# The Biden Administration - the first 1,500 days \[NOT an Afghanistan discussion\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 8, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057 "2020-11-08T15:09:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/121 "2021-01-20T12:57:28Z")
Hawley is blocking quick confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas for Homeland Security. I know nothing about Mayorkas, but based on this information alone I assume that he is eminently qualified for the job. > **[Sen. Hawley moves to block swift confirmation for Biden’s homeland security pick](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/alejandro-mayorkas-confirmation-hearing-josh-hawley/2021/01/19/d11971d2-5a7f-11eb-aaad-93988621dd28_story.html)** > > GOP senators press Alejandro Mayorkas on his border enforcement plans and past scrutiny of his actions during the Obama administration. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/122 "2021-01-20T13:12:01Z")
Well, that alone is reason to block him, amirite? 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/123 "2021-01-20T13:13:00Z")
I meant that the fact that Hawley is trying to block him tells us he’s the right man for the job. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/124 "2021-01-20T13:27:46Z")
Ah, true. I get it. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/125 "2021-01-20T15:23:50Z")
Once Harris is sworn in as VP and Democrats officially take over the Senate, Hawley can at most slow down the confirmation by a few days but he can’t stop it (assuming Democrats all stay in line, that is). Still despicable behavior given the importance of the job and the threats we face, but more of a tantrum than a genuine obstacle. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/126 "2021-01-20T17:19:50Z")
Metaphor alert: I lived in Des Moines in 1993 when torrential rains led to flooding that wiped out a good portion of the city, closed the downtown and shut down the water plant. I still remember when the TV news asked a city leader what the first steps would be to recovery. “First,” he said, “it’s got to stop raining.” Folks, it’s finally stopped raining. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/127 "2021-01-20T21:09:47Z")
Jeff Bezos, who is certainly not my favorite person, has just given CFSG a huge Fuck You: > **[Amazon offers to help Biden administration with vaccinations](https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/20/22241031/amazon-vaccination-biden-administration)** > > Hopefully you won’t need Prime. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/128 "2021-01-20T21:44:51Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Jeff Bezos, who is certainly not my favorite person, has just given CFSG a huge Fuck You Jeff Bezos has some kind of grudge or something with Trump? Who knew? :LOL: ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/129 "2021-01-20T22:00:50Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Jeff Bezos has some kind of grudge or something with Trump? Who knew? Yeah, its not like Trump has displayed any animosity towards his fellow billionaire… > **[A Brief List of the Times Donald Trump Tried to Punish Jeff Bezos](https://slate.com/technology/2020/04/donald-trumps-attempts-to-punish-amazon.html)** > > The White House may try to use coronavirus loans to pressure the USPS to raise prices on Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/130 "2021-01-20T22:16:57Z")
I’m sure Amazon will be appreciating many purchases from John Barron. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2021, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/131 "2021-01-21T05:06:27Z")
Heads are rolling: > **[Biden Has Already Fired Three of Trump’s Worst Appointees](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/biden-michael-pack-kathleen-kraninger-peter-robb.html)** > > Trump’s corrupt, unqualified cronies got the boot just after Biden took office. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2021, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/132 "2021-01-21T15:39:25Z")
Someone told me there was a press conference this morning?? No headlines, no shocking revelations, no upsets, no new crises (just the same crises)? And no tweets! Oh God… this feels so good. Knowing I/we don’t have to keep an eye on him every single minute. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/133 "2021-01-23T01:32:06Z")
Only three days but his executive orders and speeches so far after the inauguration indicate he’s governing to the left of his campaign except on the issue of eliminating the filibuster. I’m happy with the early moves but I hope he reconsiders his stance on the filibuster since there’s only so much you can do with executive orders and the rest of the party are pretty united on removing the filibuster to not have obstructionism. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/134 "2021-01-23T01:34:14Z")
Isn’t the filibuster purely a Congressional matter? What role does the POTUS have? ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/135 "2021-01-23T01:41:40Z")
It is but if he came out and endorsed it we could potentially see some action to put it to the vote rather than pussyfoot around it. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/136 "2021-01-23T01:57:44Z")
Biden’s playing this exactly right. Right now there’s no reason to eliminate the filibuster – the Republicans haven’t filibustered anything yet. So he’s making a big show about wanting to work with Republicans because that’s what voters like to see. And then when they filibuster some vital piece of legislation like COVID relief, he can furrow his brow and shake his head and say that he tried – really tried – but in the face of Republican recalcitrance on an issue so vital to American families, he has to regretfully agree that the filibuster must be eliminated. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/137 "2021-01-23T02:01:24Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > It is but if he came out and endorsed it we could potentially see some action to put it to the vote rather than pussyfoot around it. My understanding is that Manchin has already said no on that one. Could be he could be persuaded otherwise with some backroom arm-twisting/ego-stroking or if he gets pissed off at Republican intransigence (nod to flurb’s post above). But until then if you don’t have the votes, you don’t have the votes. No point in losing momentum by pushing a guaranteed fail. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/138 "2021-01-23T03:47:17Z")
There’s an excellent article in the Atlantic about how Biden & Co. are strategizing to work with Republican obstructionism. Spoiler: They won’t be following in Obama’s footsteps. (Paywalled but non-subscribers are allowed four free articles per month.) > **[How Biden Plans to Beat Republican Obstructionism](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/01/joe-biden-democrats-midterms-2022-obama/617716/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%2BTheAtlantic%2B%28The%2BAtlantic%2B-%2BMaster%2BFeed%29)** > > History suggests that Joe Biden and the Democrats are going to have a tough two years and a disaster in the midterms. Here’s their plan to avoid that. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/139 "2021-01-23T06:09:18Z")
From that article: “The trick, says Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, will be lowering the expectations of an impatient Democratic base” Sure, that’ll work I guess. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/140 "2021-01-23T15:25:53Z")
WaPo has a slide show of the Vice-President’s residence where the Bidens lived before the Pences. Check this out. Caption at the bottom. [![](https://i.imgur.com/p6gIq1I.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/p6gIq1I.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057.md?page=8)