President Trump, among his many “worsts,” will claim the title of worst outgoing president. In refusing to recognize his successor, inciting a violent insurrection, refusing to cooperate on full briefings concerning the coronavirus pandemic or national security, and installing unqualified lackeys in national security positions, he has made clear he cares nothing for the country he will no longer lead.
The hostility is mutual. Gallup reports Trump’s approval dropped to 34 percent, an all-time low for him. Per the poll: “His 41% average approval rating throughout his presidency is four points lower than for any of his predecessors in Gallup’s polling era. ... The total 12-point drop in approval for Trump after the election is especially notable in that most departing presidents — including two who were defeated for a second term — enjoyed increases in job approval ratings” after the election. Other polls also suggest he is down to his die-hard supporters: A Post-ABC News poll put his approval rating at 38 percent, CNN at 34 percent, Quinnipiac at 34 percent, YouGov at 39 percent and Pew Research Center at 29 percent. His FiveThirtyEight average is roughly 38 percent.
If Trump is the worst, the Biden-Harris transition team, which faced more obstacles than even George W. Bush (whose transition was shortened by the Florida vote count fight), is among the best in recent memory. NBC News reports: “Through Sunday, Biden had nominated 44 Senate-confirmed officials — besting Barack Obama’s mark by the same point in his transition, which had been the most recent high. The transition has also announced 206 White House staff — more than the last three incoming presidents combined.” The key was hiring super-competent people who could be trusted to address policy, leaving Biden and his immediate team to fill critical posts.
The transition’s success in filling most key West Wing positions, officials say, has been critical to launching their ambitious first-week policy push. NBC reports, “Naming Ron Klain as chief of staff, then Susan Rice to lead the Domestic Policy Council, Brian Deese to lead the Economic Council, [Jake] Sullivan the National Security Council, Gina McCarthy the climate task force, and [Jeff] Zients the Covid-19 response team, shifted most — but not all of the burden away from the transition to those officials to build on the planning already in place.”
The Biden team has had several other things working in its favor.
First, its communications team has been adept at not only providing background on the incoming nominees but also actual briefings on policy. In that, it is operating more effectively than many administrations in the first weeks in office. One can surmise that when a lot is being accomplished, a lot can be communicated. As was the case during the campaign, there were few if any leaks (as opposed to intentional previews). That suggests the administration will at least start with an impressive level of loyalty and cohesiveness.
Second, it has done a better job than most previous transition teams in preparing and even scheduling specific executive orders before its first day in office. In this regard, the expectation before the runoff races in Georgia that the administration might face a Republican majority in the Senate may have accelerated that process.
Third, the incoming administration will be among the most diverse ever. The Brookings Institution found last week that Joe Biden tied with Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton in the number of nonwhite Cabinet appointees (six) and has appointed more women to top positions than six predecessors (12). Moreover, Biden’s entire press contingent is female, as are deputy secretaries for five departments and his White House staff (e.g., director of council of economic advisers, senior domestic policy adviser, deputy chief of staff, White House counsel).
Max Stier, who heads the Partnership for Public Service, explains: “Biden will be the first since [George H.W. Bush] with zero confirmed [appointees] on Day 1, but he will have north of 50 nominations, more than any modern incoming president.” He adds: “The holdup is the Senate, for now, not the Biden efforts. The Biden team will also set a record on nonconfirmed appointees in place.” Stier concludes: “The Biden team really did an exceptional job preparing and now the harder part begins with governance. All of this underscores the need for reforming the system — we have way too many Senate-confirmed positions (and too many political appointees, overall).”
Given all this, it should not be surprising that Biden has gotten high approval marks for his handling of the transition. In the Post-ABC News poll, his rating is at 67 percent.
None of this guarantees success once the administration gets underway, but it does bode well for the Biden team’s ability to get off to a fast start. It also provides the promise of something we have been starved for in the Trump era: competence.
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