The first weeks of President Biden’s administration were a striking contrast to the chaos and turmoil of the Trump administration, bringing a sense of normalcy back to the White House and the administration.
Biden, along with Vice President Harris, begins receiving the daily letter from the President each day, usually before 10 a.m. His administration has revived the White House daily briefings every weekday.
And when he’s signed executive actions, they’ve usually been accompanied by events where the president spoke out scripts about the policy, and he’s rarely answered shouted questions from reporters.
The White House also regularly issues press releases that appear familiar. In the early days of the presidency, it released a statement recognizing National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month – a day routinely marked by previous governments, but ignored under Trump.
The White House is returning to publishing quarterly visitor logs, a practice held under the Obama administration but thrown overboard under Trump. Former Obama officials have described Biden’s cabinet as something of an extended family, filled with people he has worked with and trusted for years.
“I think one of the main goals here was to give the presidency a sense of normalcy,” said a longtime Biden assistant. “Enough of the crazy shit we’ve been through for four years.”
After a two-hour meeting on Monday with 10 GOP senators, there were no reports of anyone insulting each other – something that often happened when Democrats and Trump got together – even though there was no deal either. Sen. Susan Collins
Susan Margaret Collins The Memo: Bad Jobs Report Stimulates Biden Stimulus Case Five Budget Marathon Takeaways Don’t Lose This Unifying Moment MORE (R-Me.) Described the meeting as “warmly” and expressed gratitude to Biden for hosting it.
Biden’s tweets, written in small print, are often mundane policy messages. It’s a striking contrast to the 280-character-per-hour megaphone, where he often chose fights or criticized and mocked opponents.
“It’s so funny – I hear from friends on both sides of the aisle how cleansing it is to wake up in the morning without feeling like the day will be ignited by a crazy tweet,” said former Rep. Steve Israel
Steven (Steve) J. IsraelBiden Faces Monumental Task of Healing Divided Land The Hill’s Morning Report – Trump Again Impeached; what now? Democrats MORE need a post-Trump message, who chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the Obama era. “Even people who disagree with President Biden say we’re at least back to normal.”
Biden’s life outside the bubble also echoes a time before the Trump era.
He went to church on his first Sunday in the office – a routine White House aides expect to stay – at Holy Trinity in Georgetown, then went looking for bagels, while Secret Service agents placed the order by the window. from the popular “Call Your Mother” Deli.
The Bidens have taken their two German Shepherds, Champ and Major, to the White House and they plan to get a cat. First Lady Jill Biden
Jill Biden Jill Biden and dogs appear in ad promoting the use of masks during Puppy Bowl Hunter Biden to release memoir on April 6 Congress leaders pay tribute as Capitol Police officer lies in honor MORE, who has spent most of her career as a teacher at a community college, still holds a teaching position at Northern Virginia Community College.
While he was vice president, Biden also tried to maintain some normalcy in his life. He and Jill Biden occasionally slipped out of the Naval Observatory to watch a movie. He made headlines for getting pizza with one of his granddaughters.
He surprised an employee on her birthday by visiting the Italian restaurant where colleagues had gathered. He was also known to regularly visit Brooks Brothers on his way home from work in 1600 Pennsylvania.
The difference from the Trump years is big – even those who worked in his White House recognize it.
“When you think of the early weeks of Trump’s presidency, and even back in the transition, it was disorder and the search for power,” he said. Anthony Scaramucci
Anthony ScaramucciPence, Other GOP Officials Expected to Skip Trump’s Broadcast Kelly Says Trump Can’t Admit Mistakes: ‘His Manhood Is At Risk Here’ C-SPAN’s Steve Scully Completes His Three-Month Suspension, who was Trump’s communications director for eleven days.
From the outset, Trump’s White House has been characterized by loud gunshots, tweets and fights that generated intense and constant press coverage. Trump’s decisions and actions were unpredictable, even among his staff, who, unlike Biden’s, were filled with outsiders.
“Trump was elected because he had no political, governmental or military experience,” said Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia Miller Center. “That was even a selling point for him.”
She said that “in the minds of those who voted for him, it was not a weakness, but a plus,” but argued that it did not lead to “informed leadership at the top.”
Chris Lu, who served as cabinet secretary in Obama’s White House, drew a comparison between the new administration and the White Houses of Obama, Clinton and Bush.
“It’s refreshing how normal it is. This is what happens in a normal White House. You have a process to make policy decisions, you have a message of the day, you have a president who sticks to the message. You have a sense of order, ”said Lu.
It’s not all hunky-dory, as Biden, who called himself a moderate Democrat during the campaign, is facing the expected pressure from the left and right as he works out his agenda.
There have been known policy and political disputes ranging from the scope and content of the COVID-19 emergency measure – Republicans have opposed the price tag – to whether Biden is going too far in restricting oil and gas drilling to reduce climate change.
But even the White House controversies seem like a return to the norm. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki
Jen Psaki The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Senate Dems Negotiate 0.9 Trillion COVID Embossing Details CDC Says Schools Are Safe But Biden Continues To Ignore Science, Doctors Watch Live: White House Holds Press Briefing MORE was criticized this week by conservatives for rejecting a question about the Space Force, the sixth military arm established under Trump. She later published a tweet that made it clear that the Biden administration cares about the Space Force, an apparent attempt to dispel the criticism.
There is a notable contrast to Capitol Hill, where tensions remain high a month after an enraged pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol. The House voted Thursday to remove first-term tenure representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) From her committee assignments as punishment for a series of controversies, including comments about school shootings.
Both the Capitol and the White House remained fortified by large fences, a daily reminder of the violence a month earlier. Psaki told reporters this week that the perimeter would be adjusted if it “makes sense from a general security standpoint.”
Biden’s White House has sought to create order and control as it took power amid a deadly pandemic spike and severe economic downturn. Biden has also tried to manage expectations and warned repeatedly that it will take months to change the course of the virus.
Trump was chosen, at least in part, in response to voters who hated the Obama years and what they represented. This could indicate that there is at least a political risk of doing things the way they were done between 2009 and 2016.
Still, Democratic strategist Eddie Vale argued that voters are likely to appreciate Biden’s signals as a welcome respite.
“Just having a sense of normalcy and routine already makes people feel better, but it’s actually most effective because it’s also imbued with competence that already shows people with action that we’ll come back – or dare I? to say we better build back – from this recession and pandemic, ”he said.