President Biden's COVID-19 Relief Bill Signed Into Law: A Significant Presidential Accomplishment Which Reveals Disheartening News For The Future Of His Political Agenda.

        Recently, Joe Biden signed his 1.9 Trillion Dollar Covid Relief Bill that lawmakers have passed through the senate and house earlier this week. This relief plan comprised of “$1,400 stimulus checks, $300-per-week jobless benefits through the summer, a child allowance of up to $3,600 for one year, $350 billion for state aid, $34 billion to expand Affordable Care Act subsidies and $14 billion for vaccine distribution” (NBC) is planned to go towards directly supporting Americans who have been the hardest hit by the pandemic. Although this feat, which will boost Biden’s presidential credibility, is a major accomplishment for Biden and Democrats, it is demonstrative of a much different issue plaguing Capitol Hill that could pose significant stress on Biden’s future presidential agenda. 

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    Although the passing of the bill in both the House and the Senate is seen as a significant political victory, when we look at the distribution of the votes in the Senate, for the passage of the bill, the results are quite discouraging. The voting within the Senate was entirely on party lines signifying that all Republicans voted against the bill while every Democrat voted for the bill. This resulted in a final tally of 50-49 for the bill in the senate. Since Senate Democrats lacked a 60 vote supermajority, without their use of a process known as reconciliation, a rule that allows the majority party in congress to quickly pass expensive legislation (without a 60 majority vote) in order to tend to the current needs of the public, the bill could have been subject to intense filibuster attempts by Republicans to delay it. This lack of any bipartisan support on the bill is a big blow to Biden’s administration who hoped to gain the support from Republicans within the senate on this bill in order to aid him in passing future ones. In a CNN article, it mentions how Biden “still [hoped] to jointly pass key legislation with Republicans.” Biden’s White House Communications Director has also stated that Biden went as far as taking a stand against removing the filibuster as he did want to reach out and negotiate with Republicans instead of simply using tactics such as the filibuster to only stagnant legislative progress. However, the reality of the situation, which the passing of the relief plan has accentuated, is that political polarization has become a defining trait of the legislative houses which in turn has drastically reduced representation. As a Pew Research survey demonstrated, 70% of Americans surveyed supported Biden’s COVID-19 relief  bill, a clear 60% majority, with 41% of Republicans also supporting it. Yet, within the legislative houses the voting results in support of the bill are a little over 50%. Clearly, congressmen and women simply voting along their party lines have created a situation where the decisions made in congress are no longer representative of the wants of the general public. Furthermore, what is important to note, is that division does exist within political parties as well. Similarly to Obama’s passing of his universal health care act during his presidency, for his Covid relief bill, Biden and Democratic leaders had to meet and negotiate with many moderate Democrats like Joe Manchin, a senator from West Virginia, who sought a compromise of “tightening the timeline of extended federal unemployment benefits and a cap on their non-taxable treatment” (CNN), a definite setback on the relief plan but necessary in order to keep him voting along Democrat party lines during the hearing of the relief bill. 

Thus, both the senate and the house passing Biden’s COVID relief plan demonstrates how, early on in his presidential career, Biden is able to take history defining action. However, the passing of the bill has revealed the ever growing partisan divide existing within the legislative bodies, potentially, making the advancement of future items on Biden’s political agenda difficult and uncertain. Thus, the passing of this relief bill should serve as an eye opener to the political difficulties that lie ahead. To make the most of his presidency, Biden and his administration will most likely have to continue to explore methods of gaining bipartisan support despite deep political polarization which has only made this feat even more difficult over the years. 

What are your views on Biden’s COVID relief bill and it’s the passing in both the house and the senate? Do you see this voting along party lines as a problem, not only for the future of Biden's political agenda, but for that of future presidents?

Sources:

cnn

cnbc

nbc

nbc (with Pew Research survey)