millions of Americans may be affected, and the U.S. economy will fall into a new recession.
According to Bloomberg and other media on the 3rd, congressional leaders of both parties said recently that they thought there was hope to reach a compromise on a new $908 billion rescue plan, and the bill saw the dawn again.
After Biden officially takes office on January 20 next year, the unoptimistic epidemic and economic situation will be dealt with by the new government. In his victory speech on November 7, Biden stressed that after entering the White House, his first priority was to control the coronavirus epidemic, which affected the U.S. economy.
On December 3, Biden announced that he had talked with Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, inviting him to serve as the chief medical adviser and member of the COVID-19 response team in the new government. He also announced a “100-day mask” plan, promising to urge all Americans to wear masks for 100 days from the first day of his term.
Earlier, Biden announced his candidate for the next government’s economic team on November 30. The composition of Biden’s economic team further reinforces his previously publicly expressed view that more aggressive measures are needed in response to the pandemic, Reuters said. The candidates he selected all supported the government’s stimulus measures to maximize employment, reduce economic inequality, and help women and minorities who have suffered more in the economic downturn.
December 1, 2020 Local Time, Delaware, United States, Janet Yellen speaks. On the same day, President-elect Biden held a press conference in Delaware, bringing key members of his economic team to the scene.
Janet Yellen, chairman of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, was nominated by Biden as Secretary of the Treasury. She is also the first female head of the Federal Reserve. African-American Wally Adeyemo will be Yellen’s deputy, a former deputy assistant to the President’s national security affairs and the Barack Obama Foundation. The current chairman.
In addition, Biden intends to appoint Cecilia Laws, who served as a member of the National Economic Committee of the Clinton administration from 1998 to 1999, and a member of the White House Economic Advisory Committee under the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011.
Nela Tanden, head of the Center for American Progress Studies, a liberal think tank, was nominated as the White House Administrator and Budget Director. She served as Hillary’s campaign adviser twice in 2008 and 2016, and also served as a senior adviser to the Secretary of Health under Obama’s administration, participating in the Obamacare Act.
According to the summary of the U.S. media, Biden’s economic team includes multiple women and minorities, with a more diverse composition, and is mostly a “older” with many years of experience in government service and policymaking. They are “fairly traditional liberal economists and experts” who will focus on reviving the U.S. economy hit hard by the epidemic.
Can Biden get out of the double shadow of Obama and Trump?
As a typical “Obama-style Democrat”, “moderate” and “conservative” have been Biden’s main labels since his candidacy. In order to win over moderate voters and increase support, Biden’s campaign strategy has also been trying to take the middle line.
After the mainstream media announced on November 7 that Biden had crossed the threshold of 270 electoral votes, Biden also offered a “centrist” card again, promising that he would become the President of the United States seeking unity rather than division, saying that it was time to “heal” the United States.
But a moderate “centrist” often faces accusations from both ends. After announcing the use of several Obama-era officials, there were criticisms that the Biden administration looks like it will be a continuation of Obama’s term.
On the one hand, those who approve of Trump believe that one of the reasons why Trump was unexpectedly elected in 2016 is that a large number of Americans believe that Obama’s foreign policy is a failure, and the Obama administration has been criticized for doing too little by the American working class. Trump made an incredible promise to American workers four years ago: return manufacturing jobs to the United States. Despite mixed praise, Trump’s protectionism and his slogan “Make America Great Again” are welcomed by the working class. Biden must now be able to prove that he can also create jobs for the American people.
On the other hand, progressives in the Democratic Party hope this government can do more. For example, Biden’s consideration of reintroducing Obama-era officials and former support for social security and health insurance cuts triggered a joint signing of a petition by Democrats such as Reps Ocasio-Cortez and Omar. They said in the petition that they hope “Biden will not repeat Obama’s mistakes”.
Biden and Obama
Biden responded to the question in an interview with NBC that his term of office will not be a continuation of Obama. His reason is that after four years of Trump’s “turbulent period”, the world has changed significantly. Trump’s “America First” has left the coalition that the U.S. previously operated in a state of disintegrated, unlike the Obama-Biden administration.
Baker pointed out to The Paper that Biden’s above statement is reasonable. Even if Biden struggles to reverse the diplomatic situation Trump has created before, it will be the second big turn in American foreign policy in the past four years, and the negative impact will be difficult to eliminate.” The Trump administration is quite different from any modern administration before. He has made many major changes, and Biden must spend a lot of time and energy to eliminate the damage caused by Trump.” Baker said.
Baker further explained that the first thing Biden needs to do is to achieve a “reversive”, which includes policy reversals on issues such as immigration, and some structural reversals, such as rebuilding the morale of American civil servants. Previously, Trump’s advocacy of the “deep government” conspiracy theory implied that it had hit the American civil service community hard. That means that Biden needs to do a lot of “cleaning and repairs” work before taking new measures.
Another incident that deserves Biden’s vigilance is that Trump is constantly consolidating his political legacy. Trump, who has a bad election lawsuit and no way to stay seems to be shifting his strategy from legal challenges to “political gambling” that considers the longer term. In recent months, Trump has successfully made his 70 million supporters deeply doubt the legitimacy of the U.S. election results by constantly hinting at and complaining about election fraud.
In the United States where political polarization and social rifts are increasing, Trump has been catering to his conservative camp all the way and finding ethnic and cultural hot issues that keep tearing the country apart. In a way, he acknowledged the existence of these problems, but also encouraged people’s fear on them. The Financial Times wrote that Trumpism profoundly changed and torn the United States and would become a political legacy to continue.
