Analysis | American politics welcomes new chapter

46th President Joe Biden and 49th Vice President Kamala Harris were inaugurated into office Jan. 20, entering and attempting to appease the United States’ restless political climate. WikiCommons

After a week-long election during a pandemic, civil unrest, conspiracy theories and heightened political divide, 46th President Joe Biden and 49th Vice President Kamala Harris were inaugurated Jan. 20. During a historic time for American politics, the Biden administration has many challenges and unique experiences ahead.

With the general election’s newly appointed officials at work and other ongoing political events bombarding the news media — including the Democratic Party’s majority in the Senate given Harris’ appointment, Biden’s executive orders and former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial — American politics has been recently full of twists and turns eerily similar to a work of fiction. Let’s break down the past few weeks.

The Senate

After Georgia's two runoff elections, Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff were appointed earlier this month, bringing the Senate to a total of 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats and two third-party senators who caucus with Democrats. With the 50-50 party split, Harris will serve as the winning vote in the possibility of a tie, granting the Democratic Party a slim majority.

“It was a big day for the Democratic Party,” said Fred Smoller, a Chapman University campaigns and elections professor. “The idea that an African American and a Jewish guy can win in Georgia, the deep south, against two white, Republican incumbents is extraordinary.”

Because of the majority, Biden as a Democrat has more room to propose legislation addressing issues like COVID-19, the economy, racial inequality, climate change and other priorities.

 “The fact that the Democrats have a majority in the Senate doesn't automatically mean that they can do whatever they want,” said John Compton, Chapman’s political science chair. “At least it offers some hope in terms of their being able to legislate.”

Executive Orders

During his first eight days in office, Biden issued 42 executive orders, many of which directly reversed Trump's policies.

Many of Biden’s most notable executive orders occurred just hours after his inauguration. On Jan. 20 alone, Biden signed orders stopping the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization, rejoining the Paris Climate Accord, ending restriction for U.S. entry from seven Muslim-majority countries, undoing Trump’s expansion of immigration enforcement, halting construction on the border wall and creating the 100-days COVID-19 mask-up challenge.

In following days, Biden signed other executive orders taking steps toward a potential future $15-an-hour minimum wage and ending the transgender military ban imposed by Trump approximately four years prior.

“All new presidents have an agenda and try to do a lot in the beginning of their presidency, but Biden seems unusually busy,” Smoller said. “They were at work 12 hours after the inauguration.”

To many progressives, Biden’s plans and promises aren’t enough. Joy Joukhadar, a member of Chapman Progressives, emphasized her original apprehension with Biden’s nomination as the Democratic candidate for president, but said the steps his administration has taken so far are encouraging.

“I was genuinely upset when I realized my first vote was going to go to Biden,” said Joukhadar, a sophomore triple major in sociology, political science and English. “I wanted someone more progressive with more of a vision … I was pleasantly surprised to see Biden taking a stand against private prisons and his first few executive orders being COVID relief, climate change and transgender rights. That made me incredibly happy, and I felt more comfortable with the choice I ended up making.”

Donald Trump’s Impeachment

Trump made history Jan. 13 as the first American president to face impeachment twice. Additionally, Trump makes up 50% of all impeached presidents, the only other two impeachments in history being those of Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson. However, no president has ever been both impeached and convicted by the Senate. 

Chapman law professor Tom Campbell signed onto a Jan. 11 letter, penned by former Republican members of Congress, that requests Congress impeach Trump. Campbell told The Panther the letter was crafted to elevate a motion to scrutinize Trump’s behavior leading up to the violent Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

“It’s a very beneficial illustration of the responsibility of office … and the illustration that the Constitutional system of our country has consequences for those who are irresponsible in office,” Campbell said. “A separate important question: Should the senate convict him and thereby bar him from running for office again?”

There is controversy surrounding whether or not a former president can face conviction following impeachment. Although Trump was impeached while he was a sitting president, many argue whether it’s constitutional for him to face a trial after already leaving office. One Washington Post editorial describes how a former president can face a possible conviction, while a Wall Street Journal opinion argues the opposite.

However, since a two-thirds majority in the Senate is needed to convict Trump, Compton believes there simply wouldn’t be enough Republican votes. Even if every Democratic senator votes to convict Trump, 17 Republican votes out of 48 are still needed to reach a two-thirds majority.

“It looks like there's not enough Republican votes to convict Trump in the Senate, in which case nothing will really happen,” Compton said. “It doesn't seem like there will be any tangible consequences for Trump as a result of the trial in the Senate.”

While news outlets are focusing on Trump’s new legal team — after five lawyers parted ways with the former president — Joukhadar adds that the people’s attention should be on much-needed change during Biden’s presidency.

“It’s phenomenal that Trump’s out of office, but at the same time we still have a really conservative Supreme Court that can make a lot of decisions that negatively affect women’s rights, minority rights and LGBTQ rights,” Joukhdar said. “The big bad man is gone, but that doesn't mean all the problems evaporated when he left.”