(Patriot.Buzz) – After bowing to the pressure and out of the presidential race, Joe Biden is actively ensuring his policies stick even if former President Donald Trump returns to office.
Biden’s approach seems to center on rolling out tough-to-reverse rules that protect federal scientists and cement foreign agreements.
This spring, the Biden administration locked in numerous rules, safeguarding them from easy repeal in case Trump returns to the White House.
Biden aims to fortify environmental laws, safeguard federal employees and reshape Title IX policies in universities, actions Republicans criticize as excessive.
“We will pass critical reforms making every executive branch employee fireable by the president of the United States,” Trump declared in 2022. “The deep state must and will be brought to heel.”
By “deep state,” Trump means the 2.2 million federal workers who are typically out of presidential firing range, making them unanswerable to taxpayers. Despite his broad statement, Trump’s proposed change would affect only a fraction.
Trump had earlier introduced a category, Schedule F, to bring certain federal roles under presidential control. which Biden scrapped upon entering office.
Yet, fearing Trump’s return, Biden recently fortified protections for federal employees against such changes.
The administration’s tactic involved timing these rules to dodge the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress a 60-day period to reject new federal regulations quickly.
Once missed, changing these rules would drag on through a long-drawn-out procedural maze.
“An executive order would not have impact with this regulation in place,” a Biden official explained to CNN in April.
“A future administration would have to go through a new regulatory process, which would also entail explaining specifically through that rulemaking process why a different rule is better than the existing regulations,” the official added.
Critics from Trump’s camp argue that these changes only affect a tiny slice of the workforce and aim to revert to a governance style from before 1962.
If Trump regains the presidency, reinstating Schedule F will be on his agenda, but it will not be straightforward.
Feeling optimistic about the election, Democrats also rushed to set environmental regulations beyond the reach of quick repeal.
The Federal Register shows Biden’s administration ended over 300 regulations in April alone.
In comparison, Trump repealed 16 Obama-era regulations in 2017, but might struggle more this time due to Biden’s preemptive moves.
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