Biden’s first week was a race to the left

His inaugural address was ‘great and deeply intimate’, a ‘balm for a wounded nation’. Mr. Biden ‘faced the challenge’ simply by appearing at his oath ‘at a moment of serious national vulnerability’. One veteran observer admitted that it left him “in a bit of a daze”. I’m sure it did.

It is understandable that so many in the media Mr. Biden’s ascension to the Oval Office praised. They have an aversion to the person he replaced. But if he looks beyond the paeanes, the new president begins a soaking wet start, with too many contradictions between stated intentions and subsequent actions.

Mr. Biden often asks for duality, but it will require his leadership. He will have to work with Republican leaders to find areas of agreement before enacting legislation. On Covid-19 stimulus, the president did nothing of the sort. Instead, he drafted his initiative without consulting Republicans, and included several provisions and a $ 1.9 billion prize that he knew the GOP’s legislators were unacceptable. Instead of now quickly passing a dual bill that strengthens the vaccinations and gives the new government an early victory, we hear talk of the Democrats pushing Covid relief on a party vote using the conciliation procedure.

It is reminiscent of January 2009, when President Barack Obama cut GOP proposals for his stimulus bill by saying YOU whip Eric Cantor: “I won.” This contributed to the poisoning of the government’s relationship with its loyal opposition and in 2010 drove the IDP back to the House majority.

Mr. Biden showed a similar approach to immigration. Biden’s transition team has issued a four-page account of his alienation, heavily on the road to citizenship for illegal aliens. The latter is particularly worrying after the president stopped building the boundary wall. The Obama-Biden administration has helped build the wall, but since President Trump advocated it, President Biden has now opposed it.

Duality is possible, even under difficult circumstances. After a controversial election, President George W. Bush passed a major tax cut in 2001 and the No Child Left Behind education reform with strong dual support, the latter with a Democratic Senate. For the tax cut, he negotiated with the Democrats on the package. For No Child Left Behind, he drew Democrats to shape the legislation before it was enacted. Mr. Biden did not try either. Meanwhile, the initial nominations of Mr. Bidding approved by large two-party margins. Republicans show that they are open to finding a common ground.

There are other worrying differences between Mr. Biden’s rhetoric and his actions. Take the guidelines of the Department of Homeland Security on the removal policy. It begins by saying that the US “has significant operational challenges on the southwestern border” and must “push resources to the border to ensure safe, legal and orderly processing” of illegal cruisers. It therefore recommends an “immediate 100-day break over removals.” Huh? America has an immigration crisis and the answer is to say olly oxen are free? No wonder a federal judge immediately blocked it.

The new government has rightly taken a tough line on China, and that is in line with the sentiments expressed by the Trump State Department. But on Tuesday, Gina Raimondo, governor of Rhode Island and Biden’s nominated secretary of commerce, refused to promise that Huawei, the Chinese state-backed wireless provider, would remain on the department’s list of companies banned from the US as a security threat. This was welcome news in Beijing.

Much of the praise for Mr. Biden focuses on how he is different from his predecessor. Warren Harding’s “normality” has an appeal. But it increasingly appears that the new president is offering soothing words about duality and then delivering policy prescriptions that are favored by the left.

It’s early. Mr. Biden has been in the office for a week and is still finding his sea legs. But he must decide: will he act according to the central theme of duality and unity in his campaign? Or will he allow Democrats in Congress and regulatory agencies to drive public policy to the left?

Early signs point to the latter, which may mean the greatest expansion of federal power since the Great Society, and institutional changes that give progressive dominance to American politics. Let us hope that Mr. Praying changes direction by finding the actions that match his comforting words. If not, Republicans must find ways to curb his leftist movement.

Mr. Rove helped organize the American Crossroads Political Action Committee and is author of “The Triumph of William McKinley” (Simon & Schuster, 2015).