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How Biden is testing the limit of presidential powers in his final days
Tue, 07 Jan 2025
On today’s show: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is stepping down, the Globe and Mail reports. Vox’s Ellen Ioanes explains what his resignation means for the future of U.S.-Canada relations. The Washington Post examines why Biden’s offshore-drilling ban won’t be easy for Trump to undo. And USA Today looks into who may be getting an increase in Social Security benefits following a bill signed by Biden over the weekend. Unhoused people in some cities are contending with encampment sweeps that leave them without essentials like Social Security cards and medication. ProPublica reports. Plus, multiple people have died following snowstorms across the country, Trump asks a judge to halt sentencing in his hush-money case, and a rising rugby star helps her new team break an attendance record. Today’s episode was hosted by Gideon Resnick.
Chapter 1: What major political event occurred in Canada recently?
Yesterday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation, stepping down as the leader of the Liberal Party after nearly a decade in power.
Chapter 2: Why did Justin Trudeau resign as Prime Minister?
My friends, as you all know, I'm a fighter. Every bone in my body has always told me to fight because I care deeply about Canadians. I care deeply about this country. And I will always be motivated by what is in the best interest of Canadians.
Trudeau entered office with a 63% approval rating, but today he has only around half of that support. He's faced mounting pressure in recent months to let someone new lead the party, which will face Canada's Conservative Party in a general election later this year.
Vox reporter Ellen Ionis told us that Trudeau's downfall is yet another example of a trend that we've seen in elections worldwide over the last year.
2024 was a huge election year across the world and we've really seen a lot of incumbents go down. You know, people are ready to turn the tide and that does look like a move toward like more of the right wing.
For Canadians, rising costs of living has been a major motivating factor. In fact, a recent poll from Ipsos found that 71% of Canadians said that was their top issue last year.
People are really having a hard time and they want something to blame. They want a person to blame. They want a party to blame. They want a policy to blame. And they want somebody to fix it for them.
For our American listeners, this story probably sounds familiar. In a 2024 election exit poll, nearly 7 in 10 voters said the U.S. economy was either not so good or poor. About 3 in 4 voters said that inflation had caused their family hardship, and they took that unhappiness out on the party in power.
Now Canada is facing similar upheaval, and it comes as the nation is trying to figure out how to work with the incoming Trump administration. The relationship between our country and Canada is vital for both nations. We are each other's biggest trading partners and neighbors.
But in recent months, Trump has lobbed insults at Canada, referring to it as our 51st state and suggesting that it should merge with the U.S. Now, that trolling aside, he's also promised to impose significant tariffs on all imports from Canada on day one. In fact, a major turning point for confidence in Trudeau's leadership came just before the holidays.
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Chapter 3: What challenges does Biden face in his final days?
Her resignation and her rebuke of specifically Trudeau's plan for dealing with the Trump relationship kind of put the nail in the coffin, so to speak, for his party leadership, for sure, if not his national leadership.
Trudeau will remain prime minister until his party selects a new leader. But their eventual pick will face Pierre Poliev, who's expected to win the next general election by a wide margin.
Chapter 4: How does Biden's offshore-drilling ban impact future policies?
Chapter 5: What is the significance of Biden's Social Security expansion?
Chapter 6: How are U.S.-Canada relations affected by Trump's presidency?
Chapter 7: What can we expect from Canada's political future?
For our American listeners, this story probably sounds familiar. In a 2024 election exit poll, nearly 7 in 10 voters said the U.S. economy was either not so good or poor. About 3 in 4 voters said that inflation had caused their family hardship, and they took that unhappiness out on the party in power.
Now Canada is facing similar upheaval, and it comes as the nation is trying to figure out how to work with the incoming Trump administration. The relationship between our country and Canada is vital for both nations. We are each other's biggest trading partners and neighbors.
But in recent months, Trump has lobbed insults at Canada, referring to it as our 51st state and suggesting that it should merge with the U.S. Now, that trolling aside, he's also promised to impose significant tariffs on all imports from Canada on day one. In fact, a major turning point for confidence in Trudeau's leadership came just before the holidays.
A longtime ally, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, stepped down. She was set to lead Canada's response to the tariffs proposed by President-elect Trump. And she and Trudeau had disagreements about how to best respond to that threat.
Her resignation and her rebuke of specifically Trudeau's plan for dealing with the Trump relationship kind of put the nail in the coffin, so to speak, for his party leadership, for sure, if not his national leadership.
Trudeau will remain prime minister until his party selects a new leader. But their eventual pick will face Pierre Poliev, who's expected to win the next general election by a wide margin.
He's also sort of a populist in a Trump-esque mold. So I think that will really be something to watch. And I think that's something that Canadians are actually concerned about. So
Now to the U.S., where President Biden is making last-minute moves in the final days of his presidency. He recently signed a bill to expand Social Security benefits for millions of current and former public sector workers. And he's taken several steps to shore up his environmental legacy before President-elect Trump takes office.
Today, Biden will dedicate two new national monuments in California to protect land that belongs to tribal nations. And yesterday, he announced a permanent ban on oil and gas drilling across more than 625 million acres of federal waters. That includes part of the eastern seaboard, the Pacific coast, and the Gulf of Mexico.
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