WASHINGTON: Like prior lame-duck United States presidents, Joe Biden has been racing to complete unfinished business in an attempt to bolster his legacy – and protect his signature policies – before handing over the keys to the White House.
With archrival Donald Trump returning to power, Biden’s work to protect his administration’s official actions, and his own reputation, has taken on added impetus, experts say.
“Departing presidents often try to both accomplish as much as they can prior to leaving office and also shape public opinion of their administration,” Robert Rowland, a University of Kansas communications professor, told AFP.
“There are many examples of intense lame-duck periods”, particularly when power changes from party to party, said Julian Zelizer, a history professor at Princeton University.
Biden, whose rare public appearances have shown him visibly physically diminished, is no exception to the rule.
His recent decision to commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 federal death row inmates triggered the wrath of his Republican adversary.
In response, Trump has vowed to seek to have even more defendants sentenced to death.
“Biden is scared by what he fears President Trump may do,” said Rowland.
“That fear is making him especially forceful in trying to limit the agenda of the incoming Trump Administration and to solidify his administration’s accomplishments,” he said.
The outgoing president had previously granted 39 presidential pardons and commuted sentences for nearly 1,500 people, with the White House hailing it as “the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history”.
“All presidents use their power to pardon or commute sentences at the end of their presidencies,” Wendy Schiller, a Brown University political science professor, told AFP.
Zelizer said the judicial actions may be motivated by Biden seeking to “honor some of the promises he made during his campaign on criminal justice”.
One of his most notable decisions, however, was to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, who he said had been subjected to unfair treatment by the courts and prosecutors.
The move provoked strong criticism from Trump and Republicans, but also from close Democratic allies.
Rowland said the pardon has “definitely had a major negative impact” on Biden’s reputation, adding impetus to his final days’ work to shape public opinion of his outgoing administration.
