Biden's steady hand
April 13, 2024
President Biden managed a full agenda of domestic and international issues on Friday without drama, self-inflicted controversy, or ego. Steady leadership should not be remarkable for a US president, but we can no longer take for granted that our presidents will rise to the challenges of the Oval Office. Rather, we should be grateful that Biden holds the presidency at this fraught moment in history.
On the domestic front
The House passed an extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)—a vital tool for US national security that permits surveillance of foreign nationals outside the US. A key point of contention was the authority to conduct foreign surveillance without obtaining a warrant.
President Biden and the White House were instrumental in securing passage of the extension. According to insiders, the White House dispatched National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and senior officials from the intelligence community to lobby members of Congress. The White House arranged for a secure facility right off the House floor.
Even with the heavy lobbying by the White House, an amendment proposed by GOP Rep. Andy Biggs and Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal to require a warrant for foreign surveillance failed in a 212-212 tie. The extension of Section 702 passed 273-147, with Democrats once again providing the majority of votes. See The Hill, House approves contentious FISA bill in bipartisan vote.
The bill must pass one more procedural vote in the House before being sent to the Senate for final passage.
Biden’s victory overcame Trump's directive to Republicans to defeat the bill and threats by the GOP House “Freedom” Caucus to remove Speaker Johnson if he allowed the bill to come to the floor of the House. In short, securing the extension of Section 702 was a significant achievement by President Biden.
President Biden also announced the forgiveness of $7.4 billion in student loan debt for 277,000 borrowers. See CNN Politics. Per CNN, Biden has forgiven “$153 billion in student loan debt for nearly 4.3 million people. That’s more than 9% of all outstanding federal student loan debt.”
President Biden spoke at the National Action Network convention. See The Hill, Biden warns of ‘extreme voices’ targeting Black Americans at National Action Network Convention.
President Biden said,
There are real threats we face. The more extreme voices out there who simply don’t want to see people of color in the future of our country, they want to turn back the clock — voter suppression, election suppression, ripping away reproductive freedom … affirmative action, gutting it.
President Biden also said he will “sign into law the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and a bill to codify Roe v. Wade.”
Vice President Kamala Harris appeared in Tucson, Arizona to condemn that state’s supreme Court resurrection of an 1864 law banning abortion. See The Guardian, Kamala Harris blames Donald Trump for Arizona abortion-ban debacle in speech.
The Vice President said,
This fight is about freedom. . . . Just like he did in Arizona, he basically wants to take America back to the 1800s. But, we are not going to let that happen.
We all must understand who all is to blame. Former President Donald Trump did this.
The criticisms by Biden and Harris have hit their mark. Both Kari Lake and Donald Trump are now urging the Arizona legislature to create exceptions to the 1864 law for rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother. They are also calling for the repeal of the 1864 law, which would leave in place a fifteen-week ban. See the following articles:
NBC News, Kari Lake calls legislators in push to repeal abortion ban she previously backed
Forbes, Trump Says Arizona Must ‘Act Immediately’ To Overturn Abortion Ban Ruling.
On the international front
The US intelligence community warned of an attack by Iran against Israel “sooner rather than later.” When a reporter asked President Biden what message he wanted to send to Iran, Biden responded, “Don’t.”
When asked by a reporter if the US would respond to an Iranian attack on Israel, Biden responded,
We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed.
In other news . . . .
Speaker Mike Johnson’s visit to Mar-a-Lago
As President Biden was engineering the extension of Section 702 in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson went to Mar-a-Lago hat-in-hand. For this trouble, Trump said that Johnson “[Was] doing about as good as you’re going to do.” That statement may have been enough to save Mike Johnson’s job as Speaker—for a week or two. See Politico, Johnson's turbulent week comes to a soft landing at Mar-a-Lago.
The price of the lukewarm endorsement from Trump was an agreement by Mike Johnson to sponsor a bill that prohibits non-US citizens from voting in federal elections—which is already the law. See NBC News, Trump and Mike Johnson zero in on noncitizen voting. It’s already illegal and very rare.
The joint appearance by Mike Johnson and Trump to announce useless legislation fooled no one. Even Steve Bannon—an attack dog for Trump—called the announcement “meaningless.” See Newsweek, Steve Bannon Trashes 'Meaningless' Donald Trump Event.
Judge Merchan denies fourth attempt (this week) to delay Trump's criminal trial for election interference
Judge Merchan denied Trump's fourth request this week to delay the start of his criminal trial in Manhattan, which is scheduled to begin on Monday. See Axios, Judge denies another Trump bid to delay New York hush money trial (axios.com).
Trump's feverish efforts to delay the start of trial reveal his desperation and panic. His news feed on Truth Social has been nearly constant—a sign that he is not hunkering down with defense lawyers to ensure that he is ready for trial on Monday.
There is still room for something unexpected to happen. We should not rule out a sham excuse by Trump—such as an alleged health issue or Trump firing his entire legal team. But the odds are that the trial will commence on Monday. We should expect Trump's Truth Social feed to be so hot over the weekend that it will catch fire.
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Opportunities for reader engagement
The Civics Center is a non-partisan organization devoted to registering high-school students who become eligible to vote when they turn 18.
Please join The Civics Center on Thursday April 18 at 6PM Eastern to hear from Laura W. Brill, Founder and CEO, in conversation with political strategist and commentator Simon Rosenberg. The Civics Center is working to register the youngest voters at their high schools before Election Day. With registration deadlines just a few months away, the 2024 high school graduation season is a critical time to ensure 18-year-olds are registered and ready to vote. Registration increases the likelihood of youth turnout: 86% of registered youth turned out in 2020.
The Civics Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that provides free training and resources to help make voter registration part of every high school in America.
Please attend the event and support them financially if you can. The more resources they have the more students they can register before graduation this spring with their Cap, Gown and Ballot initiative. Register here: All in for 18-Year-Olds with Special Guest Simon Rosenberg
Two readers recommended videos of news interviews that are compelling:
The first relates to Jim Acosta’s interview with Manuel Oliver, whose 17-year-old son Joaquin was among the 17 victims of the 2018 Parkland school shooting. Oliver has helped produce a film about the leading cause of death of children in America—gun violence. See CNN, Parkland father discusses new film on gun violence. The fifteen-second preview of the film is incredibly powerful.
Another reader sent a link to a story about an interview on CBS News about Zeitouna | Refusing to be Enemies. See CBS News, Group of Jewish and Palestinian women uses dialogue to build bridges between cultures.
Concluding Thoughts
The news next week may be dramatic, unsettling, and tragic (if Iran attacks Israel). But we are in the capable hands of a president who rises to the moment without drama, self-inflicted controversy, or ego. Not everyone in America agrees with all of Biden’s decisions, but at this fraught moment in our history, we are fortunate to have a president who leads with a steady hand while surrounded by competent advisers.
Rest up and recharge over the weekend! I suspect we will need our reserves for the coming week.
Talk to you on Monday!
A good summary. The trial that will start on Monday is not about Trump paying hush money to a porn star with whom he had sexual relations (aka adulatory) shortly after his wife gave birth to his son. It is instead about election interference and the falsification of business records in order to commit a crime. I know the media short hand is “hush money trial”, but that is really misleading.
As for the AZ republicans and DJT running for cover, don’t let them! They are all on record in favor of this exact event. Hold their collective feet to the fire and roast them all in November!
Good title for today's issue, Biden's Steady Hand. So grateful for *your* steady and consistent calming voice (virtual not literal (but accurately "literal" since I read rather than listen to the audio version of your writings)). Thank you for being here, and for the unseen but greatly appreciated hours you have put into your Substack, and for the support of your managing editor.
I must say that I did chuckle out loud at this sentence:
"We should expect Trump's Truth Social feed to be so hot over the weekend that it will catch fire."
I look forward to reading your next few editions with cautious guilty glee... as it feels indecent to wish the worst on tffg, yet after all he has put this country through, and his repeated but unpunished betrayals and deceits, there is a faint hope that he may still wind up bearing the consequences of his cruelties and never-ending lies.