Law360 (January 3, 2021, 12:02 PM EST) — President-elect Joe Biden may need to flex his administration’s regulatory muscle to fulfill many of his ambitious campaign pledges, a strategy that could run headlong into a conservative U.S. Supreme Court wary of administrative power.
Biden will enter a divided government if Republicans hold on to at least one of two Senate seats in Georgia going to runoff elections in January. The prospect of a GOP-controlled upper chamber spells trouble for any major legislation Biden seeks to pass.
With legislative avenues cut off, Biden, like his predecessors, could try to use the power of executive agencies to implement policies regulating the environment, worker’s rights, consumer protection and more.