Morning Politicadoes!
You know, I still remember the way that the Bush Administration characterized arriving in the White House following the Clinton era. They derided it as a frat house, messy, lawless, but the Bush Administration, the Adults, were back in power. This, of course, as with most things involving the Bushes, was not strictly speaking true and is, in fact, the opposite. But it is the truth for every incoming Democratic administration in the modern era: “Clean up the Republicans’ mess, and then get blamed for the mess in the first place!”
The US Senate confirmed the appointments of Judge Merrick Garland to US Attorney General, Rep. Marcia Fudge to Secretary to Housing and Urban Development, and Michael Regan to head the EPA on Wednesday. Fudge is a longtime lawmaker and congresswoman with a special interest in aiding the impoverished. Regan, North Carolina’s top environmental regulator will be the first black man to run the agency. Garland, of course, was nominated to fill Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court back in 2016 and has since become the ALL CAPS response to every bad faith move by former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell or by Republicans in general when it comes to nominations.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/10/marcia-fudge-michael-regan-confirmed-biden-cabinet
All of his nominees will ultimately be facing the very difficult task of fixing up the Trump administration’s messes. The EPA was “run” by a narcissist with a taste for charging everything to the US government, and I don’t even want to think about what happened to HUD under Ben Carson’s drowsy eyes. Of all the political malfeasance the Trump administration birthed, I barely heard anything about what was happening at HUD. Apart from I think an expensive office renovation, I don’t remember anything. It never got any traction and Carson stayed in his position all four years. I think Fudge can handle it, I just think it’s gonna be a lot worse than we know.
Biden’s cabinet, after a lengthy process, continues to fill up with Labor, Interior, and Health and Human Services amongst others left to still be voted on. Garland’s confirmation, notably, was extended another week. Just to draw things a little bit more, I guess. I’m not sure what that did outside of delay investigations and leave us without an attorney general, but whatever. Garland will be an effective AG. A tenacious one? I’m not so certain. Much will be made of Garland’s “revenge” or something but I doubt that will actually be true. Obama nominated him for the Supreme Court specifically for how middle-of-the-road he was. I suspect that a lot of people will be disappointed if he chooses not to open the can of worms that was his predecessor’s time at Justice.
And that’s the other thing. They don’t have the time. They need to fix what got broken, sure, but they still have priorities. They still need to move forward, deliver on policy objectives, and I’m not so certain that the administration will want to get bogged down in lengthy legal proceedings.
Welcome to Thursday! Please be excellent to each other in the comments. The Mayor McSquirrel Rule remains in effect. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, please continue to maintain social distancing measures, wear masks in public areas, and practices sanitation policies as circumstances dictate.