John,
100 days in, how’s President Biden doing on ethics, democracy and transparency?
After President Trump’s corruption, two impeachments for abuses of power and attacks on our democracy, and incitement of a violent insurrection, clearing the low bar set by Trump is not hard. Biden has unquestionably turned the page on the corruption of the Trump administration, while also taking a strong stance on ethics and prioritizing democracy reform in Congress.
Biden’s ethics pledge for his administration is quite strong—stronger than both the Trump and Obama administrations’. On issues of transparency, however, we would like to see more open disclosure and accessibility. For more, read CREW’s analysis of President Biden’s record on these crucial issues.
It’s not enough to simply be better on ethics and democracy issues than the Trump administration—the American people deserve so much more, and frankly, the survival of our democracy depends on it. Biden’s vocal support of the For the People Act and DC statehood demonstrate that he’s aware of how critical these reforms are, and he’s actually gone farther in support of DC statehood than any president before him.
There’s still room for progress—on FOIA and other transparency issues in particular, and Biden hasn’t yet signaled support of getting rid of the filibuster, which may be necessary to pass the For the People Act, DC statehood and a number of other important bills—but all in all, the Biden administration is off to an encouraging start on ethics and democracy issues. That’s something to celebrate.
Thank you,
Noah Bookbinder
President, CREW
