Biden’s first week was a race to the left

His inaugural speech was “grand and deeply intimate”, a “balm for a wounded nation”. Mr. Biden “faced the challenge” simply appearing on his oath “at a time of profound national vulnerability”. A veteran observer admitted that it left him “a little passed out”. I’m sure yes.

It is understandable that so many in the media welcome Biden’s rise to the Oval Office. They hated the person he replaced. But looking beyond the praise, the new president got off to a soggy start, with many discrepancies between stated intentions and subsequent actions.

Biden often calls for bipartisanship, but that will require his leadership. He will have to work with Republican leaders to find areas of agreement before presenting the legislation. With the encouragement of Covid-19, the president did nothing of the kind. Instead, he exposed his initiative without consulting Republicans and included several clauses and a $ 1.9 trillion price that he knew was unacceptable to Republican lawmakers. Now, instead of quickly passing a bipartisan bill that strengthens vaccinations and gives the new government an early victory, we hear about Democrats forging Covid in a party vote using the reconciliation procedure.

This is reminiscent of January 2009, when President Barack Obama cut the Republican Party’s suggestions for its stimulus project by saying, “I won.” This helped to poison the government’s relationship with its loyal opposition and propelled the Republican Party back to the majority in the House in 2010.

Mr. Biden took a similar approach to immigration. The Biden transition team published a four-page outline of its bill, heavy on the road to citizenship for illegal aliens (it seems that many can become citizens before some get in line legally today) and take it safely to the border. The latter is of particular concern after the president halted the construction of the border wall. The Obama-Biden administration helped build the wall, but as President Trump defended it, President Biden is now opposed to it.

Bipartisanship is possible, even in difficult circumstances. After a contentious election, in 2001 President George W. Bush passed a major tax cut and No Child Left Behind educational reform with strong bipartisan support, the latter with a Democratic Senate. For the tax cut, he negotiated with the Democrats about the package. In No Child Left Behind, he attracted Democrats to draft legislation before its introduction. Mr. Biden did not try either. Meanwhile, initial indications from Biden’s office are being approved by large bipartisan margins. Republicans are showing that they are open to finding common ground.

There are other worrying differences between Biden’s rhetoric and his actions. Take the Department of Homeland Security policy on removal policies. He begins by saying that the United States “faces significant operational challenges at the southwestern border” and must “inject resources at the border to ensure the safe, legal and orderly processing” of illegal cruisers. Therefore, he orders an “immediate 100-day pause on removals”. There is? America has an immigration crisis and the answer is to say that oxen olly olly free? No wonder a federal judge blocked it immediately.

The new government has rightly taken a hard line on China, echoing the sentiments expressed by the Trump State Department. But on Tuesday, Gina Raimondo, governor of Rhode Island and appointed to Biden’s secretary of commerce, declined to promise that Huawei, the Chinese state-backed wireless provider, will remain on the U.S. Department of Banned Companies list as a security threat. That was good news in Beijing.

Many of Biden’s accolades focus on how he is different from his predecessor. Warren Harding’s “normality” has its appeal. But it seems more and more that the new president offers soft words about bipartisanship and then provides political prescriptions favored by the left.

It’s early. Biden has been in office for a week and is still finding his legs out to sea. But he must decide: will he act based on the central theme of his bipartisan and unity campaign? Or will it allow Democrats in Congress and regulatory agencies to shift public policy to the left?

The first signs point to the latter, which could mean the largest expansion of federal power since the Great Society, and institutional changes that give progressive dominance over American politics. Hopefully, Mr. Biden will change direction when he finds the actions that match his words of comfort. Otherwise, Republicans must find ways to control their leftist movement.

Mr. Rove helped organize the American Crossroads political action committee and is the author of “The Triumph of William McKinley” (Simon & Schuster, 2015).