Biden’s first batch of executive actions are popular

The large number of executive actions President Biden began his presidency with are popular with the public, according to two recent polls.

In his first week in office, Biden announced at least 33 new policies he will implement through the executive branch, according to a CNN tally. Polls conducted by Morning Consult and Ipsos since Biden’s first day in office have assessed public opinion on 14 of these policies. In any case, more respondents favor policies than oppose them, and a majority support almost all policies.

And while the polls have not been released to specifically ask questions about Biden’s executive order reversing the ban on transgender people from serving in the military, previous polls suggest the move will be popular with the public as well.

The popularity of these policies is notable for several reasons. First, Biden’s emphasis on the country’s attempt to unify the country in his inaugural address created debate in political circles about what exactly constitutes “unity.” These early executive orders meet one definition – adopting policies supported by a clear majority of Americans, which requires at least some Republicans to support them. In fact, a few of these policies, such as requiring people to wear masks on federal property, have plurality support among Republicans. (On the other hand, many of Biden’s policies, such as trying to ensure that non-citizens are counted in the U.S. census, are extremely unpopular with the Republicans.)

Second, the popularity of these orders with the public is another illustration of what public opinion has long suggested: Americans are divided into two roughly equal camps in terms of electoral power – in part because structures like the Senate and Electoral College have skewed the vote in favor of Republicans, at least in recent years – but that divide doesn’t always manifest itself in terms of policies. For example, protecting undocumented migrants brought to the United States as children from deporation (the DACA program) has long enjoyed the support of people who vote and identify with the Republican Party, which attempted to dissolve the DACA in the United States. Trump era.

You might be skeptical of which polls appear to be pro-Democrats after numerous polls in 2016 and 2020 underestimated the strength of the GOP. But there are a number of recent examples of liberal policies backed by voters who also support Republican candidates. This happened last fall in Florida, where a proposal to raise the state’s minimum wage to $ 15 an hour garnered 61% support, but the presidential candidate for it idea, Biden, received only 48%. So I tend to think these numbers are reliable and that a Trump constituency block agrees with a lot of Biden’s new policies.

Third, the popularity of these orders suggests that Biden will rule differently from his predecessor. In the case of many of these orders, Trump implemented a policy that the polls showed was clearly unpopular and Biden is simply reversing it. Biden positioned himself in the Democratic primary as a candidate who would avoid controversial ideas to appeal to more centrist voters. And it’s only a week into his presidency, but it looks like Biden is trying to follow through on his campaign approach.

That said, these early poll numbers do not guarantee that Biden or his program will remain popular, or that he will reshape federal politics as he wishes. These orders were the handy fruit left to Biden by Trump – a bunch of policies Trump put in place that were unpopular and Biden could come back quickly. There probably aren’t dozens of more popular policies and Biden could implement without going through Congress. Also, Biden’s approval numbers are high right now, but those numbers could be the result of the traditional (if reduced) honeymoon period presidents get at the start of their tenure, unlike Americans who say love Biden. because politics.

Finally, as these are executive orders, these policies do not come with the power or money of legislation passed by Congress. So Biden signing an executive order stating that his administration will evaluate all policies to make sure they improve the racial equity of the country is one thing, but actually adopting policies to improve the racial equity of the country is much more complicated.