Like many Americans, Richard Biden says he would like to see the US government “return to its original design” — a system of checks and balances developed nearly 240 years ago to prevent any branch, especially the presidency, from becoming too powerful.
But this mainly happens when Republicans are in power.
Biden, an 84-year-old Democrat who lives near Los Angeles, said that if President Biden is re-elected, he does not want to get approval from a possibly Republican-controlled Congress to enact policies to slow climate change. He wants presidents to have the power to change policy unilaterally, as long as they belong to the right party.
“When a Democrat comes in, I support” a strong presidency, Biden said. When Republicans are in power, I'm not much for it. It's kind of a wishful thinking thing.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Opinion Research shows that Bidon's view is popular. Although Americans say they do not want the president to have too much power, this opinion changes if their party's candidate wins the presidency. It's a view held by members of both parties, though it's particularly common among Republicans.
Overall, only two in 10 Americans say it would be a “good thing” if the next president could change policy without waiting for Congress or the courts. But nearly six in 10 Republicans say it would be good for future President Trump to take unilateral action, while about four in 10 Democrats say the same if Biden is reelected.
These sentiments come amid rising polarization and are a sign of the public's willingness to transcend the limits of the political framework that has maintained a stable democracy in the United States for more than two centuries. In the poll, only 9% of Americans said the country's system of checks and balances works very well or very well. It also comes on the heels of Trump's promises to “act like a dictator” on the first day of the new administration to secure the border and expand oil and gas exploration.
Bob Connor, a former carpenter now on disability in Versailles, Missouri, wants this kind of decisive action at the border. He has given up hope that Congress will take action.
“From what I've seen, Republicans are trying to get some things done, Democrats are trying to get some other things done — they're not mixed in the middle,” Connor, 56, said. Anywhere.”
He blames the influx of migrants on Biden, who unilaterally rescinded some of Trump's unilateral border security policies when he took office.
“I'm not a Trump fanatic, but what he says needs to be done is right,” Connor said.
Joe Titus, a 69-year-old Democrat from Austin, Texas, believes Republicans have destroyed Congress' ability to act in its traditional legislative role and says Biden will have to step in to fill that gap.
“There's something called a 'majority' in Congress, and they're a bunch of hit jobs,” Titus, a retired Air Force mechanic, said of the GOP-controlled House. “That's not how this thing was set up.”
The current Congress holds questionable records as the least productive in the country's history, with less than thirty bills sent to Biden's desk last year. At Trump's request, House Republicans blocked aid to Ukraine and a bipartisan immigration bill.
Titus said he generally opposes expanding presidential power but would support Biden funding more immigration judges and sending additional aid to Ukraine on his own.
“There are certain things that seem to me that the public wants while the other party blocks them,” Titus said.
The presidency has steadily gained power in recent years as impasses in Congress have become more common. Increasingly, a country's chief executive moves to solve problems through administrative policy or executive orders. The US Supreme Court is scheduled to rule later this year in a case that could significantly weaken the ability of federal agencies – and thus the presidential administration – to issue regulations.
Meanwhile, conservatives plan to take control of the federal bureaucracy if they win the White House in November, a move that could increase the administration's ability to make sweeping policy changes on its own.
The AP-NORC poll found that voters' views of which institutions hold too much power were influenced by their partisanship. Only 16% of Democrats, whose party currently controls the White House, say the presidency has too much power, while nearly half of Republicans think so. In contrast, about six in 10 Democrats say the US Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, has too much power.
With Congress evenly divided between the two parties — the GOP has a narrow majority in the House, while Democrats have a narrow majority in the Senate — Americans have similar views of its power regardless of party. About four in 10 from both major parties say he has too much power.
John said in. Mohr, a 62-year-old house cleaner in Wilmington: “I think Congress had too much power when the Democrats ran the presidency and Congress, but now that the Republicans are in the majority, it's an even balance.” , North Carolina
In contrast, he complained that Biden is “sitting there writing executive orders left and right,” including his proclamation for Transgender Visibility Day, which fell on Easter this year.
The abstract idea of a president with almost unchecked power remains unpopular.
Major policies must be approved by Congress and approved by the courts, said Stephen Utney, a retired truck driver in Rock Hill, South Carolina. But he also said it depends on the topic. He wants to see quick action on certain issues by the next president if that is Trump.
“There are some things that need to be done immediately, like finishing the border wall,” said Utney, a Republican.
He said it was just common sense.
“If Trump goes in there and says, 'I want to bomb Iran, no,' that's crazy,” Utney said. “Within reason, not stupid stuff either way. Something that will help the American people, not hurt us.”
The poll of 1,282 adults was conducted March 21-25, using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
Riccardi and Sanders write for The Associated Press. Riccardi reported from Denver and Sanders reported from Washington.
