Biden Admin Archives – GV Wire

The Biden Presidency: Four Illusions, Four Deceptions

The New York Times — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 13:50:04 +0000

Americans tend to have a soft spot for our former presidents. Even the bad ones.

By the time Richard Nixon died in 1994, his presidency was as likely to be lauded for the opening to China or the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency as it was to be damned for Watergate. Gerald Ford’s pardon of Nixon, furiously condemned at the time as a dirty political bargain, was later celebrated as an example of selfless statesmanship. Jimmy Carter’s reputational resurrection — not just for the way he conducted his post-presidency, but also for his acts in office — would have astounded the country that sent him packing in 1980 amid stagflation and a hostage crisis.

Will Joe Biden enjoy a similar place in our national memory? It’s possible, and his administration had its achievements: NATO enlargement, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, defending Ukraine and Israel, strengthening alliances in the Pacific.

But Biden’s presidency will also be remembered for four big illusions — and four big deceptions. They will not serve his legacy well.

Biden’s Four Big Illusions

The illusions: first, that the 2021 surge in migration was seasonal (“happens every single solitary year,” as Biden said that March); second, that the Taliban would not swiftly seize Afghanistan (“the likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely,” as he said that July); third, that inflation was transitory (“Our experts believe, and the data shows, that most of the price increases we’ve seen are expected to be temporary,” also that July).

The fourth, and the biggest: that he was the best Democratic candidate to defeat Donald Trump: “I beat him once, and I will beat him again,” he often insisted, even after the debate debacle.

That last illusion was pure hubris. But there was an arrogance to the first three, since he was loudly alerted (including by, well, me) on each point that he was making a fundamental mistake. The White House spent months in 2021 refusing to use the term “crisis” for the border — it was, instead, a “challenge.” Pentagon leaders warned the president that the Afghan government would soon collapse if the United States withdrew. Biden shrugged. Larry Summers was outspoken about the inflationary risks of Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package. Biden ignored that, too.

Those misjudgments doomed the Biden presidency, which never had a positive approval rating after the Afghan withdrawal. Maybe senior Democrats like Nancy Pelosi could have helped their party’s chances had they had the talk with Joe and Jill Biden about his reelection prospects in the spring of 2022 instead of the summer of 2024. It was left to Dean Phillips, the former Minnesota representative, to play the part of the boy who says the emperor has no clothes. Someone ought to nominate him for a Profile in Courage Award.

The Four Big Deceptions

Behind the misjudgments were the deceptions.

Biden ran in 2020 on the implicit but clear pledge that he intended to serve a single term. (“If Biden is elected, he’s going to be 82 years old in four years,” one campaign adviser told Politico in 2019, “and he won’t be running for reelection.”) He promised to be a bipartisan and moderate figure in the White House: “Unity” was the theme of his inaugural address. He, along with his entire administration, insisted he was mentally and physically fit to serve a second term. And he promised not to pardon his son Hunter if he were convicted of crimes.

Of these deceptions, the first was the most forgivable and the most foolish: It’s precisely because power is so alluring that the voluntary abdication would have been so admirable. His grudging decision in July not to run came too late to qualify as statesmanship.

The other deceptions: less forgivable. The centrist voters who put Biden in the White House saw him as a safe and consoling pair of hands. Instead, he sought to govern as the second coming of Lyndon Johnson, with spending proposals amounting to $7.5 trillion — nearly twice what we spent to win World War II, adjusted for inflation. And he took to denouncing “MAGA Republicans” as a threat to “the very foundations of our Republic.”

Those MAGA Republicans responded the next year by rallying again to Donald Trump, who now owes his second term to Biden’s only term.

A Legacy Tarnished

Worst of all were the last two deceptions. Last month, The Wall Street Journal published a comprehensive and devastating report on the president’s failing health. The paper reported that a former aide recalled a national security official saying, “He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow” — in the spring of 2021. Perhaps the president didn’t notice his own decline, so the deception might not have been his. But his entire senior staff must have noticed, and, as the Journal reported, they took advantage of it to enhance their own power. It’s a national scandal that deserves a congressional inquiry.

And Hunter? A father’s love is admirable. A president’s lie is not. In one of his last major political acts in office, Joe Biden forgot who he was. But it seems as if that already happened years ago. History won’t be kind.

—

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Bret Stephens/Tom Brenner
c.2025 The New York Times Company

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Biden Administration Extends Temporary Status for More Than 200,000 From El Salvador for 18 Months

Associated Press — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 16:32:01 +0000

MIAMI — More than 200,000 Salvadorans who have lived more than two decades in the United States can legally remain another 18 months, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday in one of the Biden administration’s final acts on immigration policy.

In explaining its determination, DHS said that the extension is due to “environmental conditions in El Salvador that prevent individuals from returning.”

The decision is the Biden administration’s latest in support of Temporary Protected Status, which he has sharply expanded to cover about 1 million people. TPS faces an uncertain future under Donald Trump, who tried to sharply curtail its use during his first term as president.

Congress created TPS in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strive, giving people authorization to work in increments of up to 18 months at a time.

Expanded TPS Coverage Under Biden

About 1 million immigrants from 17 countries are protected by TPS, including people from Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Sudan and Lebanon. Salvadorans are one of the largest beneficiaries, having won TPS in 2001 after earthquakes rocked the Central American country.

TPS for Salvadorans was to expired in March 2025 and was extended until Sept. 9, 2026.

Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, suggested they would scale back the use of TPS and policies granting temporary status as they pursue mass deportations. During his first administration, Trump ended TPS for El Salvador but was held up in court.

The TPS designation gives people legal authority to be in the country but it doesn’t provide them a long-term path to citizenship. They are reliant on the government renewing their status when it expires. Conservative critics have said that over time, the renewal of the protection status becomes automatic, regardless of what is happening in the person’s home country.

Environmental Factors Behind Extension

DHS said the extension of TPS for 234,000 Salvadorans that currently are TPS beneficiaries is based on geological and weather events. Significant storms and heavy rainfall in 2023 and 2024 continued to affect areas heavily impacted by earthquakes in 2001.

In the last months advocates have increased pressure on the Biden administration to ask for TPS extensions for those who already have it, and to protect people from other countries, like Guatemala and Ecuador.

“This extension is just a small victory,” said Felipe Arnoldo Díaz, an activist with the National TPS Alliance. “Our biggest concern is that after El Salvador, there are countries whose TPS are expiring soon and are being left out, like Venezuela, Nepal, Sudan, Nicaragua, and Honduras”.

Economic Impact and Political Considerations

The money that Salvadorans send home is a major economic support for the Central American country, potentially complicating efforts to end TPS for an ally of the U.S. Trump has had warm relations with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who worked closely with him on preventing illegal immigration to the U.S. Remittances amount to about $7.5 billion a year.

Bukele is immensely popular, largely because his heavy-handed security efforts have eviscerated the country’s street gangs.

In March 2022, El Salvador’s gangs killed 62 people in hours, prompting its congress to allow a “state of exception” for Bukele to crack down, suspending some constitutional rights and granting more police powers. More than 83,000 people have been arrested since, most jailed without due process.

El Salvador ended 2024 with a record low 114 homicides. In 2015, El Salvador had 6,656 homicides, making it one of the world’s deadliest countries.

For José Palma, a 48 year-old Salvadoran who has lived in the U.S. since 1998, the extension means he can still work legally in Houston. He is the only in his family with temporary status; his four children were born U.S. citizens and his wife is a permanent resident. If TPS was not extended he could be deported and separated from the rest of the family.

“It brings me peace of mind, a breath of fresh air. That’s 18 more months of being protected,” Palma said. “It offers me stability”.

Palma, who works as an organizer at a day laborer organization, sends about $400 a month to his 73-year-old mother, who is retired and does not have any income.

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Biden Will Honor Tribal Requests by Designating 2 New National Monuments in California

Associated Press — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 16:50:43 +0000

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is signing a proclamation to establish two new national monuments in California, in part to honor two tribes, a person familiar with the decision said Monday.

The proclamation will create the Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California near Joshua Tree National Park and the Sáttítla National Monument in Northern California, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans that were to be announced Tuesday in California.

The declaration bars drilling and mining and other development on the 600,000-acre (2,400-square-kilometer) area in Southern California and roughly 200,000 acres (800 square kilometers) in Northern California.

The establishment of new monuments were first reported in The Washington Post. Biden, who has two weeks left in office, is in New Orleans on Monday meeting with the families of the victims in the New Year’s attack in the French Quarter and was heading to California later Monday.

The flurry of activity has been in line with the Democratic president’s “America the Beautiful” initiative launched in 2021, aimed at honoring tribal heritage, meeting federal goals to conserve 30% of public lands and waters by 2030 and addressing climate change.

Tribal Involvement in Monument Designation

The Pit River Tribe has worked to get the federal government to designate the Sáttítla National Monument. A number of Native American tribes and environmental groups began pushing Biden to designate the Chuckwalla National Monument, named after the large desert lizard, at the start of 2023.

The area would protect public lands south of Joshua Tree National Park, spanning the Coachella Valley region in the west to near the Colorado River.

Advocates say the monument will protect a tribal cultural landscape, ensure access to nature for local residents and preserve military history sites. The California Legislature passed a resolution in August 2024 to urge Biden to establish the Chuckwalla National Monument and another National Park Service-managed national monument adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park, as well as the Kw’tsán National Monument, which would border Mexico and Arizona.

Tribal Co-Stewardship and Sovereignty

Tribal leaders have also called for the Chuckwalla monument to honor tribal sovereignty to include local tribes as co-stewards, following in the footsteps of a recent wave of monuments such as the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, which is overseen in conjunction with five tribal nations.

“The protection of the Chuckwalla National Monument brings the Quechan people an overwhelming sense of peace and joy,” the Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe said in a statement. “Tribes being reunited as stewards of this landscape is only the beginning of much-needed healing and restoration, and we are eager to fully rebuild our relationship to this place.”

In May, the Biden administration expanded two national monuments in California — the San Gabriel Mountains in the south and Berryessa Snow Mountain in the north. In October, Biden designated the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary along the coast of central California, which will include input from the local Chumash tribes in how the area is preserved.

Last year, the Yurok Tribe in Northern California also became the first Native people to manage tribal land with the National Park Service under a historic memorandum of understanding signed by the tribe, Redwood National and State Parks and the nonprofit Save the Redwoods League, which is conveying the land to the tribe.

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Higher Social Security Payments Coming for Millions of Americans

Associated Press — Sun, 05 Jan 2025 17:41:35 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Sunday plans to sign into law a measure that boosts Social Security payments for current and former public employees, affecting nearly 3 million people who receive pensions from their time as teachers, firefighters, police officers and in other public service jobs.

Advocates say the Social Security Fairness Act rights a decades-old disparity, though it will also put strain on Social Security Trust Funds, which face a looming insolvency crisis.

The bill rescinds two provisions — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — that limit Social Security benefits for recipients if they get retirement payments from other sources, including public retirement programs from a state or local government.

The Congressional Research Service estimated that in December 2023, there were 745,679 people, about 1% of all Social Security beneficiaries, who had their benefits reduced by the Government Pension Offset. About 2.1 million people, or about 3% of all beneficiaries, were affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision.

Boost Payments by Average of $360 Monthly

The Congressional Budget Office estimated in September that eliminating the Windfall Elimination Provision would boost monthly payments to the affected beneficiaries by an average of $360 by December 2025. Ending the Government Pension Offset would increase monthly benefits in December 2025 by an average of $700 for 380,000 recipients getting benefits based on living spouses, according to the CBO. The increase would be an average of $1,190 for 390,000 or surviving spouses getting a widow or widower benefit.

Those amounts would increase over time with Social Security’s regular cost-of-living adjustments.

The change is to payments from January 2024 and beyond, meaning the Social Security Administration would owe back-dated payments. The measure as passed by Congress says the Social Security commissioner “shall adjust primary insurance amounts to the extent necessary to take into account” changes in the law. It’s not immediately clear how this will happen or whether people affected will have to take any action.

Edward Kelly, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said firefighters across the country are “excited to see the change — we’ve righted a 40-year wrong.” Kelly said the policy was “far more egregious for surviving spouses of firefighters who paid their own quotas into Social Security but were victimized by the government pension system.”

The IAFF has roughly 320,000 members, which does not include hundreds of thousands of retirees who will benefit from the change.

“Now firefighters who get paid very little can now afford to actually retire,” Kelly said.

Effort Led by Former Ohio Senator

Sherrod Brown, who as an Ohio senator pushed for the proposal for years, lost his reelection bid in November. Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees labor union, thanked Brown for his advocacy.

“Over two million public service workers will finally be able to access the Social Security benefits they spent their careers paying into,” Saunders said in a statement. “Many will finally be able to enjoy retirement after a lifetime of service.”

National Education Association President Becky Pringle said the law is “a historic victory that will improve the lives of educators, first responders, postal workers and others who dedicate their lives to public service in their communities.”

And while some Republicans such as Maine Sen. Susan Collins supported the legislation, others, including Sens. John Thune of South Dakota, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, voted against it. “We caved to the pressure of the moment instead of doing this on a sustainable basis,” Tillis told The Associated Press last month.

Still, Republican supporters of the bill said there was a rare opportunity to address what they described as an unfair section of federal law that hurts public service retirees.

The future of Social Security has become a top political issue and was a major point of contention in the 2024 election. About 72.5 million people, including retirees, disabled people and children, receive Social Security benefits.

The policy changes from the new law will heap more administrative work on the Social Security Administration, which is already at its lowest staffing level in decades. The agency, currently under a hiring freeze, has a staff of about 56,645 — the lowest level in over 50 years even as it serves more people than ever.

The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report released last May said the program’s trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035. The new law will hasten the program’s insolvency date by about half a year.

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Hillary Clinton, George Soros and Denzel Washington Will Receive the Highest US Civilian Honor

Associated Press — Sat, 04 Jan 2025 16:32:02 +0000

WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Democratic philanthropist George Soros and actor-director Denzel Washington will be awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor on Saturday in a White House ceremony.

President Joe Biden will bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 of the most famous names in politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy and science.

The White House said the recipients have made “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.”

Four medals are to be awarded posthumously. They are going to Fannie Lou Hamer, who founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and laid the groundwork for the 1965 Voting Rights Act; former Attorney General and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy; George W. Romney, who served as both a Michigan governor and secretary of housing and urban development; and Ash Carter, a former secretary of defense.

Kennedy is father to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for health and human services secretary. Romney is the father of former Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, one of Trump’s strongest conservative critics.

Philanthropists and Celebrities Honored

Major philanthropists receiving the award include Spanish American chef José Andrés, whose World Central Kitchen charity has become one of the world’s most recognized food relief organizations, and Bono, the frontman for rock band U2 and a social justice activist.

Sports and entertainment stars being recognized include professional soccer player Lionel Messi; retired Los Angeles Lakers basketball legend and businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson; actor Michael J. Fox, who is an outspoken advocate for Parkinson’s disease research and development; and William Sanford Nye, known to generations of students as “Bill Nye the Science Guy.”

Other awardees include conservationist Jane Goodall; longtime Vogue Magazine editor-in-chief Anna Wintour; American fashion designer Ralph Lauren; American Film Institute founder George Stevens Jr.; entrepreneur and LGBTQ+ activist Tim Gill; and David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group global investment firm.

Last year, Biden bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 19 people, including the late Medgar Evers, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina and actor Michelle Yeoh.

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China Sanctions 7 Companies Over US Military Assistance to Taiwan

Associated Press — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 16:37:15 +0000

BEIJING — The Chinese government placed sanctions on seven companies on Friday in response to recent U.S. announcements of military sales and aid to Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as part of its territory.

The sanctions also come in response to the recent approval of the U.S. government’s annual defense spending bill, which a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said “includes multiple negative sections on China.”

China objects to American military assistance for Taiwan and often imposes sanctions on related companies after a sale or aid package is announced. The sanctions generally have a limited impact, because American defense companies don’t sell arms or other military goods to China. The U.S. is the main supplier of weapons to Taiwan for its defense.

Companies and Executives Face Asset Freeze

The seven companies being sanctioned are Insitu Inc., Hudson Technologies Co., Saronic Technologies, Inc., Raytheon Canada, Raytheon Australia, Aerkomm Inc. and Oceaneering International Inc., the Foreign Ministry statement said. It said that “relevant senior executives” of the companies are also sanctioned, without naming any.

Any assets they have in China will be frozen, and organizations and individuals in China are prohibited from engaging in any activity with them, it said.

US Boosts Military Support for Taiwan

U.S. President Joe Biden last week authorized up to $571 million in Defense Department material and services and military education and training for Taiwan. Separately, the Defense Department announced that $295 million in military sales had been approved.

The U.S. defense bill boosts military spending to $895 billion and directs resources toward a more confrontational approach to China. It establishes a fund that could be used to send military resources to Taiwan in much the same way that the U.S. has backed Ukraine. It also expands a ban on U.S. military purchases of Chinese products ranging from drone technology to garlic for military commissaries.

Zhang Xiaogang, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson, said earlier this week that the U.S. is hyping up the “so-called” threat from China to justify increased military spending.

“U.S. military spending has topped the world and keeps increasing every year,” he said at a press conference. “This fully exposes the belligerent nature of the U.S. and its obsession with hegemony and expansion.”

The Foreign Ministry statement said the U.S. moves violate agreements between the two countries on Taiwan, interfere in China’s domestic affairs and undermine the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Taiwan’s government said earlier this month that China had sent dozens of ships into nearby seas to practice a blockade of the island, a move that Taiwan said undermined peace and stability and disrupted international shipping and trade. China has not confirmed or commented on the reported military activity.

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Biden Signs Bill That Averts Government Shutdown, and Brings a Close to Days of Washington Upheaval

Associated Press — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 17:10:54 +0000

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed a bill into law Saturday that averts a government shutdown, bringing a final close to days of upheaval after Congress approved a temporary funding plan just past the deadline and refused President-elect Donald Trump’s core debt demands in the package.

The deal funds the government at current levels through March 14 and provides $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.

Speaker Johnson Insists on Meeting Obligations

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had insisted lawmakers would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to close. But the outcome at the end of a tumultuous week was uncertain after Trump had insisted the deal include an increase in the government’s borrowing limit. If not, he had said, then let the closures “start now.”

Johnson’s revised plan was approved 366-34, and it was passed by the Senate by a 85-11 vote after midnight. By then, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations.

“There will be no government shutdown,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Johnson, who had spoken to Trump after the House vote, said the compromise was “a good outcome for the country” and that the president-elect “was certainly happy about this outcome, as well.”

Challenges for Speaker Johnson

The final product was the third attempt from Johnson, the beleaguered speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government — keeping it open. The difficulties raised questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry Republican colleagues, and work alongside Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who was calling the legislative plays from afar.

The House is scheduled to elect the next speaker on Jan. 3, 2025, when the new Congress convenes. Republicans will have an exceedingly narrow majority, 220-215, leaving Johnson little margin for error as he tries to win the speaker’s gavel.

One House Republican, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, criticized Republicans for the deficit spending in the bill and said he was now “undecided” about the GOP leadership. Others are signaling unhappiness with Johnson as well.

Reliance on Democrats for Governing

Yet Trump’s last-minute debt limit demand was almost an impossible ask, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around that pressure. The speaker knew there wouldn’t be enough support within the slim Republican majority alone to pass any funding package because many Republican deficit hawks prefer to cut the federal government and would not allow more debt.

Instead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate in the new year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing.

The federal debt stands at roughly $36 trillion, and the spike in inflation after the coronavirus pandemic has pushed up the government’s borrowing costs such that debt service next year will exceed spending on national security. The last time lawmakers raised the debt limit was June 2023. Rather than raise the limit by a dollar amount, lawmakers suspended the debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025.

There is no need to raise that limit right now because the Treasury Department can begin using what it calls “extraordinary measures” to ensure that America does not default on its debts. Some estimate these accounting maneuvers could push the default deadline to the summer of 2025. But that’s what Trump wanted to avoid because an increase would be needed while he was president.

GOP leaders said the debt ceiling would be debated as part of tax and border packages in the new year. Republicans made a so-called handshake agreement to raise the debt limit at that time while also cutting $2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years.

It was essentially the same deal that flopped Thursday night — minus Trump’s debt demand. But it’s far smaller than the original deal Johnson struck with Democratic and Republican leaders — a 1,500-page bill that Trump and Musk rejected, forcing him to start over. It was stuffed with a long list of other bills — including much-derided pay raises for lawmakers — but also other measures with broad bipartisan support that now have a tougher path to becoming law.

Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who is heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency.

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Closures, Social Security Checks, Furloughs: What a Government Shutdown Might Mean

Associated Press — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 17:42:18 +0000

WASHINGTON – Congress has until midnight Friday to come up with a way to fund the government or federal agencies will shut down, meaning hundreds of thousands of federal employees could be sent home — or stay on the job without pay — just ahead of the holidays.

Republicans abandoned a bipartisan plan Wednesday to prevent a shutdown after President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk came out against it. Trump told House Speaker Mike Johnson to essentially renegotiate the deal days before a deadline when federal funding runs out.

On Thursday, Republicans did just that, putting together a revamped government funding proposal that would keep the government running for three more months and suspend the debt ceiling for two years, until Jan. 30, 2027. But the bill failed overwhelmingly in a House vote hours later, leaving next steps uncertain.

Early Friday, some of Johnson’s biggest critics brought their grievances to a private meeting in his Capitol office to seek a way forward, but some expressed doubts a new vote would happen before the deadline.

What to Know About a Possible Government Shutdown

A government shutdown happens when Congress doesn’t pass legislation either temporarily or more permanently funding the government, and such a measure isn’t signed by the president.

If Congress doesn’t approve a continuing resolution or more permanent spending measure by Friday, the federal government will shut down.

When the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, Congress passed a temporary funding bill to keep the government in operation.

That measure expires on Friday.

Which Agencies Would Be Affected?

Each federal agency determines its own plan for how to handle a shutdown, but basically any government operations deemed non-essential stop happening, and hundreds of thousands of federal employees see their work disrupted.

Sometimes workers are furloughed, meaning that they keep their jobs but temporarily don’t work until the government reopens. Other federal workers may stay on the job but without pay, with the expectation that they would be paid back in full once the government reopens.

The basic rules for who works and who doesn’t date back to the early 1980s and haven’t been significantly modified since. Under a precedent-setting memorandum penned by then-President Ronald Reagan budget chief David Stockman, federal workers are exempted from furloughs if their jobs are national security-related or if they perform essential activities that “protect life and property.”

Essential government agencies like the FBI, the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard remain open. Transportation Security Administration officers would continue to staff airport checkpoints. The U.S. Postal Service also won’t be affected because it’s an independent agency.

But national parks and monuments would close, and while troops would stay at their posts, many civilian employees in agencies like the Department of Defense would be sent home. Court systems would be affected, too, with civil proceedings paused, while criminal prosecutions continue.

Automated tax collection would stay on track, but the Internal Revenue Service would stop auditing tax returns.

Impact on Social Security and Medicare

Recipients of both Social Security and Medicare would continue to receive their benefits, which are part of mandatory spending that’s not subject to annual appropriations measures. Doctors and hospitals would also continue to get their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.

But it’s possible that new applications wouldn’t be processed. During a government shutdown in 1996, thousands of Medicare applicants were turned away daily.

Understanding Key Terms

“CR” stands for “continuing resolution,” and it’s a temporary spending bill that lets the federal government stay open and operating before Congress and the president have approved a more permanent appropriation.

A “clean CR” is essentially a bill that extends existing appropriations, at the same levels as the prior fiscal year.

An omnibus bill is a massive, all-encompassing measure that lawmakers generally had little time to digest — or understand — before voting on it.

There are a lot of spending measures all rolled into one, and sometimes that’s what happens if the dozen separate funding measures haven’t worked their way through the congressional spending process in time to be passed in order to fund the federal government.

But Republicans opted against an omnibus this time, hoping instead to renegotiate all federal spending next year when Trump is in the White House and they will control both chambers of Congress.

Will a Shutdown Happen?

Maybe — and maybe not.

There is often a scramble on Capitol Hill to put together a last-minute funding package to keep the government open just before a deadline, at least temporarily. But shutdowns have happened, most recently six years ago, when Trump demanded funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. That shutdown was the longest in U.S. history.

Jimmy Carter saw a shutdown every year during his term as president. And there were six shutdowns during Reagan’s time in the White House.

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Pentagon Warns That a Government Shutdown Will Cost Troops Their Pay Over the Holidays

Associated Press — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 00:19:28 +0000

WASHINGTON — Republicans’ decision to abandon a congressional spending plan will cost troops their paychecks over the holidays unless some agreement is reached before Friday’s deadline to prevent a government shutdown, the Pentagon warned.

Even if they don’t get paid, those troops will be required to report for duty both overseas and at home, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Thursday.

Without an agreement to fund the government, troops will not receive their end-of-month paychecks, reservists drilling after Friday will not be paid, and federal civilians who are required to work during a shutdown also will not be paid, he said.

Military Payroll Among Thousands of Affected Federal Accounts

The military payroll is just one of thousands of federal accounts that would be affected, but one of the most visible.

Congress was on the verge of passing a stopgap measure on Wednesday to keep the government running when President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk used Musk’s social media platform X to attack the 1,500-page bill over its unrelated spending add-ons and threaten any Republican lawmaker who supported its passage. Support for the bill quickly failed.

House Republicans were scrambling late Thursday to get an agreement on an alternative.

“I think a shutdown deprives the military of a paycheck,” Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee told reporters as he walked into House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office late Thursday. “So the last thing we want to do is shut down the government.”

House Democrats, however, had already begun to say the new slimmed-down spending plan was untenable.

The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump was aware that his stand on the bill could result in the military not being paid.

Impact on Military and Civilian Personnel

Other civilian personnel deemed not essential to immediate military operations will be furloughed, Ryder said.

In previous shutdowns Congress has worked to secure troop pay, but not everyone was covered. In 2019, members of the Coast Guard were left out and went more than a month without pay.

“A lapse in funding will cause serious disruptions across the Defense Department and is still avoidable,” Ryder said.

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Biden Pledges to Cut US Greenhouse Gases by More Than 60% as He Exits the World Stage

Associated Press — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 18:14:43 +0000

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is pledging to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% by 2035 as he fights to ensure his legacy on slowing global warming, even as President-elect Donald Trump vows to undo much of Biden’s climate work when he takes office next month.

Biden said the new goal — which supersedes a previous plan to cut carbon emissions at least in half by 2030 — keeps the United States on track to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide by 2050. The U.S. is making a formal submission of the new target, known as a Nationally Determined Contribution, to the United Nations under terms of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, Biden said Thursday.

The new goal calls for reducing net emissions by 61% to 66% below 2005 levels in 2035.

“I’m proud that my administration is carrying out the boldest climate agenda in American history,” Biden said in a videotaped statement.

“We’re doing it by setting ambitious goals” such as deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind and conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030, Biden said. His administration also has set strict new standards to cut air pollution from cars, trucks and power plants and signed into law the most significant investments in climate and clean energy in U.S. history, he said.

Trump’s Anticipated Climate Policy Reversal

The action by the Democratic president comes just over a month before he is set to leave office. Trump has already promised to unleash a series of executive actions that will seek to undo most or all of Biden’s climate agenda as the Republican president-elect pushes for “energy dominance” around the globe.

Trump no longer dismisses climate change as a “hoax” but has pledged to dismantle what he calls Democrats’ “green new scam” in favor of boosting production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal, the main causes of climate change. Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, as he did during his first term, and will likely move to repeal parts of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, especially subsidies that benefit electric vehicles and offshore wind.

Biden aides tried to downplay the impact of Trump’s return to the White House, insisting that states and local governments can continue to lead on clean energy.

“American climate leadership is determined by so much more than whoever sits in the Oval Office,” said John Podesta, Biden’s senior adviser for international climate policy.

Climate leadership “happens on the ground in our cities and states, from Phoenix to Pittsburgh, from Boise to Baltimore,” Podesta told reporters Wednesday. “And I believe that with this new 2035 target as their North Star, leaders across America can show the world that we are still in this fight for a better future.”

Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that in his first term, Trump “produced affordable, reliable energy for consumers along with stable, high-paying jobs for small businesses — all while dropping U.S. carbon emissions to their lowest level in 25 years. In his second term, President Trump will once again deliver clean air and water for American families while Making America Wealthy Again.”

While carbon emissions dropped around the world in 2020, that was largely due to the economic shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Air travel and other activity came to a near standstill.

State-Level Climate Action Continues

The U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of governors that support climate action, pledged to work toward the new target, with or without help from the White House.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, the alliance’s co-chair, said climate-conscious governors “will carry the torch forward” after Biden leaves office. Hochul, a Democrat, said governors will use the new U.S. goal to “keep America on track toward a cleaner, safer future.”

“By continuing to stamp out climate pollution together, we’re safeguarding public health, protecting the environment, growing the economy and creating good jobs across the U.S,” said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, another alliance co-chair.

Biden, in his remarks, called the new goal “ambitious” and said it would lead to thousands of well-paying jobs, more affordable energy, cleaner air, cleaner water and a healthier environment for all Americans.

“It is also creating real momentum because we’re unleashing American ingenuity and innovation. And together, we will turn this existential threat into a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform our nation” for decades to come, Biden said. “I know we can do this.”

Comprehensive Economic Changes Required

The proposal would require sustained changes across the economy, from power generation to transportation, buildings, agriculture and industry, including significant increases in renewable energy such as wind and solar power and steep cuts in emissions from fossil fuels such as oil and coal.

The U.S. pledge includes methane reductions of at least 35% from 2005 levels by 2035, Biden said. Cutting methane emissions is among the fastest ways to reduce near-term warming and is crucial to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Debbie Weyl, U.S. acting director of the World Resources Institute, a global research organization, said the new emissions target is “at the lower bound of what the science demands,” but said it was “close to the upper bound of what is realistic if nearly every available policy lever were pulled” in the next decade.

“Assertive action by states and cities will be essential to achieving this goal,” she said, adding that the United States needs to swiftly expand renewable energy and electric vehicles, modernize the electric grid and decarbonize heavy industry.

The nonbinding but symbolically important pledge is a key part of the Paris agreement, which calls for countries to submit so-called Nationally Determined Contributions every five years. A country’s NDC, or climate goal, outlines how it plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help meet the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times.

The Paris Agreement requires that NDCs are updated every five years with increasingly higher ambition, taking into consideration each country’s capacity. The next deadline is February 2025, although Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates have already submitted their proposed NDCs.

“As the world’s largest producer of oil, the largest producer and exporter of fossil gas — and the largest historical climate polluter — the United States has an outsized responsibility to press forward in the climate fight no matter the political headwinds,” said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a leading environmental group.

He called the new climate goal a clear signal for governors, mayors and CEOs who support climate action to “step up” and defend climate progress.

“While the incoming administration has vowed to turn its back on the world — again — the majority of Americans want climate action, and the clean energy boom is unstoppable,” Bapna said.

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