Biden’s Legislative Agenda

Democrats were widely expected to take the US Senate when Joe Biden was elected President. While they gained several seats, Republicans remain in charge of the chamber. Democrats have 48 seats now, with the opportunity to get two more in January. Unless they sweep the two races in Georgia, Biden will need Republican support to get anything done. This severely limits what Biden can accomplish.

While extremely small in number, there remain a few Republicans in the Senate who would cross the aisle to vote with Democrats on very specific issues. This group of half dozen or so Senators will be critical to Biden’s legislative success.

In 2022, Democrats will have the opportunity to pick up seats in PA, WI, NC and possibly IA. Midterm elections typically go against the President in power, but Senate seats are increasingly tied to whomever won the state in the previous Presidential election Until that time, The following is a look at the chance for legislation on various issues:

Health Care
Health care is simply too politically polarizing to expect any movement on. A vote on importing prescriptions and Medicare negotiating rates have an outside chance of happening, because previous votes have been all over the map. Some Democrats have voted down such measures and some Republicans have voted for them. What is more likely to secure passage is funding for COVID19 vaccine distribution and rapid testing