Joe Biden became a lame duck the day he ended his 2024 re-election campaign. No matter who won between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, he had resigned himself to leaving the White House in January 2025. But he hasn’t left yet – he’s still president until his predecessor-turned-successor is sworn in, and there’s still plenty he can accomplish in that time. Indeed, with Trump packing for his triumphant return, Biden’s waning days have a new sense of urgency.
War and Peace
Regardless of what incoming President Trump has in mind for the various conflicts that sprang up during the present administration, Biden still wields considerable power. Indeed, the big news of the weekend was the president demonstrating that power by reversing the policy on the most powerful weapons sent to Ukraine by the US, authorizing Ukraine to use American long-range missiles to strike into Russia. Liberty Nation News reported back in June, “The ATACMS or Army Tactical Missile System, with a range of 186 miles, can hit deeper into Russia and Russian-held areas of Ukraine … However, having the weapons and being able to use them for just any targets was not part of the deal.”
Biden’s announcement on Sunday, November 17, was certainly welcome relief for Ukraine. But it also risks escalating conflict between the US and Russia – potentially undermining whatever Trump may have been accomplishing in his discussions with the leadership of the two warring nations.
Previously, Secretary of State Antony Blinken had announced the Biden administration’s determination to get as much support to Ukraine as possible before Trump takes over. “As we’re working to make sure Ukraine has everything it needs to effectively defend itself, the United States continues to step up. We’ve obligated just recently and pushed out the door another eight billion dollars in security systems for Ukraine. That was in September,” Blinken declared. “Another almost half a billion dollars just a few weeks ago, and President Biden is committed to making sure that every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and January 20.”
Let that sink in a moment – “every dollar we have at our disposal” will go to Ukraine before Trump takes office.
Will Biden take action in the fight between Israel and Hamas, as well? Even as Trump builds his pro-Israel team, a coalition in the UN Security Council plans a binding resolution to “force” Israel to end its war on Hamas – and there’s growing speculation by many that the Biden administration might sign on. That would certainly send a strong message, and Biden did deliver an ultimatum last month that Israel must do more to ensure humanitarian aid in Gaza or the great flow of American cash dries up. But it also serves as a final parting blow against the incoming Trump administration.
“Without a doubt, this is a calculated effort to Trump-proof the failed Biden agenda,” Anne Bayefsky, president of Human Rights Voices, told Fox News Digital. “Once a Security Council resolution is adopted, the Russians and the Chinese would veto any attempt to revoke it. Americans of all political stripes need to remind President Biden’s lame-duck administration that they didn't come out to vote only to hand over control to the Russians, the Chinese and the United Nations”
A Phone and a Pen
Democratic lawmakers are pressing Biden to ramp up unilateral presidential actions in the final days of his administration. Trump famously targeted bureaucratic bloat and the Deep State by appointing Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head DOGE, a new Department of Government Efficiency. What could possibly be more terrifying to statists? Democrats want Biden to use “a pen and a phone,” to quote former President Barack Obama, to fortify the Justice Department, intelligence agencies, and other executive offices potentially on the chopping block.
Many Democrats call for a flurry of executive orders to finalize regulations and spend as much money already appropriated by Congress for federal projects as possible. “We should do everything we can – everything we possibly can – and I’d say all of the above,” Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA) told reporters. “He’s still the president until the last moment.”
But to quote Sen. Ted Cruz when he ran for president back in 2016, “If you live by the pen, you die by the pen. Everything put in place by executive order can be undone by executive order.” And – just as he did in his first term – Trump will likely spend the first days of his administration undoing as many Biden executive orders as possible.
The True Legacy of Joe Biden?
As much chaos as Biden can sow in foreign affairs and despite all he can try to do to protect Big Government from Trump’s pruning shears, his true power lies in presidential appointments. The GOP still holds the majority in the House, and so legislative wins are all but impossible. But just as Biden will remain president until Trump takes over, so too will Democrats hold on to the majority in the Senate until the 119th Congress is seated.
Many lawmakers on the left have called for a blitz of presidential nominations and confirmations, and Senate Democrats are ready. “We’re laser-focused on confirming every possible nominee,” read a social media post from the Senate Judiciary Committee. At present, there are about 30 judicial nominees awaiting Senate confirmation, including four federal court of appeals picks.
Every confirmation of a Biden nominee to one of these lifetime positions in the judiciary potentially stacks the courts in favor of progressive causes for decades to come. And, of course, each confirmed nominee now is another vacancy Trump can’t fill with a more MAGA-friendly judge. And if the incoming president wants to seriously drain the Swamp, he’s going to need all the allies he can get in the judiciary. Of all the actions Biden can take in his waning days, this is perhaps the most influential.
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