With little chance of legislative compromise on major initiatives under a House controlled by Republicans, the White House will be forced to rely on federal agencies to advance much of Biden’s priorities over the next two years, racing to finalize major regulations and craft new ones during his remaining time in office.
Under a divided government, Biden’s climate ambitions will increasingly be pursued through the executive branch. The Environmental Protection Agency already is drawing on longstanding legal authority to write new regulations clamping down on greenhouse gas emissions from oil wells, power plants and vehicles.
It’s not just game changing environmental regulations that are in the pipeline. Biden can use executive authority to implement other major parts of his agenda in areas like consumer protection, health care, student debt, and workers’ rights. To be sure, the Biden administration was planning to advance major rules, including those limiting greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and oil wells, without the help of Congress, and federal agencies are busy working to implement programs created or expanded by the Inflation Reduction Act. But the election results put a premium on all that activity.