Pressure Mounts on Biden to Safeguard US Democracy as Trump Threat Looms Large

The president has the opportunity to protect civil liberties, increase funding for climate initiatives and healthcare, and grant clemency to death row inmates.

By Sheenu Gupta On Nov 25, 2024 Share with new partner:

On a chilly day beneath overcast skies at the White House, President Joe Biden extended a warm welcome to the Boston Celtics, the latest champions of the basketball world. As he stood before the team and the gathered crowd, he lightened the mood with a nod to his Irish heritage, blending humor with personal charm. To further energize the moment, he grabbed a basketball and playfully tossed it into the cheering audience. However, the celebration soon took a reflective turn, as Biden seized the opportunity to share a deeper, more meaningful message that extended beyond the game.

“When we get knocked down, we get back up,” he said. “As my dad would say, ‘Just get up, Joe. Get up.’ Character to keep going and keep the faith, that’s the Celtic way of life. That’s sports. And that’s America.”

As a “lame duck” president with declining influence, Joe Biden continues to fulfill ceremonial duties, such as hosting events at the White House. In recent months, his stature has diminished—first by stepping aside from seeking re-election and then being overshadowed by Vice President Kamala Harris’s ill-fated presidential campaign.

However, with his legacy under threat from Donald Trump, Biden is being urged to take decisive action before leaving office. Advocacy groups argue that even in his final two months, Biden, who just turned 82, can make significant moves. These include ramping up spending on climate and healthcare, safeguarding civil liberties, and reinforcing parts of U.S. democracy to withstand future Trump-era policies.

Trump, meanwhile, has centered his campaign on a harsh stance against illegal immigration. He has nominated figures like Tom Homan and Stephen Miller—key architects of the controversial family separation policy at the southern border during his first term—and pledged to deploy the military for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

The proposed plans include mandatory detention, which could confine immigrants in harsh and inhumane conditions for years as they navigate the deportation process. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is at the forefront of opposing these measures, calling on President Biden to halt the expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities, particularly those with histories of human rights violations.

Eunice Cho, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s national prison project, described ICE detention centers as rife with abuse, neglect, and a complete disregard for the dignity of those in custody. She noted that these facilities are central to Trump’s logistical strategy for enforcing his immigration policies.

According to the ACLU, dozens of people have died in ICE detention facilities—most of which are operated by private prison companies—over the past four years. The organization asserts that 95% of these deaths could have been prevented with adequate medical care. Despite this troubling record, the Biden administration has supported the establishment of new ICE detention centers in states like Kansas, Wyoming, and Missouri, where none previously existed.

“We are calling on the Biden administration to take action now, in the final days of the administration, to halt any efforts to expand immigration detention and to shut down specifically abusive facilities once and for all,” Cho told reporters on a Zoom call this week. “We don’t need to put down runway for the Trump administration to put in place these mass detention and deportation machines.”

She warned: “We know that the anti-immigrant policies of a second administration are going to be far more aggressive than what we saw in the first term, and mass arrest and detention is going to become perhaps the norm to create and carry out these deportation operations unless we can do all we can to put a halt to them.”

Criminal justice is another key area where Biden has an opportunity to take a final stand. During his first term, Trump carried out more federal executions than the last 10 presidents combined. In response, Biden’s Attorney General, Merrick Garland, implemented a moratorium on federal executions in 2021.

Donald Trump has expressed plans to reinstate and expand the use of the death penalty if re-elected. His nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, has faced scrutiny in the past, notably apologizing in 2013 for postponing an execution to attend a fundraiser for her re-election campaign while serving as Florida’s attorney general.

Cassandra Stubbs, director of the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project, highlighted Trump’s alarming proposals during a Zoom briefing. She stated that Trump intends not only to broaden the scope of the death penalty but also to apply it to individuals who haven’t committed killings, including political opponents.

Stubbs also warned of Trump’s endorsement of Project 2025, a policy framework from the Heritage Foundation, which includes plans to execute everyone currently on death row. She emphasized the seriousness of this proposal, pointing to Trump’s record of overseeing 13 federal executions in just six months during his first term—a pace unmatched in modern history.

The ACLU and other advocacy groups are urging President Biden to commute the sentences of all individuals on federal death row to life imprisonment. This move would fulfill a key campaign promise and block Trump from carrying out potential executions if he returns to office. Cassandra Stubbs of the ACLU emphasized that commuting these sentences is Biden’s most effective way to make it difficult for Trump to resume federal executions.

Pastor Brandi Slaughter, a board member of Death Penalty Action, echoed this urgency, warning, “We know what the next president intends to do if any prisoners remain on death row under Biden. We’ve seen it happen before.”

Biden also faces 8,000 clemency petitions from federal prisoners serving non-death penalty sentences, which he could choose to reduce or pardon. Critics have frequently pointed to Biden’s role in authoring the 1994 crime bill, which contributed to the mass incarceration of thousands of Black Americans for drug-related offenses.

This week, 64 members of Congress, led by Ayanna Pressley and James Clyburn, sent a letter to President Biden urging him to use his clemency powers to “reunite families, address injustices in the legal system, and move the nation closer to ending mass incarceration.”

At a Capitol Hill press conference, they were joined by Maria Garza, a prison reform advocate from Illinois who served 12 years in state prison. Garza emphasized the urgency of clemency, stating, “Many people awaiting clemency are effectively serving life sentences and will die in prison without it. Their unjust sentencing often stems from the 1994 crime bill, which Biden helped create.”

Mitzi Wall, whose 29-year-old son Jonathan is serving a seven-and-a-half-year federal sentence for a cannabis-related offense, also urged Biden to fulfill his campaign promise of granting clemency to over 4,000 people in federal prison for nonviolent cannabis crimes.

“We voted for President Biden,” she said. “He gave us hope and we’re asking him to do nothing more than keep his promise.”

Wall, 63, from Maryland, added: “President Biden was partly responsible for writing the 1994 crime bill that thrust families into abject poverty and pain. I know he feels bad about that and he can right that wrong with the power of the pen. I’m appealing to him as a father whose son [Hunter] could very possibly be going to prison.”

In its ongoing efforts to safeguard civil liberties, the ACLU is calling for a halt on all federal government purchases of Americans’ personal data without a warrant. Additionally, the organization is urging Congress to pass the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act to prevent potential misuse of surveillance technologies if Trump returns to office.

Trump has vowed to revoke unspent funds from Biden’s landmark climate and healthcare legislation and halt clean-energy development projects. In response, White House officials are racing against time to distribute billions of dollars in grants for ongoing programs to limit Trump’s ability to reverse or redirect these funds. For example, earlier this month, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced over $3.4 billion in grants for infrastructure projects nationwide.

Political science professor Wendy Schiller from Brown University points out that Trump could use the power of impoundment to delay the distribution of federal funds and order cuts to programs funded by Congress. She emphasized that Biden’s priority should be to expedite the flow of funds, ensuring that money for schools, food safety, and environmental protection is distributed as quickly as possible. “It’s like emptying the piggy bank before a trip,” Schiller said, urging Biden to get as much money into the hands of state, local, and community organizations as he can.

Another key focus for the White House is confirming as many federal judges as possible, given the potential role the judiciary could play in challenging Trump’s policies. The Marshall Project noted that federal judges blocked many of Trump’s policies during his first term, and they will likely have a significant impact on his second term. This week, Senate Republicans attempted to stall judicial confirmations, but a deal was eventually reached, bringing Biden close to the 234 judicial confirmations that Trump achieved in his first term. However, four of Biden’s appellate court nominees will not be considered.

Biden could also collaborate with Democratic-led states and local governments to strengthen protections and create “firewalls” against Trump’s policies, particularly in areas like immigration. This could involve supporting sanctuary city policies and providing resources to states likely to face pressure from the Trump administration. Chris Scott, former coalitions director for Kamala Harris, said it will be interesting to see how Biden works with states, particularly those with Democratic leadership, to prepare for a potential Trump presidency. States like Michigan and Illinois have governors who have vowed to protect their residents even under Trump.

However, as Barack Obama experienced when transitioning to Trump in 2017, lame-duck presidents have limited power. Trump will enter office with executive orders ready, a supportive Congress, and fewer limitations than before. Bill Galston, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, stated, “On January 20, Donald Trump will control all the instruments of government, and at that point, it will be up to the courts and public opinion to rein him in.”