Weakness, drift and incompetence are among the terms increasingly used about Joe Biden’s administration. Much of the negativity around the US president is overdone. He deserves only a modest share of the blame for the persistence of high Covid-19 rates and the resurgence of inflation — the two issues at the forefront of voters’ minds. Yet the buck always stops in the Oval Office. Undeniably, some of Biden’s reduced fortune stems from unforced errors — the botched Afghanistan withdrawal last summer and his stubborn insistence on holding Senate votes for bills that never had a majority.
Since Biden ran on the promise of competence, voters have been quick to punish him for such setbacks. The good news is that there is time for an administration overhaul — he is barely a quarter of the way through his term — but it must come soon and be decisive.
The larger question is over the structure of his team. Biden has surrounded himself by people he trusts, some of whom have served him for decades. Among these are Ron Klain, his chief of staff, and Antony Blinken, his secretary of state. These are accomplished figures who have the president’s trust. The same applies to Jake Sullivan, his national security adviser. The downside is that they are staffers who are used to carrying out the boss’s instructions.
The best foreign policy presidents have tended to be advised by peers, or near-peers. George Bush senior had James Baker as his secretary of state and Brent Scowcroft on national security — two men in a position to point out when the president was wrong. It is unclear whether Biden’s advisers can do that. The Ukraine-Russia crisis, which is continuing to escalate this week, has the potential to swallow his presidency. It is critical that Biden has people around who can check his sometimes errant instincts.
Biden’s go-it-alone self-belief is even more evident in his dealings with Capitol Hill, where he served as a senator for 36 years. Aside from John Kerry, Biden’s climate envoy and the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, there is no one around with the standing to argue back. Moreover, Kerry’s remit is limited. Outsiders could have told Biden that his push earlier this month for a tweak to the Senate filibuster to enable passage of two election reform bills was doomed. Yet he pressed on anyway. Having declared their enactment an existential necessity to the US republic, Biden’s failure makes him looks impotent. The same applies to his Build Back Better bill, which is now languishing.
In both cases, a second effort is highly merited. Yet Biden needs a chief of staff with the heft on Capitol Hill to make deals — and contradict Biden when he is wrong. Chris Coons, a Democratic senator from Delaware, Biden’s home state, would be a good choice. Another could be Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader, and also a friend of Biden’s. Either would have the weight to make a difference.
Biden’s preference will almost certainly be to keep his team in place until after the congressional midterm elections. That would be ill-advised. Polls indicate that it would be a minor miracle for Democrats to retain control of Congress in November. What holds Biden back is an admirable sense of loyalty and a rigid refusal to admit that some of his woes are self-created. He should override both instincts. Biden is now dangerously close to being indelibly seen as a weak leader. A strong one has the capacity to correct course and be ruthless. The best chance Biden has to retain Capitol Hill and protect US democracy is to act now — and with absolute clarity — to reboot his presidency.