Earlier this month, a president who voted for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 as a senator signed the bill to officially repeal it and enshrine marriage equality into law.
President Biden has always fashioned himself as a centrist, even when seeking the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, which makes his evolution on particular issues a fascinating weather vane.
After finally hearing progressives’ calls on everything from climate change and student debt to a filibuster carve-out this year, where might Biden advance next in 2023?
“What’s been interesting is to watch his evolution,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) in a wide-ranging interview with The Hill this week. It’s been “really good to see him absorb information, take information in, and move.”
Immigration, climate, judicial nominees, overtime pay — the list is lengthy. And wondering what Biden will tackle next has progressives on the edge of their seats.
Many who preferred other candidates in the 2020 presidential primary were skeptical that lifelong moderate Biden would push for their priorities, having seen him spend decades as a centrist Senate homebody. They saw more liberal contenders such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) advocate on behalf of progressive causes, and some were pessimistic about Biden’s desire to work with their flank.
But as he ticked off major successes, from the American Rescue Plan to the Inflation Reduction Act, many warmed to the idea that Biden could indeed become something akin to the FDR-style leader he now aspires to be. The more he accomplished, the more the left wing offered its trust. And progressives started drafting longer wish lists to try their luck in the new year.
“We were very careful in putting together our executive action list to work very closely with the administration,” Jayapal said. “I would say 90 percent of what was on our list was stuff that they also were very interested in.”
Jayapal, who was just elected to another term as chairwoman of the House Progressive Caucus, was pleased about the White House’s receptiveness to progressives’ agenda. When legislation stalled, frequently by moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and now-Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and a small group of members in the House, she said administration officials were often enthusiastic to work on executive actions as workarounds to the narrow congressional majority.
That executive approach is expected to continue and, many hope, even amplify in 2023, with Republicans soon to have a slight advantage in the lower chamber and as Democrats find ways to get more through the Senate.
If recent history is a guide, that collaboration — anchored by Biden’s desire to be fluid and flexible on issues he resisted in the past — has been successful.
The midterms went better than many Democrats anticipated, with the left claiming credit for pushing Biden leftward. One of progressives’ biggest achievements has been an executive order to cancel tens of millions in loan debt for students. While that action is now halted and expected to be heard by the Supreme Court amid opposition from GOP state legislatures, progressives see it as proof of what’s possible.
They also saw Biden move in a positive direction when he announced support of a carve-out to protect voting and abortion rights without the 60-vote threshold, evolving on his prior firmness around the Senate’s legislative filibuster and satisfying many in the party who had begged him to take that stance.
“The president has had a pretty damn good ending for 2022,” said Douglas Wilson, a Democratic strategist based in North Carolina. “He really has.”
“If the White House can be strategic about it, that’s the key, it gives the president the opportunity to put legislation out there that will…
Read More: What Biden’s political evolution means for progressives in 2023