President Joe Biden plans to take action on land protections, clemency and artificial intelligence in the final weeks of his administration, according to a memo to allies, as he looks to codify his legacy before Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The steps are the latest as Biden races to tie off key files before a transfer of power that could reverse many of them. The memo, drafted by White House communications director Ben LaBolt, lays out a defense of the Biden record and says that some of the efforts are years away from full bloom.
“A presidency is not measured just in weeks, months, or four-year terms alone – rather its impact is evaluated for years and decades to come,” LaBolt wrote. “The seeds President Biden and Vice President Harris planted over the past four years are beginning to sprout and their potential will be fully unleashed long into the future.”
Trump is preparing a flurry of orders, some on his first day, that could take aim at key planks of the Biden agenda. The Republican sweep of Congress also sets the stage for rolling back portions of Biden’s legislative victories, though the narrow margin in the House of Representatives may complicate that.
Trump’s election victory over Kamala Harris has triggered soul searching among Democrats as they look to regroup and reframe their pitch to voters. That process is inherently a question of how closely to mimic the formula that Biden rode to claim the White House in 2020 — or how aggressively to remake the party in a different image.
Some of that reflection has been aimed at Biden, including criticism from allies for his decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden.
The final weeks of his administration will feature a string of efforts to enshrine his legacy. Biden gave a speech last week aimed at his economic record and hosted a conference on women’s health. His Environmental Protection Agency announced $735 million in awards for clean energy vehicles, one area where Trump may reverse course.
LaBolt signaled four key areas with announcements forthcoming:
- Artificial intelligence, without specifying the measures, and student debt cancellation
- New funding awards via the 2022 computer chips law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and high-speed Internet funds for states
- Biden will “continue taking action to protect our lands and waters and continue our climate ambition alongside state, local, and tribal and business leaders.”
- New commutations and pardons, which LaBolt didn’t detail, though the White House hasn’t ruled out attempts to pardon people in advance of what it believes would be vindictive efforts by Trump’s administration to prosecute top Democrats
LaBolt touted the final agreement to give Micron Corp. Nearly $6.2 billion in subsidies from the program program to boost American semiconductor manufacturing — an investment expected to create thousands of jobs at factories in Idaho and New York, as well as investments in clean energy.