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Ben Olinsky is the senior vice president for structural reform and governance policy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
In his first campaign ad of 2024, President Joe Biden asked the question over images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Jan. 6 rioters: “What will we do to maintain our democracy? History’s watching.”
For one last month, Biden retains the responsibilities and powers of the nation’s highest office. If he believes his words, he must take urgent action to strengthen our democracy, even as he works to ensure a peaceful transfer of power.
President-elect Donald Trump has made little secret of his desire for unchecked power, whether to be a dictator on day one, weaponize the Department of Justice against perceived enemies, or strip broadcast licenses from disfavored media outlets. However, this has yet to come to pass.
America only has one president at a time. If Biden’s campaign ad was more than political bluster — and his lifetime of dedicated public service suggests it was heartfelt — he must now do everything he can to safeguard our fundamental rights. So, what can he do?
First, he can shore up protections for the dedicated career civil servants who keep us safe. Doctors, scientists and bank inspectors ensure the prescribed drugs are safe, our water is free of toxins, our jobs won’t cause us injury and our life’s savings won’t disappear when we make a deposit. Civil servants in agencies like the FBI, CIA and the Defense Department keep us safe from terrorists and foreign adversaries.
With his billionaire Cabinet picks and quid pro quo style, Trump will replace servants of the people with those who serve him. He doesn’t want career civil servants to blow the whistle when his actions sacrifice Americans’ safety and wellbeing for the benefit of wealthy friends. Solidifying job protections for civil servants gives them what authoritarians hate most: the ability to stand up, speak truth and ensure our laws are followed.
Biden has prided himself for being the most labor-friendly president in a generation. Now, he must aggressively side with public workers in contract negotiations and offer whistleblower training to put our health and safety over the interests of billionaires.
Second, Biden can recognize the Equal Rights Amendment to protect women from impending attacks. Many in Trump’s orbit are pushing him to use draconian measures to block Americans’ access to reproductive care. His nominee for defense secretary has said he believes women are less effective fighters and shouldn’t serve in ground combat units.
Trump also has an eye to scale back efforts to combat sex discrimination in the workplace and healthcare. The ERA could offer vital constitutional protections. Virginia ratified it in 2020 and was the last state needed to bring it into force, but it has yet to be formally recognized as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, even as the nation’s leading scholars and the American Bar Association argue it has already been adopted. Biden has the power to clarify this once and for all.
Finally, Biden should do all he can to prepare our military, law enforcement and intelligence communities to uphold the rule of law and push back against attempts to weaponize them against law-abiding citizens. The Republican-led House of Representatives has passed two bills to safeguard journalists and stop the government from purchasing Americans’ private location, web history and search data without a warrant. Biden must press the Senate to take immediate action on these bills.
Through training and guidance, he can also reiterate that presidential immunity does not shield military and law enforcement officers from the legal requirement to follow only lawful orders. Additionally, his administration can lay out constraints on the domestic deployment of federal forces, even if they are ultimately reversed.
Biden’s term isn’t over, nor is his responsibility to the children and grandchildren watching him, waiting to see what kind of America they will inherit. Urgent actions are sitting on the most powerful desk in America. We must now ask the life-long statesman and patriot who sits behind it: What will you do to protect our democracy?
