Naomi Lim of the Washington Examiner explains why this week’s Democratic win in a U.S. Senate runoff election won’t lead to major gains for Biden administration priorities.
Democrats will now face fewer obstacles from Republicans on the Senate floor and in the chamber’s committees, making it easier to confirm federal judges or even issue subpoenas. But the party’s broader legislative agenda is still set to be thwarted by the Republican-held House.
Democrats reveled in Warnock’s decisive Senate runoff victory over former NFL player Herschel Walker (R-GA), despite heralding the end of the party’s unified control of Washington. …
… Biden, who had avoided Georgia during Warnock’s general and runoff campaigns before conveying his congratulations to the reverend late Tuesday, similarly praised the state’s voters for defending democracy and rejecting so-called ultra-MAGAism. But White House staffers have been more circumspect about what Warnock’s success means for Democrats during the last two years of the president’s administration. …
… Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, for one, described Warnock securing his first full term as offering the White House and Democrats with “a little bit more breathing room, a little bit more ability to deliver for the American people.”
“The president has been very clear these past almost two years that his main objective is to make sure that the American public, the American people, when it comes to the economy, we build it from the bottom up, middle out, giving people real opportunities,” she told reporters during her Wednesday briefing. “They were very clear in the midterms. What the American people want is they want to continue the agenda that the president has had for the last two years.”
But when pushed for specifics, Jean-Pierre could only repeat that Biden hoped to add to the already “historic” number of black women judges on federal benches. His top spokeswoman also could not outline a filibuster-proof strategy for the president’s proposed assault-style weapons ban amid partisan bickering over defense spending and the Pentagon’s budget.