I just became aware of President Biden's history with U.S. v. Vaello-Madero, the case to be heard by the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of denying SSI benefits to U.S. citizens who reside in Puerto Rico. On September 6, 2020, a reporter for a Puerto Rican newspaper posted a story about the Trump Administration requesting that the Supreme Court hear U.S. v. Vaello-Madero and then tweeted about the story. Then candidate Joe Biden tweeted the following in response:
Time and again, the president has refused to provide Puerto Rico with much-needed resources. He’s repeatedly insulted Puerto Ricans and this latest action is another example of his disrespect for the island.
This ends when I’m elected president.
This isn't exactly a promise to withdraw the request that the Supreme Court hear U.S. v. Vaello-Madero, although it can be interpreted that way. This twitter history is drawing attention and some are expressing disappointment that Biden hasn't already changed the government's position on the case. Biden's press secretary has said that Biden supports legislation to extend SSI to U.S. territories.
Biden hasn't yet nominated a Solicitor General, the official who represents the federal government before the Supreme Court. Once he does, I hope that the Biden Administration's position on U.S. v. Vaello-Madero comes up in the confirmation hearing.
Yeah, not like there was nothing else going on, like a pandemic and a damaged economy, he should really focus his first 100 days on something like this.
ReplyDelete@12:02
ReplyDeleteConcepts like "focus" and "political capital" are incorrect. The government is made up of hundreds of thousands of individuals who are more than capable of doing a number of things at one time.
What @12:02 said
ReplyDeleteexactly. Biden the man, sure, he can't keep up with all of that. But his trusted team members should know the company line on all these things (they should have hammered most all this out long ago and should constantly be adjusting and communicating the administration's positions on all issues) and start getting the relevant players marching in that direction.
ReplyDeleteBiden doesn't need to expend his personal political capital on this by, e.g., making speeches or pressing for legislation. He simply needs someone on his staff to call Justice and the SG and tell them the new line they are taking. Would take 5 minutes of a mid-level staffer's time.