The Daily Signal: 5 Ways Biden-Harris Admin Working to ‘Trump-Proof’ Washington
Commentary. Joshua Arnold | December 07, 2024
The Biden administration has gone into overdrive securing progressive policy goals from the impending Trump administration 2.0.
From confirming progressive judges, to constraining American energy with environmental red tape, to simply spending every last unjustified dollar, the Biden-Harris administration is committed to ensuring its policies carry on into the second Trump administration for as long as possible.
“It comes [down to] setting land mines and making it more difficult for the incoming administration to reverse those changes,” Cato Institute policy analyst Tad DeHaven told The Washington Times. “It matters or else they wouldn’t be doing it.”
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The American people have decisively rejected the Biden-Harris agenda. So, naturally, the administration has responded by forcing its agenda upon Americans even harder, right down to Donald Trump‘s inauguration Jan. 20.
1. Employees
Across the bureaucracy, career government employees are lining up lawyers and setting up to lobby against mass firings, reports The Washington Times.
At the end of Trump’s first term, by executive order he created a new class of federal workers (Schedule F) which would be easier to hire and fire. The Biden-Harris administration undid Trump’s change, and now the bureaucracy is afraid Trump might reinstitute it.
Employees in two divisions of the Justice Department are also rushing to unionize, according to the Times. This would make it more difficult to fire them.
It also provokes the question, why? Shouldn’t their unimpeachable integrity and relentless pursuit of nonpartisan justice be enough to protect their positions?
2. Rulemaking
While executive branch employees rush to protect their jobs, executive branch agencies rush to protect their progressive policies. For instance, the Department of Education is rushing to finalize a proposed rule canceling student loans for people with “financial hardships,” which it previously expected to finish in 2025.
Regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency have been particularly busy. They announced $3 billion in grants to facilitate a rule that requires local municipalities to replace lead pipes within 10 years. They finalized a rule Nov. 12 to fine oil and gas companies for “wasteful methane emissions.”
EPA regulators are also rushing to impose penalties and reach settlements with companies accused of violating their environmental regulations. They plan to grant California a waiver to enforce its rule banning the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles in the state by 2035.
Meanwhile, bureaucrats in the Department of Energy are hurrying to complete a study on liquified natural gas exports that is expected to conclude that they’re not “consistent with the public interest” because of their climate impact, The Washington Post reported.
This won’t directly stop the Trump-Vance administration from restoring America’s energy exports, but could help fossil fuel opponents challenge the new administration in court.
“Biden’s decision on LNG [liquid natural gas] is the most consequential thing he can do on climate and fossil fuels before Trump takes office,” declared Fossil Free Media spokeswoman Cassidy DiPaola.
Other environmental rules the Biden-Harris administration is rushing to finalize include “narrowing the scope of an oil and gas lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” “restricting drilling, mining, and livestock grazing across nearly 65 million acres … to save an imperiled bird,” and “finaliz[ing] three rules restricting the release of toxic chemicals.”
“From what we can tell, they’ve done a very good job lining this stuff up, so there’s not a whole lot at risk of getting punted into the next administration,” said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities. “I think everyone learned that lesson in 2016.”
The flurry of administrative rulemaking aimed to meet a late-November deadline that marked 60 days from Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
Rules finalized within 60 days of Trump taking office are subject to the Congressional Review Act, which means that the incoming Republican majority could block them with Trump’s approval.
3. Judges
Another area requiring cooperation between the Biden-Harris administration and Congress is judicial appointments. Senate Democrats are hurrying to confirm Biden-nominated judges to the federal bench, leaving few slots open for Trump to fill.
Positions in the federal judiciary, which are tenured for life, are officially not partisan, but it is generally acknowledged that judges appointed by Democratic presidents tend to lean more progressive, while appointees by Republican presidents tend to lean more conservative.
This means that the federal judges Biden can get through a lame-duck, Democrat-controlled Senate in the final days of his administration will likely look favorably on his progressive policies.
Before the Senate left for Thanksgiving break, Democrats and Republicans reached a compromise deal to vote on as many as 14 Biden nominees for district court appointments, but not to vote on four appellate court nominations.
4. Spending
The Biden-Harris administration is also hurrying to spend the remaining money allocated by Congress’ stimulus spending in 2021-2022, so that it won’t be available to the Trump-Vance administration.
The Washington Times’ reporting cites unnamed officials who plan to spend the remaining $46 billion available in fiscal year 2025, which ends next Sept. 30.
5. Foreign Policy
The Biden-Harris administration is also spending its lame-duck session making major foreign policy moves—which it declined or refused to make earlier—in hopes of constraining Trump’s diplomatic options.
Biden is trying to spend $6.4 billion in aid for Ukraine—funds Congress allocated in April but have not been spent—and cancel $4.65 billion in debt owed by Ukraine to the U.S. Also, Biden permitted Ukraine to fire longer-range missiles into Russia, provoking further Russian escalation.
NPR reported that the Biden-Harris administration is working hard to finalize another major loan to Ukraine through NATO, before Inauguration Day.
Meanwhile, in the Middle East, the administration pressured Israel to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah before Trump takes office.
Why It Matters
The Biden-Harris administration is hoping to outfox the incoming Trump-Vance administration in a high-stakes, bureaucratic game of hot potato. Every time the White House changes hands, the incoming administration seeks to undo the rules adopted by its predecessors.
Thus, in 2021, the Biden-Harris administration reversed administrative actions taken by the outgoing Trump-Pence administration, just as the new Trump-Pence administration, in 2017, had reversed policy moves made by the Obama-Biden administration.
This back-and-forth has gone on at least since President Bill Clinton reversed President Ronald Reagan’s Mexico City Policy, but it has recently expanded to cover an ever-growing number of issues.
“It’s unfortunate but expected that [Biden officials] will try to throw as many roadblocks at what President-elect Trump has pledged to do,” Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, told the Post.
The reason why competing administrations play increasingly critical games of bureaucratic football is that they realize the legislative branch lacks either the ability or the will to stop them. And the sad truth of the matter is that progressives—with greater buy-in from employees of the executive branch and greater faith in the government’s problem-solving capabilities—are usually better at playing the game than conservatives.
To the extent that there is a “Deep State” in “The Swamp,” this is it.
Ordinary Americans don’t spend their lives obsessing over politics, except for occasionally wondering why voting for good people never seems to produce the desired results. In my conservative opinion, the answer resides not in electoral results but in the long-term executive and judicial strategies that round out our system of checks and balances (currently tilted in favor of the executive branch).
This is why bureaucratic maneuvering like these by the Biden-Harris administration matter. When Trump takes the keys and slides behind the wheel on Jan. 20, the success of his whole second administration will depend on how quickly he can take America from zero to 60.
This question—and particularly Trump’s first 100 days—will set the momentum for the next four years. And this question depends on how adroitly his deputies can remove these roadblocks thrown in their path by the Biden-Harris administration.
If Trump wants to return America to the prosperous, cruising state of 2019, he must undo four years of rulemaking by the Biden-Harris administration, and he has only four years to do so.
Can his bureaucracy work faster than Biden’s? We’ll soon find out.
We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.
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The Hill: Who is Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of Syrian rebels who toppled Assad
by Laura Kelly - 12/09/24 4:40 PM ET
Designated by the U.S. as a terrorist and with a $10 million bounty on his head, Abu Mohammed al-Golani has emerged as the leading figure in Syria’s liberation from the decades-long oppressive regime of Bashar Assad.
He has quickly placed himself at the forefront of shaping the country’s future, with a past that is raising concerns even as much of Syria celebrates Assad’s fall.
Split from al Qaeda
Born in Syria in the late 1970s or early 1980s, al-Golani is promoting himself as a pragmatic, political leader and extending assurances for Syria’s multiethnic and religious populations. These promises run in direct contrast to the violence and human rights abuses carried out by the Islamist groups he aligned with in the past, such as ISIS and al Qaeda.
“No one has the right to erase another group,” he said in an interview with CNN in the days before taking over Damascus, the seat of Assad’s government.
“These sects have coexisted in this region for hundreds of years, and no one has the right to eliminate them. There must be a legal framework that protects and ensures the rights of all, not a system that serves only one sect, as Assad’s regime has done.”
While the Biden administration has welcomed Assad’s collapse as an historic, landmark event, U.S. officials have not confirmed it is in touch directly with al-Golani or members of the group he leads, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is also designated as a terrorist group.
Al-Golani, as head of HTS, broke away from its alignment with al Qaeda, but U.S. officials and analysts are closely watching whether actions line up with the public statements.
“We will remain vigilant, make no mistake, some of the rebel groups that took down Assad have their own grim record of terrorism and human right abuses,” President Biden said in remarks from the White House on Sunday.
“We’ve taken note of statements by the leaders of these rebel groups in recent days, and they’re saying the right things now. But as they take on greater responsibility we will assess not just their words but their actions.
‘Obsessed’ with rule over Syria
Born Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria, al-Golani’s pseudonym is a reference to his family’s roots on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights — signaling one concern from the U.S. and Israel, whether al-Golani and HTS pose a threat to Israel.
Andrew Tabler, senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said HTS and its coalition groups are “much obsessed and inwardly focused” on establishing political rule over Syria.
HTS, at the head of a military coalition including opposition forces and Islamist groups, appear to have control over the western half of the country with the main population centers of Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, Homs and access to the Mediterranean Sea. Syrian-Kurdish groups, some backed by the U.S., have control over a smaller part of the country in the east.
“Going forward though, the way that governments in Damascus often legitimate themselves — especially when they are unable to deliver for their people — is they do so through the resistance narrative and through attacking Israel,” Tabler said during a video briefing with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“The question is whether these groups, whether it’s HTS or other Sunni-backed groups, will they resort to this old playbook to get legitimacy and to somehow capitalize on this war with Israel?”
Al-Golani, in a victory speech delivered in Damascus’s historic Umayyad Mosque on Sunday, declared a new chapter in the region where the Syrian people are taking ownership of the country. By Monday, he was holding transitional meetings between Assad’s appointed prime minister Mohammad Ghazi Jalali, and the prime minister of the self-declared Salvation Government — the governing body of Syria’s northwestern Idlib province that HTS controlled for years.
“[Al-Golani’s] got a track record of having a technocratic government that provides minimal services,” said John Hannah, senior fellow with the Jewish Institute for National Security for America and who has served in senior foreign policy positions for both Democratic and Republican administrations.
“[HTS] didn’t attack Christians and Druze and other minorities, but didn’t make them part of any democratic government, either, they were clearly second class citizens,” he continued.
“But since his descent now into Damascus, all along the road, he’s been issuing proclamations to every single minority population he can find that they need to be — as long as they defect from the regime — that they’ll be protected, their property, governmental institution should be protected.”
International recognition
In the interview with CNN, al-Golani said his future governance plans for Syria would focus on institutions, when asked if he would impose strict Islamist rule and what an Islamist government would mean for minority groups.
“We’re talking about building Syria. HTS is merely one detail of this dialogue, and it may dissolve at any time. It’s not an end in itself, but a means to perform a task confronting this regime. Once that task is complete, it will transition to a state of governance, institutions and so on.”
Al-Golani said he was never personally involved in acts of terrorism. In 2003, he reportedly traveled to Iraq to fight against the U.S. invasion and spent five years in an American-run prison in the country. Returning to Syria in 2011, he founded Jabhat al-Nusrah to serve as an off-shoot to the Islamic State, but later separated from the group, aligned with al Qaeda for a number of years, before declaring independence as HTS in 2016.
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The U.S. listed him as a specially designated national in 2013, a key sanctions designation; and in 2017, the FBI issued a $10 million reward for information on al-Golani’s whereabouts.
“I believe that everyone in life goes through phases and experiences … person in their 20s will have a different personality than someone in their 30s or 40s, and certainly someone in their 50s,” al-Golani told CNN in response to a question of his political and military evolution.
“Sometimes it’s essential to adjust to reality, and because someone who rigidly clings to certain ideas and principles without flexibility cannot effectively lead societies or navigate complex conflicts like the one happening in Syria.”
Hannah said international recognition and overwhelming humanitarian and reconstruction needs to provide an opportunity for the U.S. and other democratic nations to exercise some leverage on the way forward in Syria — where there are concerns over the protection of civilians, but also control over Assad’s chemical and weapon stockpiles.
“Any new government in Syria is going to be desperate for recognition, legitimacy, money, reconstruction help,” he said. “We’ve got some leverage to at least try and protect, or avoid a bloodbath and absolute chaos and Jihad inside of Syria.”
Recovering from civil war
Nearly 14 years of civil war in Syria has left an estimated 14 million people as either refugees or internally displaced. And the systematic torture and oppression from Assad’s regime has had a deep impact on groups like HTS.
“If you look at the foot soldiers of this force [HTS and opposition forces], they’re made up of people who were 10-years-old and six-years-old at the beginning of the revolution in 2011,” said Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, who has been in contact with the Syrian opposition for over a decade.
“These little kids that were displaced from Aleppo at 10, 12 years old and coming back and saying ‘we’re coming back to liberate our towns and cities,’ and hugging their grandmas,” he said.
Moustafa has endorsed United Nations Security Council 2254, the 2015 resolution that offered the U.N. as a facilitator in talks between the government and opposition members, but that was blocked by Assad, with support from Iran and Russia.
Charles Lister, senior fellow and director of the Syria and Counterterrorism and Extremism programs at the Middle East Institute, said that HTS and its broader military operations coalition is focused on handling Syria’s political transition internally.
“Their view is that a U.N.-led process designed and determined abroad is unnecessary, and they reject it,” he wrote in an article for Foreign Policy, citing four sources associated with HTS and its allies.
“‘We welcome the international community’s support, but we do not need them to manufacture a process that we are already implementing,’ one of them told me as they arrived in Damascus. ‘We refuse to step into the traps of the past,’ said another.”
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JP: Kurdish political activist from Syria: 'We need Israel’s political backing' - interview
"This is a critical moment. If we don’t act, jihadist forces supported by Iran and Turkey will continue to gain strength."
By OHAD MERLIN - DECEMBER 9, 2024 21:11 - Updated: DECEMBER 9, 2024 21:17
As videos emerge of minorities being abused by some of the extreme rebel factions in Syria, the question of the Kurdish minority in the eastern part of the country arises stronger than ever.
In a conversation organized by Gedaliah Blum, director of the Heartland Initiative, The Jerusalem Post spoke to Sash, a Kurdish organizer and political activist from eastern Syria, to hear more about the challenges and opportunities faced by this large ethnic minority.
“I am a Kurdish media producer, but for the past 10 years, I’ve had to put that aside to help my people, particularly in foreign policy,” Sash began.“It hasn’t been an easy journey.
“I want to say upfront that I’m a proud Zionist, and most Kurds are. We love Israel. We don’t even need to explain everything happening in the Middle East to show who we stand with and who we don’t. Our alliance with Israel is natural, rooted in history and thousands of years of friendship.”
In a broader context of her work, Sash commented: “I was born in Syrian Kurdistan, and over the past 10 years, we have created our own forces, taken control of 35% of Syria’s territory, and gained control of 90% of its resources.
“We surely suffered under the Assad regime, but Iran had no control over these areas until the Turks started to attack. Over the years, we faced continuous attacks from the Syrian regime, ISIS, Iran, and Turkey,” she continued.
Turkey pulls the strings
“Let me be clear: I’m not asking for anyone to help us establish a Kurdish state – we will do that on our own when the time is right. And I’m not here to advocate for dragging Israel or anyone else into a war with Turkey. That’s not what this is about. What I want to discuss is Turkey’s role in destabilizing the region and how that impacts both us and Israel.”
Sash explained, “Over the last decade, we’ve managed to fight ISIS successfully and expel them from our region. We’ve established governance, education systems, and law enforcement. For example, we’ve removed antisemitic subjects from our school curricula.
“Despite this, the UN, driven by Turkish pressure, refuses to recognize our educational system and documentation,” she said, denouncing the UN for supporting “scams and terrorist groups like Hamas” but refusing to acknowledge Kurdish governance.
“Our region has been the only safe place in Syria for a decade. There was no Syrian regime, no ISIS, no Iranian forces. It’s a haven for over six million people, including Kurds, Assyrians, Christians, and others,” added Sash.
THE CHALLENGES that the Kurds in Syria face come from a three-pronged monster. “Turkey continues its aggression against us, attacking monthly to take our territory and give it to the Syrian regime or Iran. Many don’t understand that Turkey, Iran, and the Syrian regime are deeply interconnected.
“Turkey claims to support Syrian opposition groups, but three or four months later, those areas usually fall under the control of Iranian loyalists. This has been the pattern for years,” said Sash.
An example is Kurdish success against adversaries. “Recently, we took control of a critical border area that serves as a life source for Iranian forces. It’s the road that connects Tehran to Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon. Taking this area disrupted their weapon supply routes, but now we are under attack from all sides. Turkey, Iran, the Syrian regime, and ISIS are all working together.
“If it weren’t for coalition air support, Turkey would have ensured that ISIS and Iran kept their hold on the area,” explained Sash.
The Kurdish activist emphasized the importance of understanding these developments beyond the Kurdish struggle.
“You may think, ‘Why should we care about what’s happening in northern Syria?’ But this isn’t just our problem – it’s Israel’s problem, too. Four days ago, delegates from Iran, Turkey, and Russia met. Following that meeting, [Abu Mohammed] al-Julani, the leader of the Syrian opposition, publicly stated he had no issues with Iran.
“That’s a clear sign that Iran is now aligning with opposition groups, just as they control Hamas, which is also a Sunni group. The same Hamas that Israel is fighting is part of this broader network.”
Sash issued a stark warning. “Yesterday, jihadists declared their caliphate in Damascus. Some even announced that their mission would extend from Damascus to Jerusalem. This is a direct threat to Israel,” she stressed, warning that Turkey and Iran are planning to use Syria as a launchpad to target Israel.
“Don’t believe the attempts to paint these jihadists as ‘moderate,’” warned Sash. “There are many videos showing beheadings of Arabs who dared to work with the Kurds. ISIS doesn’t operate like a conventional army; it’s an ideology. They use the internet to recruit and radicalize. This poses a danger to Jordan, the West Bank, Arab Israelis, and Israel itself. Ignoring it won’t make it go away.”
TURNING TO the idea of Kurdish independence, Sash highlighted that “Kurdistan is geographically divided among four countries: Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Within each country, Kurds occupy strategic locations. Despite being physically divided, the dream of a Kurdish state lives in every Kurd.
“We’ve proven we can establish governance and autonomy, but oppressive regimes block our progress. For example, when Iraqi Kurdistan sought independence, Turkey and others closed their airports and borders, isolating them. We can only achieve independence when Erdogan and the Iranian regime are weakened.”
Sash also voiced some criticism of Israeli officials for their lack of public engagement with Kurdish leaders.
“Why hasn’t Israel met with even one Kurdish official? Is it because of Turkey’s sensitivities? Israel shouldn’t allow the jihadists to fool them. Let me be blunt: It’s disappointing. We’re your allies, like family, yet Israel looks elsewhere for partnerships.
“We don’t need Israel to go to war for us or establish our state – we’ll do that ourselves. But we do need political support. Israel can call Washington, push for a no-fly zone to counter Turkey’s NATO-produced drones, and pressure Turkey to stop its aggression. A single statement from the US can change everything. Why isn’t this happening?”
Sash added that US forces were never under threat in the Kurdish-controlled areas, as opposed to other places. “Also, Sunnis who were under our areas also de-radicalized and developed a more democratic-oriented culture,” she stressed.
Sash also highlighted the economic potential of the Kurdish regions.
“We control vast oil and gas resources but are forced to sell them on the black market because the international community won’t engage with us,” Sash added, pointing again to the appeasement of Turkey and claiming that Iran is ultimately the one who benefits from this arrangement.
“Israel and Europe could help us develop our resources legitimately, benefiting both of us and weakening Iran.”
Speaking of Iran, Sash stressed that the Islamic regime thrives with chaos, claiming that they would have Israel and the West be occupied with Syria while running ahead to complete their nuclear program. “They’ll create an ISIS state on Israel’s border and watch Israel cope with it while going on with their business,” she warned.
As for the possibility of a federal solution for Syria, Sash expressed openness to it, provided it includes autonomy for Kurds and other groups like the Druze. She stressed the importance of building alliances and pushing back against jihadist forces to stabilize the region.
“The Kurds share your values of freedom and democracy,” Sash continued. “In October 2023, during Israel’s darkest hours, Kurdish commanders sent messages saying, ‘We are ready to help.’ We stand by Israel, but Israel must recognize the opportunity we present. This isn’t just about helping the Kurds – it’s about securing Israel and the West. We must act before it’s too late.”
Sash concluded: “This is a critical moment. If we don’t act, jihadist forces supported by Iran and Turkey will continue to gain strength. We have the resources, the determination, and the willingness to fight for our future. But we need allies who are willing to stand with us openly and decisively.”
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JP: How will the fall of Assad impact Iranian-backed militias in Iraq? - analysis
Now that the Assad regime has collapsed, the Iraqi militias face a dilemma.
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN - DECEMBER 9, 2024 21:49 - Updated: DECEMBER 10, 2024 19:33
The Assad regime’s fall will be felt across the Middle East, but one place that it could impact heavily is Iraq.
Iraq is not only a neighbor of Syria, but it is also linked to it in many ways. In the days before Assad’s fall, there were calls for Iraqi militias to intervene in the Syrian war, including Iranian-backed groups such as Kataib Hezbollah. Many of these groups have played a role in the Syrian civil war over the last decade.
Kataib Hezbollah is one of the most organized of the Iraqi militias. It used to be led by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a pro-Iranian terrorist who has been involved in terrorism since the 1980s. Muhandis was killed in the US airstrike in January 2020 that also killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force head Qasem Soleimani. This didn’t stop Kataib Hezbollah’s threats, though. It carried out a drone attack in January 2024 that killed three US soldiers in Jordan.
Now that the Assad regime has collapsed, the Iraqi militias face a dilemma. One issue is that the militias may now lose out on the lucrative trade of smuggling Iranian arms to Hezbollah. They could also lose influence in Syria.
The militias relied on a network of safe places to secure their route to Hezbollah. These included Albukamal in Syria on the Iraqi border, as well as the Euphrates River Valley. They also relied on Deir Ezzor and Mayadin and other areas stretching to the T-4 base at Palmyra.
Now that it appears the Syrian rebel groups who overthrew Assad have taken these areas, as have the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and US-backed Maghawir al-Thawra, a rebel group in Tanf, the Iranian-backed militias will lose out.
What comes next for the militias?
However, the militias may still benefit. The tribes of the Euphrates River Valley have close ties to those in the Anbar province in Iraq. They may still need to work with the militias somehow.
Another outcome for the militias could be that they lose influence in Iraq. Iraqis could be inspired by the Syrians, and they could rise up against the Iranian-backed militias. They may sense that Iran’s axis in the region has weakened. This would mean that largely Sunni tribes and cities might rise up against the militias, who are mostly Shi’ite. This is an important dynamic that may affect Iraq.
Another side of this coin is that the militias could also be weakened in Iraq’s Nineveh province or lose influence in Kirkuk and other areas. This would benefit the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq and the people of Mosul, Sinjar, and other areas. Important Iraqi tribes might play a role in this.
The SDF has seized areas on the western side of the Euphrates in the wake of the Assad regime’s fall. This could have wider impacts as well, since it came at the expense of the Iranian-backed influence corridor.
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