Citizen Cartwright

Trump is inaugurated, issues promised deluge of executive orders

The president, flanked by his family and tech billionaires, delivered a second inaugural address on Monday that “promised massive national success, pledging an expansion of U.S. territory and an end to foreign wars, with a sweeping indictment of the status quo,” as The Associated Press puts it.

 

Trump’s aides had said the speech would focus on unity.

 

But with his presidential predecessors sitting nearby, by the third paragraph Trump was referring to “the vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government.”

 

In paragraph five: “For many years, the radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens. While the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair, we now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad.”

 

Shortly afterward, Trump spoke to supporters in another area of the Capitol and said he’d toned down his speech at the urging of his wife and his vice president.

 

The first of Trump’s executive orders rescinded 78 Biden actions, on topics including racial equity, gender discrimination, climate change, the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, additional ethics requirements for political appointees, lowering prescription drug costs, sanctions on Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, and the withdrawal of offshore drilling from some areas, according to The Washington Post.

 

Other orders include:

 

— Ending birthright citizenship

— Declaring a “national emergency” on the southern border, among other things directing the military to make it priority to “seal the borders”

— Addressing the “cost-of-living crisis”

— Requiring federal workers to return to the office

— Freezing federal hiring

— Establishing the “Department of Government Efficiency”

— Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement

— Ending the “weaponization” of the federal government

— Delaying the ban on TikTok for 75 days

— Pardoning 1,500 convicted Jan. 6 defendants and commuting the sentences of 14 others

— Officially recognizing two sexes

— Expanding energy production and temporarily stopping wind leasing, ending the “electric vehicle mandate”

— Withdrawing from the World Health Organization

— Starting the process to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America

— Declaring drug cartels terrorist organizations

 

Congress and the courts potentially can block executive orders, says a separate AP explainer.

 

Here is a transcript of Trump’s inaugural address, by AP.

 

Here is the text of the executive orders, from the White House.

Biden’s legacy: Credit where credit is due

As Joe Biden leaves political life, his record shows once again that every leader, like every human, makes mistakes. But I want to take a minute to celebrate his skill in enacting laws that will benefit Americans into the future.

During the last Trump administration, it was noted that the U.S. government was being run by people who didn’t value government or governing. Lawmakers who didn’t value lawmaking had no motivation to become skilled at it.

In an earlier time, during my 14 years as a congressional staffer, I saw close-up the value of lawmaking. I saw lawmakers of both parties — including then-Sen. Biden and future House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — who modeled the skills of crafting and enacting legislation.

 
And during the first two years of the Biden administration, with Biden in the White House and Pelosi the House speaker, I was heartened to see those skills again being used skillfully.

Biden talked about his economic legacy in a speech last month at the Brookings Institution. He said his administration had embraced a different approach after trickle-down economics that benefited wealthy Americans first. He focused on growing the economy from "the middle out and the bottom up," to the advantage of the middle class.

Biden was able to enact, despite narrow majorities in the House and Senate, major legislation including:

— The $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to repair America's roads, bridges and railways; bring high-speed internet to rural communities; increase the resilience of the electric grid; and upgrade drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure 

— The most significant gun safety legislation in 30 years
— The $53 billion CHIPS and Science Act to bring back manufacture of semiconductor chips to the United States from China
— The Inflation Reduction Act, which included the most significant climate change legislation in U.S. history, as well as a cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for people on Medicare

A more complete list of Biden’s accomplishments in those first two years is here.

But despite headlines such as The Wall Street Journal’s on Oct. 22 that the "U.S. economy again leads the world, IMF says," and inflation of 2.4 percent, voters put Republicans in control of the White House and both the Senate and House.

In his speech at Brookings, Biden highlighted the creation of 16 million jobs, the most in any single presidential term and the lowest average unemployment in 50 years.

 

In a CBS News article published this morning, Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, says: "He should have a strong legacy when it comes to the economy. He inherited an economy that was flat on its back because of the COVID pandemic, and he's leaving an economy that's flying high, at least in the aggregate."

"How much he can take credit for that, it's a reasonable debate, but I think he deserves a lot of credit," Zandi says.

Biden has noted that most of the positive effects of his policies will be felt over the next 10 years.

Biden aides have privately told The Associated Press that they expect President Trump to continue Biden's planned projects and take credit for Biden’s accomplishments, just like the Republicans in Congress who’ve celebrated plant openings and infrastructure developments in their districts after having voted against them.

Democratic convention, day 1: 'Thank you, Joe'

In one of his last major appearances before he leaves office in five months, President Biden formally passed the torch to Vice President Harris Monday night, as the packed convention hall chanted in adulation for a prolonged stretch as he came onstage, reports The Washington Post.

 

For about five minutes after Biden appeared just before 11:30 p.m. Eastern time, thousands of delegates and supporters cheered for him in a show of thanks for his five decades of public service. The convention organizers had handed out “We love Joe” signs before the president’s speech, which the crowd held up and chanted in addition to “Thank you, Joe.”

 

Biden’s daughter, Ashley, introduced him, and he wiped tears from his eyes as he took the stage and hugged her.

 

Biden’s speech sought to thread the needle between promoting his own record and framing up the 2024 race, reports a separate Post article. Biden went into extensive detail about his proudest accomplishments, while interspersing attacks on former President Trump and playing up Harris’ contributions. 

 

“Because of you, we’ve had one of the most extraordinary four years of progress ever, period,” he said. “When I say ‘we,’ I mean Kamala and me.”

 

“It’s been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your President,” Biden said. "I love the job, but I love my country more.”

 

“And all this talk about how I’m angry at all those people who said I should step down, that’s not true,” he said. "I love my country more. And we need to preserve our democracy in 2024.”

 

"Selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made when I became our nominee,” he said. "And it was the best decision I made my whole career.”

 

"I promise I’ll be the best volunteer Harris and Walz’s camp have ever seen,” he said.

 

Here are a transcript and video of Biden’s speech, from Time.

 

Earlier in the evening, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, said, "Together we put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling. And tonight, we are so close to breaking through once and for all.”

 

Clinton described a vision of Harris “on the other side of that glass ceiling” taking the oath of office as president.

 

Earlier, Harris made an unscheduled appearance onstage to pay tribute to Biden. She told him, “Thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation, and for all you’ll continue to do. We are forever grateful to you.”

 

Here are takeaways of the evening’s events, from The Associated Press.

 

And here are highlights from the entire day, by NBC News.

Biden on leaving presidential race: Country above personal ambition

In his Oval Office address to the nation Wednesday night, the president said, "I revere this office, but I love my country more. It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your president. But in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it’s more important than any title."

"I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term, but nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy, and that includes personal ambition. So I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That’s the best way to unite our nation."

 

On his endorsement of Vice President Harris, Biden said she’s "experienced, she's tough, she's capable," and he said she’s been an "incredible partner" during their three-and-a-half years together.

 

The president cited his achievements, including the economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic, his work lowering health care costs, the passage of landmark infrastructure and climate legislation, and his leadership providing assistance to Ukraine and working to strengthen NATO.

 

Biden also outlined his agenda for his final six months in office, including gun violence, climate change, continuing to improve the economy, and reforming the Supreme Court.

 

Here is the transcript of Biden’s speech, from The Associated Press.

Biden drops out, endorses Harris, other endorsements ‘cascade in’

By Sunday evening, the vice president appeared to have a “glide path” to the nomination, says The New York Times.

 

No other top Democrats said they planned to challenge her.

 

She inherited President Biden’s enormous political operation. And the Biden campaign formally renamed itself “Harris for President,” giving her immediate access to an account with $96 million in cash as of the end of June. On an internal call, the Biden campaign’s leaders told staff members they'd now work for Harris.

 

Harris is said to have made 100 phone calls on Sunday seeking support. And a majority of Democrats in Congress and nearly half of the country’s Democratic governors announced their support for her, according to a separate Times article.

 

Biden’s departure frees up his delegates to vote for whomever they want, says The Associated Press.

 

Several men who'd already been discussed as potential running mates for Harris — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Mark Kelly — swiftly issued statements endorsing her. Aides to Shapiro and Cooper confirmed that Harris spoke with them on Sunday afternoon.

 

Here are profiles of nine people being discussed as possible running mates, from Politico. 

 

Act Blue, a nonprofit website for small-dollar donors, had its best fundraising day in 2024 on Sunday, at more than $55 million, Politico says in a separate item.

 

And key big donors are pledging their support, says The Hill.

 

All of the state Democratic party chairs endorsed Harris on Sunday, reports Reuters.

 

Here are reactions to Biden’s announcement by world leaders, from CNBC.

Here is the story of how Biden came to the decision to end his campaign, according to NBC News.

 

Here are the texts of Biden's statements withdrawing from the race and endorsing Harris, from Reuters.

Where does Biden’s candidacy go from here?

Since the president's debate debacle on Thursday, stakeholders have been trying to figure out what’s next.

 

Let’s start with Biden himself. He, his wife, children and grandchildren all happened to be at Camp David over the weekend for a photo shoot with photographer Annie Leibovitz. We’re told they urged him to stay in the race — although “if any major discussions about the president’s future were to take place with the family, two Biden confidants said, they would not happen at Camp David, where too many people outside the family might overhear,” The New York Times reports.

 

Biden was defended on the Sunday talk shows by Democrats including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock.

 

Some congressional Democrats are taking seriously the possibility of urging Biden to quit the race, says The Atlantic.

 

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison and Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez held a Saturday afternoon call with committee members across the country in which they "largely ignored Biden’s weak showing Thursday night or the avalanche of criticism that followed,” according to The Associated Press. Multiple committee members on the call said it "may have worsened a widespread sense of panic among elected officials, donors and other stakeholders,” AP says.

 

Some top Democratic donors are waiting for the first batch of polls from major media organizations before deciding whether to press for Biden's removal as the party's presidential nominee, says Axios. 

 

A new poll by CBS News finds that 46 percent of Democrats say they want a different candidate to take on the battle with Trump. Among voters overall, 27 percent think Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve as president, down from 35 percent before the debate.

 

Here are more poll results, from New York Magazine.

 

Some major media outlets have editorialized that Biden should drop out, including The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

"The swing state of Pennsylvania’s largest newspaper took a different direction. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s editorial board instead called on Trump to step down,” says The Hill.

Biden falters, Trump fabricates

On Thursday night, “The news of the debate was not Trump saying crazy, untrue things, though he did so in abundance. It was Biden. The President of the United States, eighty-one years old and asking to be returned to office until age eighty-six, looked and sounded old. Too old. His voice was muffled. He lost his train of thought. He raced through answers. When Trump talked, the split screen showed Biden staring, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, in a way that made him look even older.” says Susan Glasser in The New Yorker.

 

“Biden failed to show the strength and spark he displayed at the State of the Union address in March and in the national debates he has been participating in since his first bid for the presidency in 1987,” says Susan Page in USA Today. “He had spent days in seclusion at Camp David preparing for this one. Yet he rarely delivered crisp, compelling answers, though he fared a bit better as the end of the debate neared.”

 

About halfway through the debate, people close to Biden put out word that he had a cold, says The New York Times. If so, Biden’s campaign needed to announce it before the debate.

 

“Biden's halting debate performance on Thursday night has led some in his own party to begin questioning whether he should be replaced on the ballot before November,” says The Associated Press.

There's no evidence Biden is willing to end his campaign, and it would be nearly impossible for Democrats to replace him unless he chooses to step aside, AP says.

Every state already has held its presidential primary. Democratic rules mandate that the delegates Biden won stay bound to support him at the party’s upcoming national convention unless he tells them he’s leaving the race, AP says.

 

The conventions and convention rules are controlled by the political parties. The Democratic National Committee could convene before the convention opens Aug. 19 and change the way things will work, but that isn’t likely as long as Biden wants to continue seeking reelection, says AP. 

Vice President Harris can’t be swapped in for Biden at the top of the ticket by default, AP says. And Biden couldn't decree that she replace him if he were to decide to leave the race.

 

Here is a fact check from PolitiFact.

 

And here is a fact check from AP.

How to watch tonight’s Biden-Trump debate

The CNN Presidential Debate will air live at 9 p.m. Eastern time Thursday night.

 

You can watch on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español, with streaming on Max for subscribers and without a cable login on CNN.com. CNN says it’s making the debate available to simulcast on additional broadcast and cable news networks.

 

Here is more, from CNN.

 

And from The Associated Press.

 

And from media and politics analyst Margaret Sullivan, in The Guardian and on Substack.

The Debate: Different audiences see different realities

By John Dineen

Columnist, One dog barking

It is a common lament that political journalism has come to resemble its sports counterpart, with its emphasis on predictions and who’s ahead. However, that comparison goes only so far: Sports journalism, at least, is fact-based.

Reading advance analysis of Thursday’s presidential debate, my thoughts turned, inevitably, to the Boston Celtics, who last week won their 18th NBA championship. In dominating fashion. The NBA record.

The Boston Globe’s coverage of the championship series (and the celebration that followed) was comprehensive — serving, as it does, the most discerning and engaged pro basketball fan base in the country. Meanwhile, over on the other coast, it was difficult to find even a wire service article in the Los Angeles Times two days after the Celtics’ win. 

Nonetheless, while fans of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Celtics’ archrivals, may not have wanted to hear about it — fair enough — they’re not denying it happened, and the LA Times isn’t saying, well, some people have doubts. 

This week, in the run-up to the debate, The New York Times — solid coverage of the Celtics in The Athletic, by the way — entertains us with news that some Biden supporters are creating bingo cards and planning drinking games. But the coverage does not address the unsettling peculiarity of the debate’s context: that a significant portion of the audience will view the debate not merely with different rooting interests, but also with a completely different factual context. 

Based on polling by Ipsos released in May, viewers of Fox News and other right-wing media outlets in large numbers do not believe that President Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, and they are doubtful about the integrity of the upcoming election. They believe Biden opened the border with Mexico to all undocumented immigrants, and that a flood of migrants is making the United States more dangerous. That is, they believe things that are not true, encouraged by both Fox and Trump.

Not surprisingly, Fox News consumers by large margins view immigration as the most important issue facing the nation — a staple of right-wing media, and a view not shared by consumers of any other news source, according to Ipsos.

For the candidates, then, the question is: To whom are you speaking? What segment of the audience will listen to what you say?

The Times and debate host CNN have promised comprehensive fact-checking. But it’s unclear how effective that practice will be; fact-checking can engage in the same “both sides lie” fallacy that daily political coverage does. And it’s safe to say Fox News will not attempt to alter the views of its audience.

The Washington Post points to a fundamental dynamic: "Fox News is right-wing because its audience is right-wing and its audience is right-wing because the network is right-wing. The result is a diverging view of reality, one that at times tips into surreality.”


John Dineen is a former senior congressional staffer and media executive; founder of briefing.center, a policy news and information service; and my husband. (He also is a long-time Boston Celtics fan.)

Margaret Sullivan, doing her part for democracy

By John Dineen

Columnist, One dog barking

 

Margaret Sullivan has become one of the leading voices in urging fellow journalists to address head on the degree to which the fate of democracy hinges on the November election.

Sullivan last week announced that her newsletter on Substack will focus on this mission.

“We all need to do what we can to make sure American democracy survives in 2025 and beyond. For journalism, that means making sure voters know what the likely consequences of the election are. Given that many Americans seem misinformed or under-informed right now, there’s work to be done.

“My part is inspired by Jay Rosen of NYU who coined the memorable expression 'not the odds, but the stakes' to describe what the news media should be focusing on right now. In other words, focus not on the horserace, not on the polls, not on speculation; but on real information and on the huge consequences of the election.

“So over the next weeks and months, I’m going to concentrate here on pointing out journalism that does that well. And while I’d like to stay positive, I think it’s also important to identify the journalism that fails to perform that duty or live up to that mission.”

Sullivan is not new to this. In her final column for The Washington Post in August 2022 — she now writes for the Guardian, in addition to her Substack newsletter — she wrote: “One thing is certain. News outlets can’t continue to do speech, rally and debate coverage — the heart of campaign reporting — in the same old way. They will need to lean less on knee-jerk live coverage and more on reporting that relentlessly provides meaningful context.”