- November 26, 2021
U.S. President Joe Biden took office with the ambition of reconciling a deeply divided American society. After the toxic Trump years, he wanted to create a new unity in a polarized country. So, from day one, his reform efforts were directed at the domestic challenges the country faced. The President and his administration call this comprehensive program “Build Back Better.” But his domestic agenda is in danger of falling short of expectations. Biden is facing his first crisis. While he was able to celebrate a long-awaited success with the infrastructure bill which has now been signed into law after a long parliamentary stalemate, partly because some Republicans gave their support to the huge project, the social package, which is even more ambitious by comparison, is still stuck in Congress. To the astonishment of many, this is primarily due to Biden’s Democratic Party, although it has a majority in Congress. After the midterm elections next fall, the president could already be a lame duck. What were or are the contentious issues in the infrastructure bill and Build Back Better Act? Why is Biden, who has forged compromises in Congress throughout his career, not getting his own party colleagues from the progressive wing and the more conservative spectrum in line? If Biden fails with his domestic agenda, it is very likely that Democrats will lose both chambers of Congress to Republicans in the midterm elections. Does that leave Biden with only the international stage to make progress in the second half of his presidency? Where does the future of the Democratic Party lie after Joe Biden? How realistic is it that Donald Trump will run again president in 2024 following a potential Republican electoral victory next fall? Podcast hosts David Deißner, Atlantik-Brücke, and Stormy-Annika Mildner, Aspen Institute Germany, discuss these questions with Ines Pohl, Washington Bureau Chief for Deutsche Welle, and Boris Vormann, political scientist and professor at the Bard College Berlin.
“America’s Choice – Der USA-Podcast” is a German-language podcast on U.S. politics, co-produced by the Aspen Institute Germany and the Atlantik-Brücke. The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.
