Texas GOP goes on the offensive
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday took office leading a fractured nation, trumpeting the strength of a democracy tested and calling for Americans to come together, even as his first actions in office sparked tensions with Texas Republicans.
“This is a time of testing,” Biden said in his inaugural address. “We face an attack on our democracy and on truth, a raging virus, growing inequity, the sting of systemic racism, a climate in crisis, America’s role in the world — any one of these would be enough to challenge us in profound ways, but the fact is we face them all at once, presenting this nation with one of the gravest responsibilities we’ve had.
“To overcome these challenges, 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.”
The Biden administration — with Kamala Harris taking office as the first woman, first Black person and first Asian American to serve as vice president — began with an inauguration unlike any other. The swearing-in was set before a backdrop of 25,000 National Guard troops from across the nation who provided extra security in a locked-down Washington, D.C., after a mob inspired by former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Those in the strictly limited crowd wore masks and sat at arm’s length to limit the spread of the novel
coronavirus. For the first time in decades, the outgoing president was not present.
In a 21-minute address with numerous references to the Civil War, Biden called for an end to “this uncivil war that pits red versus blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal” and hailed the country’s democratic institutions.
“The will of the people has been heard, and the will of the people has been heeded,” he said. “We’ve learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.”
It was a message cheered by Texas Democrats, who declared Wednesday the end of a “shameful” era and a time to move forward as they pointed to the historic significance of Harris’ swearing-in.
U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, DHouston, tweeted that Wednesday is a new day for our country, our people and our future: “Hoy es un nuevo día para nuestro país, nuestra gente, y nuestro futuro. The work begins today.”
In a separate tweet, Garcia called it an “honor” to attend the swearing-in of Harris. In 2018, Garcia and U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar of El Paso were the first Latinas elected to represent Texas in Congress.
Even Texas Republicans, who fought for weeks to deny Biden’s victory in court and in Congress, were calling for a peaceful transfer of power — though they were already pushing back on some of Biden’s first actions just minutes after he was sworn in.
Biden went to work swiftly, signing a flurry of executive actions aimed at corralling the coronavirus and taking his first steps toward undoing many of Trump’s signature policies, including his administration’s immigration crackdown.
Opposition in Texas
Among those first actions, Biden signed executive orders Wednesday canceling the construction permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and rejoining the Paris climate agreement — sparking the new president’s first fight with Texas Republicans.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, called it an “opening shot on Texas energy workers.”
“I hope this isn’t a preview of what’s to come from the Biden Administration, but rather that he’ll work with energy-producing states like Texas to find common ground on an all-of-theabove policy,” U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a statement issued shortly after Biden’s inaugural speech.
And that is likely only the beginning. Texas oil companies are facing an administration committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, with Biden saying he plans to halt oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters and put an end to industry tax breaks.
With thin Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, Biden will need to win over Republicans if he wants to create a national carbon policy. Momentum for such a move is growing, with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday joining the list of companies and trade associations in support of a market-driven approach to climate change, such as a national tax on carbon emissions.
At least in Texas, Republicans are showing few signs of endorsing such an approach. In a tweet earlier Wednesday morning, Cornyn summed up what he saw coming from Biden on his first day: “Unity themes and divisive actions.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sued unsuccessfully to overturn Biden’s victory in four battleground states, was promising Wednesday to “fight against the many and illegal actions that the new administration will take.”
The president, meanwhile, was also sending legislation to Congress now controlled by his party. Just hours after she took the oath of office, Harris was set to swear in two new Democratic senators from Georgia, giving the party a one-vote majority in the chamber.
The first proposal Biden sent to the Hill was a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s immigration system that would create a path to citizenship for 11 million immigrants in the country without legal authorization, including more than 1.7 million Texans.
It was an early sign of the president’s priorities — and of the battles he’s likely to face, as it was already drawing fierce opposition Tuesday from conservatives in Congress.
“On day 1, Biden is making clear that the era of prioritizing regular Americans is over,” tweeted U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston. “Instead, the priorities will be acquiescing to China, ceding energy dominance to Russia and Saudi Arabia, and unfettered illegal immigration. The America First agenda is gone.”
Biden acknowledged in his address that his call for unity may sound “like a foolish fantasy these days.”
“I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real. But I also know they are not new,” Biden said. “Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war. And we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.”
But his inauguration also provided a reminder of the stark divisions that remain.
Trump — who left the White House for Mar-a-Lago early Wednesday morning — did not attend the inauguration, the first outgoing president to skip since Richard Nixon.
Trump, the only president to be impeached twice, still faces a Senate trial, where Castro and other House Democrats will make the case that he incited the insurrection at the Capitol this month.
In his departing address Wednesday, Trump said his administration “left it all on the field” as he boasted receiving 75 million votes in his loss to Biden.
“I will always fight for you. I will be watching. I will be listening,” Trump said. “We will be back in some form.”
Small crowds gather
Much of Washington, meanwhile, was locked down in anticipation of more violence after the Capitol building was breached by rioters two weeks ago. But the right-wing protests anticipated by law enforcement did not materialize.
Instead the downtown area was near silent Wednesday morning, devoid of the hundreds of thousands of people who usually turn out for a presidential inauguration.
Small groups of spectators gathered a block away from Pennsylvania Avenue — the route of the presidential motorcade in typical years. But they were far outnumbered by National Guard troops who had taken over the area.
While warned to stay home by authorities, some Biden supporters traveled to Washington anyway to watch the spectacle of an inauguration like no other.
Waiting in line to get into Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue, with dozens of armed soldiers patrolling around him, Steve Arash, 47, of New York City, said he wasn’t worried by the threat of violence.
“I like excitement,” he said. Across from the Willard Hotel, reporters and cameramen crowded around Kelly Janowiak, clad in an American flag and “Make America Great Again” hat, as she waited with her friend, an evangelical preacher from South Africa who claims to have visited the White House in a dream. Janowiak said she’d come to support Trump, who she said had been unfairly maligned by the “Russia narrative.”
“He represents freedom for Americans, capitalism and the way forward,” she said. “Biden is a tool of the global elite.”
Shortly after noon a few blocks from the White House, a bar and cigar lounge broadcast Biden’s address onto the street.
Passersby stopped to listen, and when the speech was over, Dave McPherrin, 57, of West Palm Beach, Fla., quietly applauded.
“I think the country was in need of a positive statement,” he said. “It’s a relief.”