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Biden quietly advances a range of progressive policies
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Biden quietly advances a range of progressive policies

He did so just before a deadline on his rule-making authority.

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Lisa Needham
May 21, 2024
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Biden quietly advances a range of progressive policies
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19
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Biden at an event Sunday in Detroit. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty)

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Congress, in case you're just back from Mars, has been so mired in gridlock that its main function — passing laws — has become about as common as hens teeth. So what's a president to do?

In Joe Biden's case, you rely on another arrow in your quiver — issuing rules. While they don't have the weight of law, rules are another way for the executive branch to effect change in how government works.

In the past several weeks, the Biden administration has kicked into regulatory overdrive, finalizing dozens of new rules that span the gamut of America's social and environmental landscape — from enhancing the monitoring of drinking water to expanding healthcare protection to thousands of undocumented immigrants.

While they may sidestep Congress, rules do not carry the weight that laws do. For one, rules tend to be more vulnerable to court challenges. Plus, recalcitrant states sometimes opt to simply ignore federal rules they don't like, such as a rule issued in April that protects the rights of LGBTQ students. (More on that in a minute.)

There's one more problem with relying on rules and not laws to get things done, and for that, we can thank Newt Gingrich.

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