43% of Americans strongly/somewhat approve of the way in which Biden is handling gun policy while 43% somewhat/strongly disapprove. [Morning Consult, Politico 3/29/21]
President Biden has announced that the United States will withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021. This date marks the 20th anniversary of when the United States was first drawn into this war. [Political Playbook 4/13/21]
President Biden says that under his tax plan no one will who makes less than $400,000 per year will experience a tax increase. That means that only the top 1.8% of income earners will experience a tax hike. [WW]
President Biden has issued an executive order creating a bi-partisan commission to study expanding the Supreme Court, instituting term limits, and other relevant topics as he promised during the campaign. The commission is to report in six months.
Co-Chairs of the 36-member commission are Bob Bauer, White House Counsel under Barack Obama and a top lawyer on the Biden Campaign, and Cristina Rodriguez, a professor at Yale Law School.
Of the nine justices currently on the court, Stephen Breyer is 82 years old and has been on the court since 1994. (I was part of his confirmation prep team.)
Clarence Thomas is 71 years old and on the court since 1990.
Samuel Alito is 71 years of age and on the court since 2006.
Sonia Sotomayor is 66 years of age and on court since 2009.
John Roberts is 66 years of age, Chief Justice since joining the court in 2005.
Elena Kagen is 60 years of age and on the court since 2010.
Brett Kavanaugh is 56 years of age and on the court since 2018.
Neil Gorsuch is 53 years of age and on the court since 2017.
Amy Barrett is 49 years of age and on the court since 2020.
If you were wondering how SportsBetting.ag would deal with President Biden, here is a list of things you could bet on leading up to the President’s first press conference.
- Will Biden have on a mask when he walks to the podium?
- What will be the primary color of tie?
- What will Biden say first?
- Which topic will Biden address first?
- Will Biden commit a political gaffe?
- Will Biden’s approval rating be higher or lower?
As of April 8th, this is Biden’s approval rating based on Real Clear Politics:
| Approval | Disapproval | |
|---|---|---|
| Over all | 55% | 39.60% |
| On the economy | 53% | 41% |
| On foreign policy | 50% | 42.3% (thru March 30) |
Gallup now does monthly or semi-monthly surveys of all adults. WW will include a periodic polling summary–Registered and Likely Voters–by FiveThirtyEight. The first survey after Biden came into office is reported below.
| Gallup (All Adults) | FiveThirtyEight (Reg/Likely voters) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Approval | Disapproval | Approval | Disapproval |
| 3/15/21 | 54% | 42% | 53.8% | 40.2% |
| 2/18/21 | 56% | 40% | 54.4% | 37.8% |
President Biden has signed an executive order reversing the Trump-era ban on transgender people serving in the military. The Defense Department’s new policy will permit troops to serve openly under their self-identified gender and will offer access to medical treatments for gender transition. [NBCNews 3/31/21]
Judges Nominated and Confirmed to Date
Because the U.S. Senate will be in Democratic hands in 2021 and the filibuster cannot be used on judicial nominees, President Biden will be able to begin affecting the federal judiciary at an early date. The chart below reflects the number of Article III court judges appointed by all U.S. presidents since Jimmy Carter.
| Total | Supreme Ct | Appeals Ct | District Ct | Int’l Trade | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biden | No judges nominated by Biden have been confirmed to date. |
||||
| Trump – 4 years | 234 | 3 | 54 | 174 | 3 |
| Obama – 8 years | 325 | 2 | 55 | 268 | |
| GW Bush – 8 years | 325 | 2 | 62 | 261 | |
| Clinton – 8 years | 373 | 2 | 66 | 305 | |
| GHW Bush – 4 years | 192 | 2 | 42 | 148 | |
| Reagan – 8 years | 376 | 3 | 83 | 290 | |
| Carter – 4 years | 259 | 0 | 56 | 203 | |
[USCourts/Wikipedia/List of federal judges appointed by Joe Biden]