Love him or hate him, President Trump kept his promises the last four years. He delivered incredible results, 450 miles of border wall, ending NAFTA, four peace deals, energy independence, a COVID-19 vaccine, to name a few.
In his Inaugural speech, Joe Biden declared, “to restore the soul and secure the future of America, requires so much more than words. It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity.”
Sounds lovely, but how can President Biden turn this promise into action?
Here are five key ways President Biden could keep his promises, taking cues from Americans for Limited Government Vice President of Public Policy Robert Romano:
1. Biden should call off Trump’s impeachment trial
While the House took months to pass a Coronavirus relief bill, they wasted no time in impeaching Trump during the last two weeks of his Presidency. Part of the impeachment trial includes incitement of insurrection for the January 6th storming of our nation’s Capitol, despite Trump explicitly telling crowds to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
Romano wrote, “This impeachment undermines the peaceful transfer of power almost as much as storming the Capitol did.” In a separate piece, Romano stated, “President Trump never incited anyone. In fact, he urged everyone to be peaceful at the rally. After the violence began, Trump on Twitter urged his followers to stop immediately. So, right off the bat, once again, House Democrats lack a real crime with which to prosecute Trump. What’s more, even if one thought the President was irresponsible for holding the rally given the outcome, the speech the President gave is most certainly covered by the First Amendment — he had every right to give that speech.”
Political tensions aside, going through with the impeachment trial is a massive waste of time and resources because if you actually read what’s in our Constitution, there’s not a clear path to impeachment and removal from office if the impeached President is no longer in office!
Romano cited Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution, which states: “The President… shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
And Article I, Section 3, which states “Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States…”
In Romano’s words: “In order to remove, there has to be impeachment and conviction. In order to disqualify there has to be removal, and there cannot be removal if Trump is already out of office.”
2. Don’t touch Trump’s tariffs on China
Obviously from a safety and security viewpoint, President Trump did a phenomenal job of getting tough with China and putting America first. He brought tons of jobs back to the American people by placing impressive tariffs on China and ending NAFTA.
ALG’s Romano asserted recently, “President Trump leveraged the tariffs and even threatened sanctions, and as a result, the U.S. trade in goods deficit with China is $35.6 billion lower in the first ten months of 2020 than it was in the first ten months of 2016, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, a 10.2 percent reduction and the lowest it has been since 2011.In the process, unemployment hit a 50-year low as recently as Feb. 2020 before the Covid pandemic struck.”
He advised, “Any moves by Biden to, say, rescind the tariffs that were reciprocated by China expanding its territories would be viewed as U.S. weakness — and be a political catastrophe for a Biden administration.”
3. End cancel culture
In just the last few weeks then-President Trump was permanently suspended on Twitter, social media site Parler was banned from the app store and kicked off Amazon Web Services, and many other conservatives were suspended or deplatformed altogether.
Recently, Romano warned Trump and Parler’s social media takedown “is a wholesale assault on the entire Republican Party. Not just Trump supporters. Make no mistake. This is a bid for one-party rule,” adding, “This is a mortal threat to our republic and our two-party system.”
Many Americans agree with Romano, and fear being cancelled. We’re a nation founded on the Constitution, of which the very First Amendment includes the right to free speech. Now Big Tech is so powerful it gets to silence anyone they disagree with? Hell no. Polarization needs to be put aside, and leaders from both parties need to unify and reign in Big Tech tyranny.
Romano warned the new administration, “This is dangerous. And it has to stop — before it is too late and we reach the point of no return. We are about to enter into an abyss for which there is no escape.”
4. Allow special counsel John Durham finish his job
Under Article II of the Constitution, President Biden could fire John Durham from his ongoing criminal investigation of the 2016 Election.
As Romano noted, “If Durham were to be fired and the investigation was terminated prematurely without any new charges or a final report, it would give the appearance of a cover-up… Biden has a duty to ensure that he and his Justice Department do not repeat the mistakes of the past. Allowing Durham to finish his investigation, and then working with Congress to reform FISA in a bipartisan manner so this never happens again could help restore public confidence in what is perceived to be a two-tiered justice system.”
5. End Coronavirus lockdowns
Romano believes Joe Biden needs to have a hands off approach and let former President Trump’s economic recovery continue, “The U.S. economy is poised to continue a massive recovery that began after labor markets bottomed in April with 25 million jobs lost during Covid, with 16 million of the having been recovered since then — provided that Joe Biden does not kill the rest of the recovery that began on President Donald Trump’s watch.
Romano advised, “Really, all Biden needs to do right now is almost nothing, and allow the U.S. economy to fully reopen once the Covid vaccine has been fully administered and the number of daily new cases approaches zero.”
About the author: Megan Marzzacco is a Contributing Editor for Americans for Limited Government.