For Funding to Ukraine, President Biden Wants to Implement Trump-era Border Policies (BTN #30)
Day 1042 (11/27) through Day 1055 (12/11)
Welcome back to the Biden Tracking newsletter. It’s been a busy few weeks for me, hence the lack of a newsletter, but we’re back. Two weeks ago I updated my Biden Disappointment resource for Day 1000 of the Biden presidency. If you’re interested in seeing that, click below.
This is the thirtieth (!!!!) edition of the Biden Tracking newsletter. This week we will be focusing on negotiations between Republicans and Democrats that would mean sending more funding to Ukraine while also implementing more restrictions on immigration.
Other news this week includes the Biden Administration proposing new progressive rules to seize drug patents, local Democratic parties removing Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips from the primary ballot in three states, and Muslims vowing to “ditch” President Biden in swing states . It is Monday, December 11th, 2023, day 1056 of the Biden Presidency.
Thank you so much for supporting the newsletter. As I’m no longer using social media, it would be great if you shared my newsletter with people who might be interested in this sort of thing. You can also share my other resources like my list of Every Biden Disappointment Through Day 1000 and my list of Biden's somewhat "Progressive" Accomplishments.
Negotations are ongoing, primarily in the Senate, on a $110.5 billion bill to fulfill the Biden administration’s request for additional 2024 money for Ukraine, Israel and the border, along with some other priorities. Republicans are adament that they won’t support such a bill unless it includes provisions to further restrict Asylum at the border. The Biden Administration has already expressed openness to some of these Trumpian restrictions.
According to CNN, the White House would likely support raising the credible fear standard for migrants seeking asylum, as well as increasing he number of undocumented immigrants subject to the fast-track deportation procedure known as “expedited removal.”
When President Biden implemented his Asylum Transit-Ban earlier this year, the standard for credible fear was already raised. In the first two weeks of the Transit-ban policy, approvals under credible fear were reduced from 83% to 48%. But that number of approvals has since raised back to 60%. Something that immigration policy expert Dara Lind thinks is likely because immigration officials ended up lowering the standard after seeing many immigrants sent back to harm. According to Lind, the Senate is trying to raise the standard of approval in credible fear interviews to mean that even immigrants with a 50% chance of prevailing before a judge would still be ordered deported. This is the “reasonable fear” standard that the Biden Administration announced would be implemented for most Asylum seekers under its transit-ban.
In April, the Biden Administration brought back the expedited screenings. The screenings are conducted in large U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities through a phone, with the goal of them being done at most 72 hours after immigrants have been detained (the legal limit for detention). Activists say that the short time period makes it significantly harder for immigrants to argue their case, and often means that Asylum seekers have their cases unfairly rejected.
The negotiations are ongoing and fluid. I highly recommend Dara Lind’s piece in Immigration Impact if you’re interested in learning more about what President Biden supports as well as other draconian immigration policies that the Senate is considering in their negotiations.
And now for the rest of this weeks newsletter:
Thursday, November 30th (Day 1045)
Biden’s Disappointing UN Climate Summit Plans
On Thursday The Lever reported that the United States is not supporting a stringent United Nations-regulated carbon market favored by the Eroupean Union as part of the 2023 UN Climate Summit. Instead, the United States is supporting a largely unregulated, voluntary system of trading emission offsets. The difference in plans is causing tensions between the European Union and the United States over the summit. The differences between the European Union and the United States plans are very technical. In her article for The Lever, Rishika Pardikar does a far better job than I could explaining these differences. You can read her article by clicking on the underlined headline for this story.
Saturday, December 2nd (Day 1047)
Swing State Muslims Vow to Ditch Biden in 2024
On Saturday Muslim community leaders from Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania joined together in a press conference that called for a movement to abandon President Biden for failing to support a ceasefire in Palestine. Jaylani Hussein, who led the press conference, told the Associated Press “The anger in our community is beyond belief. One of the things that made us even more angry is the fact that most of us actually voted for President Biden. I even had one incident where a religious leader asked me, 'How do I get my 2020 ballot so I can destroy it?" Hussein said that this opposition to President Biden does not mean his movement supports former President Trump: “We don't have two options. We have many options. And we're going to exercise that.”
United States issues Final Rule Aimed at Reducing Methane Emissions
On Saturday the Biden Adminstration issued a final rule aimed at reducing methane emissions. According to the Enviornmental Protection Agency, “the rule will sharply reduce methane and other harmful air pollutants generated by the oil and gas industry, promote use of cutting-edge methane detection technologies and deliver significant public health benefits in the form of reduced hospital visits, lost school days and even deaths.” The new rule will target emissions from existing oil and gas wells nationwide, rather than focusing only on new wells, as previous EPA regulations have done. It also regulates smaller wells, which were previously rarely inspected, by requiring these wells to find and plug methane leaks. The plan will also phase in a requirement for energy companies to eliminate routine flaring, or burning of natural gas that is produced by new oil wells. Enviornmental activists have praised the rule. David Doniger,a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the AP that the plan “takes a very solid whack at climate pollution. I wish this had happened 10 years ago (under the Obama administration), but I’m really happy it’s happening now.’'
Tuesday, December 5th (Day 1050)
Bernie Sanders Opposes Unconditional Aid to Israel
Despite not calling for ceasefire, on Tuesday Senator Bernie Sanders said in a letter that “it would be absolutely irresponsible to provide an additional $10.1 billion in unconditional military aid that will allow the Netanyahu government to continue its current inhumane military approach.” Sanders also said “I think the military strategy of the Netanyahu government has not been to go to war against Hamas, but to go to war against the Palestinian people. What we are seeing is a horrific; it is devastating. We should not be part of it.” Senators Dick Durbin, Jeff Merkley, Elizabeth Warren and Peter Welch have said that they supported a ceasefire, though none of these four have said they don’t support unconditional aid. Senator Warren did say it is “important” that any aid package “reiterate” compliance with U.S. and international law, though she, along with the rest of Senate Democrats and Independents except for Sanders, voted for an Israel aid package that does not include such language. Sanders does support $4 billion in aid to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.
Thursday, December 7 (Day 1052)
Democrat state parties in Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee have in recent days announced that they will leave presidential primary challengers Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson off the primary ballot. The move will almost certainly ensure that challengers to President Biden, no matter their support, will not be able to win the Democratic presidential primaries. Dean Phillips has promised legal challenges and said in a statement to Semafor “Unilaterally taking away the right of rank and file Democrats, including a disproportionate number of Black voters demanding a more affordable America, is reprehensible.” Marianne Williamson, also in a statement to Semfaor, said “We received no notifications from either state parties about their decision — despite being a FEC certified presidential campaign in the Democratic Primary since February of this year.”
A far more overlooked note about this issue is the disproportiate coverage for Dean Phillips being left off the ballot compared to Marianne Williamson. There have been 20 polls featuring both Williamson and Phillips and in 16 of the 20 Williamson beats Phillips. According to poll aggregates Williamson recieves about 8% support in polls, that’s significantly more than, for example, Republican challenger Vivek Ramaswamy, who has seen far more mainstream media coverage.
The White House Announces a Plan to Lower Drug Prices Through Patent Controls
On Thursday the Biden Administration announced a plan to step in and license patent rights to other manufacturers when certain drugs’ prices are too high. The plan uses a regulatory power known as “march-in rights” which has never previously been used for prescription drugs. The Biden Administration had been conducting a year-long review of its legal “march-in rights” authorities. Progressive Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have long argued that the Biden Administration holds these rights. In March the Biden Administration refused to use this authority to seize the patents of the $189,000-a-year cancer drug Xtandi. As a result Senator Sanders, who chairs the Senate’s health committee, delayed the confirmation hearing for a new NIH director until the White House privately pledged to him that it would pursue new drug-pricing measures. Advocates caution that until a final framework for the policy is revealed, which is expected to be next year, it is too early to determine how effective the policy would be.
Friday, December 8th (Day 1053)
Progressive Democrats ask Biden to Withdraw Support of International Military Intervention of Haiti
On Friday six progressive House Democrats, led by Representative Ayanna Pressley, called on the Biden administration to withdraw support for a planned multinational military intervention in Haiti. In the letter they said “another armed foreign intervention in Haiti will not result in the necessary Haitian-led transition to a democratic government, rather it risks further destabilizing the country, endangering more innocent people, and entrenching the current, illegitimate regime.” Pressley was joined in the letter by Democrats Yvette Clarke (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Barbara Lee (Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.) and Jim McGovern (Mass.). Haitian authorities have implicated acting Prime Minister and President Ariel Henry in the assassination of his predecessor, Jovenel Moïse. But the Biden administration and other Western governments are standing behind Henry, providing millions in security assistance.
Other News:
The U.S. has pledged $3 billion to help developing countries mitigate and combat climate change.
The White House reiterated President Biden’s pledge that he would not pardon his son, Hunter Biden