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JOE BIDEN IS into his third day as US president and the new administration is beginning to stretch its legs.
On day one Biden signed a raft of executive orders aimed at reversing some Trump-era policies and there’s even been some symbolic remodelling of the Oval Office.
But as we get used to to the changes in the White House, here’s a short guide to some people you might be getting to know.
Every four years, we celebrate the beginning of a new administration. It’s the start of a bright new chapter. A time for us all to come together. I’m so grateful to all who worked to create an incredible day – especially in this uniquely difficult year. pic.twitter.com/P3L7OYoANR
— Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) January 21, 2021
The new First Lady Jill Biden is a community college teacher who has said she will continue to teach after moving into the White House, making her the first First Lady to keep a full-time job.
Biden kept her job during her eight years as Second Lady reportedly requested that the Secret Service accompanying dress as students to be less conspicuous.
Biden has preferred to refer to herself as ‘Dr B’ and the use of her academic title recently provoked headlines when a Wall Street Journal columnist criticised her for using it.
Biden had a significant impact on Wednesday’s inauguration after inviting 22-year-old poet Amanda Gorman to take part. Gorman became a star of the day with verse on how democracy “can never be permanently defeated.”
The new First Lady and President Biden married in 1977 she became the mother of his two sons, Beau and Hunter. Their daughter, Ashley, was born in 1981.
Jill Biden wrote the bestselling memoir, Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself, and has also written a number of children’s books, including this year’s JOEY: The Story of Joe Biden.
I'm so incredibly honored and humbled to be the first @SecondGentleman of the United States. As we countdown to Inauguration Day, I've been doing my homework—and looking to the past for inspiration. pic.twitter.com/bhE7SvCls2
— Doug Emhoff (@DouglasEmhoff) January 16, 2021
Basically filling the role Jill Biden had for eight years, Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff will become the first ever Second Gentleman.
Emhoff, a lawyer specialising in media, sports and entertainment, has left the law firm he worked at will now teach at Georgetown Law school in Washington.
Georgetown Law has described him as “one of the nation’s leading intellectual property and business litigators.”
In a video released this week, Emhoff went to the Library of Congress to “do his homework” about the role of White House spouses.
Harris and Emhoff, married in 2014 after meeting the previous year in a blind date.
He is the father of two children and Harris has written about being a stepmom, referring to herself as ‘Momala’.
Emhoff is the first Jewish spouse of a vice president and has said in his role he will “devote his time to the causes of justice, equality, and human rights”.
Jen Psaki is the new White House press secretary you’ll be seeing from the famous lectern from now own.
Psaki delivered her first briefing to reporters on the night of the inauguration and has promised that the briefings would be more frequent than the latter days of the Trump administration.
Playing nice with the reporters in the room on Wednesday, she said: “I have deep respect for the role of a free and independent press in our democracy and for the role all of you play.”
As with many of Biden’s team, Psaki is a veteran of the Obama administration having served as a press secretary in both of Obama’s campaigns. She has also worked as a commentator for CNN.
With the swearing in of two Democratic Senators from Georgia this week, Jon Ossof and Raphael Warnock, the party gained control of the senate.
The body now stands deadlocked at 50-50 but with Vice President Kamala Harris having the tie-breaking vote the Democrats have a loose grasp of the chamber.
As a result, Schumer becomes the majority leader of the Senate, taking over from Mitch McConnell.
In his first speech leading the Senate, the 70-year-old Schumer described himself as “a kid from Brooklyn, the son of an exterminator and a housewife, a descendant of victims of the Holocaust.”
Schumer is the father of two children and is also a cousin of comedian Amy Schumer.
Schumer will be a central playing in the next few weeks when the Senate conducts the impeachment trial of Donald Trump.
This won’t start until the “incitement of insurrection” charges are actually sent from the House of Representatives but much responsibility will then fall on Schumer to organise how the Senate operates during the trial.
There have been suggestions that Senate working days could be split between the trial and other business to allow Biden’s legislative work to begin.
Senate control should mean Biden will have an easier time getting his cabinet members and judge picks confirmed but passing legislation may prove more difficult. And on that point.
The nominations to Biden’s Cabinet have a 50/50 gender split and the first member has already been confirmed.
Former CIA official Avril Haines was confirmed as director of national intelligence by a clear vote of 84-10. The confirmation makes Haines the first woman ever to lead the 18 entities that make up the US intelligence community.
Another confirmation is ongoing with former presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg soon to become Transportation Secretary.
Some of the other Cabinet positions we’re likely to hear a lot about include Anthony Blinken as Secretary of State, Merrick Garland as Attorney General and Dr. Janet Yellen as Secretary of the Treasury.
The vote on Yellen will be held later today and, with Republicans expressing concerns about Biden’s economic plans, the vote is likely to be seen as an early test of the potential for bipartisanship in the new era.
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I’m certainly no fan of Trump and glad that he’s gone. But much as I wish Biden well I’d have to say the media coverage of his presidency is already starting to border on the obsequious and that’s not a good thing for democracy if it continues in that vein. Let’s hope this is just a symptom of the ‘honeymoon period’ and that the media will judge his presidency on its merits rather than on the fact that he’s not Trump…
Glad that America chose democracy and not far-right authoritarian fascism.
America is beyond being a Capitalist country, it is an Oligarchy (where a small group of capitalists own all resources). The only next step (to the right) was fascism.
@Dean: Lets use Bill Gates as emblematic of a “capitalists oligarch”. Bill Gates has created, through his founding of Microsoft, trillions in wealth globally. He has made everyone’s life massively more efficient through the popularization of home computers (up until the early 90′s the thought of the average person owning a PC in their home seemed absurd, Microsoft changed that). He has used the vast wealth he has EARNED to establish a foundation that is on the verge of wiping out many infectious diseases in the developing world saving many lives – something governments have never been able to do or ever even really tried.
Its “capitalist oligarch’s” like this that drive civilization forward. Politicians like Biden are just engaged in a petty popularity contest. They have never created anything or made any significant improvements to human life and wellbeing.
@Dean: So which is it? An oligarchy or a democracy? It can’t be both as they are mutually incompatible. Your definition of an oligarchy in this case is extremely narrow. From Wikipedia – ‘Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may be distinguished by nobility, wealth, education, corporate, religious, political, or military control’ That’s the antithesis of a democracy where ultimate power rests with the people as in the U.S. Then again you’ll probably say that Jimmy Wales is a member of this Oligarchy…
@William Tallon: Thank you for writing this. This article in particular plays to the childen among us, from the # Team Biden hashtag, to the obvious slant (all presidents redecorate their OO.) This is a propaganda-esque article and one of the reasons I won’t donate/subscribe here or anywhere that does this this so obviously. Unbiased reporting is so important. People should make up their own minds; not have them made up for them.
@Dean: Fascist censor and engage in propaganda. They do not allow questioning of electoral results. They bring in the military to insure their placement. They refuse to work with legally elected officials. So, I ask you, who exactly are the fascists in the US?
@Damon16: You have forgot his practical monopoly of an industry to do all this and his funding of organisations that only subscribe to his political beliefs. Like all other tech, the parent co. allows the use of slave wages and practices to EARN their money. Like Warren Buffet, who also complains he isn’t charged enough taxes, he has the ability to pay more, but chooses not to. Lobbyist are now fully reestablish in Washington. They couldn’t have people push greater understanding of who is really interfering with policy-making, now could they?
Do not underestimate people, they can see throughout fake media , and more they sweet communists Democrats, the more republicans will gain… now all will see how much good Trump actually did for America.
@michal heba: We already saw the good he did. They had photographs of it in DC two weeks ago.
@Gerard: the good that trump did was to ensure that key issues were constantly in the headlines as were people visibly taking stands on them. now that biden is in, the assumption is that true democracy is restored. of course it isnt. what is worrying is that people will tolerate neocon policies when implemented by a democrat and will melt away into the background once again. preferred it when they were making their oppostion known and visible
@michal heba: do you seriously think that the dems are communists? Cop on. As for trump, dreadful president, left the Whitehouse with 400k dead due to covid and no plan. Oh and he incited his mob to stage a coup on the Capitol leaving 5 dead.
@michal heba: “communists” you really need to brush up on your politics for beginners
@michal heba: Communists? In the States it’s either Right of Centre or Far Right of Centre.
@Brian Madden: how one man is to be blamed for 400k dead due to Chinese virus ?? Is Leo and Martin blamed for thousands dead here ?? He was only one that didn’t art the war… he put away fires with North Korea, brought trips back home, made rich Germans to contribute more in Europe defence… let see what far left communist dems will do ?
@DJ François: Well, you need to do that … culture of massive corporation dictating what to do , what can be said, culture when church is under massive attack, abortion on every corner , liking unborn children?? If that’s not look like communism to you then go and brush you knowledge about marksism and his ideas !!
@Brian Madden: Federal government cannot intercede state government in many cases. No state was found lacking in funds to do what the federal government can’t for them. They were given funds and it was up to them to find equipment and trained staff. That’s true for any disaster relief. Let’s take a well-known hospital in NYC, for example. I have a family member who is a doctor there. 2-3 days before everything hit media, their supply of PPE went missing, much of it ending up in homes of employees to later be sold on places like amazon and eBay. Remember when states were rumored to be paying China suppliers to put their orders before others? No one really did any info pushing on that because media was busy making larger profits off Trump-hatred.
@michal heba: Trump was an ar¥ehole…. and a mo¥on.. Inject disinfectant? Windmills cause cancer? What a tool..
@John Bathe: you language speak everything about you John. What he said was taken out of context by left fake media. And you Don’t care if its even true… just it suits your view
The media coverage of Biden is so overtly biased. Its most evident in the US where the major outlets purposefully cover positive stories and completely ignore possible negative stories like when they buried the Hunter Biden story before the election.
This is where the “fake news” moniker comes from. It has more than a grain of truth.
@Damon16: but his laptop…lol, one big nothing burger
@DJ François: Hunter Biden has been under an FBI investigation since late 2018 over his tax affairs particularly in relation to his dealings in China. While this is nothing remarkable, what was remarkable was the near total radio silence on the matter from the MSM until AFTER the election. The MSM knew such a story might turn voters away from Father Biden and they worked diligently to suppress the story until after the election. Once the election was over H Biden himself came out and acknowledged that he was under investigation.
So you have the MSM, which is largely left leaning, suppressing news in order to help a particular candidate in the election of the most powerful man on the planet. If that doesn’t smell bad I don’t know what might!
If something similar happened here you’d be up in arms but hey, orange man bad!
@Damon16: Narratives and optics, I believe its called on reddit.
The fawning over Biden and his administration is actually nause-ating. Shall we just Beatify him now?
Every administration starts with hope and goodwill. That usually peters out with familiarity and mixed results. The advantage Biden has is that he is following a president who realistically is a serious candidate for overall worst of 46 presidents. Not the most obese (Taft), possibly not the least hard working or biggest grifter (Harding), not the biggest racist (Wilson), not the most successful at authoritarian measures (Wilson again), not the least popular (Truman) and possibly not causing as much long term damage as Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan, but unrivalled in almost all other categories of unfitness and incompetence. The highest point of the Trump presidency was in 2020 when George W. Bush temporarily resumed the role and responsibilities of the Presidency by issuing a message of hope and resolve about the American public’s ability to face and overcome the Covid-19 crisis. The message that Trump could never seem to realise came as part of his job.
@David A. Murray: In fairness though let’s be honest here. There wasn’t much goodwill from the media for Trump from day one. Pretty much none I’d say. The contrast between then and the coverage of Biden I find quite startling and therein lies the problem. Do we want a partisan media or one that’s prepared to investigate, criticise where necessary and expose wrongdoing regardless of who’s in power?
@William Tallon: Fox News were on Trumps side from day 1. They still are. Sean Hannity in particular , he is already rubbishing every word Joe Biden uttered . As far as I can see Fox News and CNN are like vultures hovering over every word and move politicians make and putting their own spin on it. Who are the Media accountably to over there. No one it seems.
@Aine O Connor: The mainstream media, particularly CNN and Fox only report that which supports their agenda.
If you want to find out what’s happening on the ground in America you’re better off checking local and state news sources. You’ll get the news without the obligatory lecture on systemic racism or creeping marxism.
@Aine O Connor: That’s my point exactly. Partisanship and spin have taken over from good journalism. Journalists have become activists and no longer report the news just propaganda that mirrors their own political view.
That this patriarch of the Biden crime family is president says something terrible about America today.
@John Joseph Martin: Hush. You aren’t allowed to mention that. # Team Biden!!!
Joe Biden is the President not his son. In my opinion and I consider I am a good judge of character he will be good for America in spite of all the challenges he is facing.
Donald Trump was a disaster and history will not be kind to him. If he even had the sense to accept defeat after all the Court cases failed he might have left with some bit of dignity but no he kept up his denial of reality until Jan 6th when his brainless mob went too far and attacked the Capitol Building. He then refused to attend the inauguration. The script is written for a film in the future. Truth is stranger than fiction .
@Aine O Connor: Anyone with any in depth knowledge of the whole affair questions the conflict of interest and legality of it all. Nepotism is rampant in our own government, but America’s is immune? Look at Pelosi’s son. He’s practically set up the same way, but at least mom’s got him on a tighter leash.
It’s irritating that even after it’s been a topic of discussion that the article doesn’t refer to the second lady as Dr. Biden, especially when the topic of discussion is her profession and her plans to remain working.
@Ciara Forrester: oops First Lady!
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