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Biden administration officials are working against the clock, doling out billions in grants and taking other steps to try to preserve at least some of the outgoing president’s legacy before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
“Let’s make every day count,” President Joe Biden said in an address to the nation last week after Vice President Kamala Harris conceded defeat to Trump in the presidential race.
Trump has pledged to revoke unspent funds from Biden’s landmark climate and health care law and halt clean energy development projects.
“There’s only one government at a time,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters at a news conference Thursday. ‘That is true now, and it will also be true after January 20. Our responsibility is to make good use of the funds Congress has. is authorized for us and that we are responsible for the allocation and disbursement over the past three years.”
But Trump will exert more control than just the wallet in January. His administration could also propose new regulations to undo some of what the Biden administration has done through the regulatory process.
Here are some steps the Biden administration is taking now:
Getting investments in infrastructure out the door
Biden administration officials hope that projects funded under the $1 trillion infrastructure law and the $375 billion climate law will continue beyond Biden’s term, and are working to ensure that money from the landmark measures keeps flowing.
On Friday, Buttigieg announced more than $3.4 billion in grants for projects aimed at improving passenger rail services, helping U.S. ports, reducing traffic fatalities and supporting domestic production of sustainable transportation materials.
“We are investing in better transportation systems that reach every corner of the country and in the workers who will manufacture materials and build projects,” he said. “Communities will see safer commutes, cleaner air and stronger supply chains that we all count on.”
Accelerating environmental goals
Announcements of major environmental grants and project approvals have accelerated in recent months, in what White House officials describe as “sprinting toward the end” of Biden’s four-year term.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently set a nationwide deadline for removing lead pipes and announced nearly $3 billion to help local water systems comply. The agency also announced that for the first time, oil and gas companies will have to pay federal compensation if they emit dangerous methane above certain levels.
The Energy Department, meanwhile, announced a $544 million loan to a Michigan company to expand production of high-quality silicon carbide wafers for electric vehicles. The loan is one of 28 deals totaling $37 billion awarded under a clean energy lending program that was revived and expanded under Biden.
“There is a new urgency to get everything done. We are seeing explosions of money going out the door,” said Melinda Pierce, legislative director of the Sierra Club. Biden and his allies “really want to finish the work they started.”
Aid to Ukraine
Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters this week that Biden “wants to expend the authority appropriated and authorized by Congress before he leaves office.” So we’re going to work very hard to make sure that happens.”
The Biden administration would spend $7.1 billion in weapons — $4.3 billion from the 2024 supplement and $2.8 billion still on the books in savings as the Pentagon recalculates the value of systems shipped have to get the supplies from the Pentagon to be able to spend all the weapons. those funds are obligated before Trump is sworn in.
There is also another $2.2 billion available to put weapons systems on long-term contracts. However, recent relief packages have been much smaller in size, around $200 million to $300 million each.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said the funds are already obligated, which should make it harder to take them back because the new administration would have to reverse that.
Pressure to quickly confirm judicial choices
Another priority for the White House is securing Senate confirmation of as many federal judges as possible before Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
The Senate voted 51-44 this week to confirm former prosecutor April Perry as a U.S. District Court judge in northern Illinois. More than a dozen pending judicial nominees have been advanced from the Senate Judiciary Committee; Eight judicial appointments await committee votes and six await committee hearings.
Trump has urged Republicans to oppose efforts to confirm judicial nominees. “No judges should be approved during this period because Democrats want to push their judges while Republicans fight for leadership,” he wrote on social media site X on November 10, before Republicans in Congress elected their new leaders.
Student loan forgiveness
The Department of Education has rushed to finalize a new federal rule that would cancel student loans for people facing financial difficulties. The proposal — one of Biden’s only student loan plans that hasn’t been halted by federal courts — is in a public comment period that ends Dec. 2.
After that, the department would have a limited time to finalize the rule and begin implementing it, a process that typically takes months. Like Biden’s other efforts, this would almost certainly face a legal challenge.
In addition, the Biden administration has room to speed student loan cancellations for people who were already promised relief because they were defrauded by their colleges, said Aaron Ament, a Department of Education official for the Obama administration and chairman of the National Student Legal Defense Network.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona could decide this case and others instead of turning them over to the Trump administration, which is expected to be much friendlier to for-profit colleges. “It’s a no-brainer,” Ament said. “There are quite a few cases on Cardona’s desk. It’s hard to imagine that they would simply remain untouched.”
Trump has not yet said what he would do about student loan forgiveness. However, he and Republicans have criticized Biden’s efforts.
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Associated Press writers Tara Copp and Dan Merica contributed to this report.
