Ballotpedia's Daily Transition Tracker - April 16, 2021

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Biden is planning to issue an executive order on climate-related financial risk.

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Welcome to Ballotpedia's Transition Tracker

April 16, 2021

Every weekday, Ballotpedia is tracking key presidential appointments, executive actions, and policy developments from the Biden administration.

This is the last daily edition of The Transition Tracker. We will publish weekly editions each Friday for the remaining two weeks of Biden's first 100 days in office.

BALLOTPEDIA

No committee hearings are scheduled on Friday.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to advance the nomination of Samantha Power for administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development by voice vote.

News

Biden is planning to issue an executive order requiring some federal agencies to consider climate risk assessments in how they regulate industry and lend federal funds, according to Politico.

Biden announced nine Senior Foreign Service career members for ambassadorships on Thursday:
- Larry Edward André, Jr. – Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Somalia
- Elizabeth Moore Aubin – Ambassador to the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria
- Steven C. Bondy – Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain
- Maria E. Brewer – Ambassador to the Kingdom of Lesotho
- Marc Evans Knapper – Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
- Christopher John Lamora – Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon
- Tulinabo S. Mushingi – Ambassador to the Republic of Angola and the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome & Principe
- Michael Raynor – Ambassador to the Republic of Senegal and the Republic of Guinea-Bissau
- Eugene S. Young – Ambassador to the Republic of the Congo

The Biden administration requested the Supreme Court decline to take up a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of an all-male military draft. Elizabeth Prelogar, the acting solicitor general, said Congress was reviewing whether women should be required to register for the draft, making consideration of the lawsuit premature.

Transition in Context: In Their Words...

Here’s what Democratic and Republican leaders have said about the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court.

“With today’s executive order, the Biden Administration has pledged to study potential reforms to the Supreme Court. This deliberative approach will be led by two highly renowned attorneys and legal scholars – Bob Bauer and Cristina Rodriguez – and I have full faith that they will lead this Commission with an open mind and a commitment to hearing many perspectives. I look forward to the Commission’s report and to discussions about important potential reforms.” – Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee

“Of course, this is just another example of the liberal preference for attacking norms and institutions, rather than working within them. When Democrats lose a floor vote, it’s time to change Senate rules. When they lose a presidential election, it’s time to abolish the Electoral College. And when activists’ cases fall flat against the rule of law, it’s time to ignore Justices Ginsburg and Breyer and pack the Supreme Court.” – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

“I welcome President Biden’s announcement, but after years of Republicans upending precedent, breaking their own rules, and stealing seats on the Supreme Court in order to use it as a political pawn, we need more than a commission to restore integrity to the court. We need to abolish the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court.” – Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)

“I share Justice Breyer and the late Justice Ginsburg’s view that nine is the right number of seats on the Supreme Court. If every new administration decides they can just pack the courts, there will be no limit to how many seats you could end up with. I think an Executive Branch commission that investigates and analyzes the work of the Supreme Court challenges the balance of power between the Executive and Judicial Branches, and puts the Court in a much more partisan and political place than it should be.” – Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)