Joseph R. Biden, Jr., assumes the presidency at a time of unprecedented stress, at the peak of a pandemic and its repercussions, civil unrest over the results of the election, rapidly accelerating climate change, and a host of foreign policy challenges. The administration has said that it will focus first on four broad areas: fighting Covid-19, restoring America’s global leadership, infrastructure, and social justice. How likely is it that President Biden can accomplish these goals with the narrowest possible majority in the Senate and a very slender majority in the House? What strategies are we likely to see from the Biden administration on migration policy, support for higher education, global trade, workforce development, and reducing carbon emissions? In the broadest sense, how can a presidency launched amid such dissension develop anything resembling a governing consensus?

Panelists:
Enrique Desmond Arias, Professor and Marxe Endowed Chair of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Marxe School of Public and International Affairs (Marxe School)
Hector Cordero-Guzmán, Professor, Marxe School, National Academy of Public Administration
Patria de Lancer Julnes, Professor and Associate Dean, Marxe School, and Fellow, National Academy of Public Administration
David Lindsey, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Weissman School of Arts and Sciences
Michael Massiah, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Adjunct Faculty, Marxe School, and Fellow, National Academy of Public Administration
Carla Ann Robbins, Clinical Professor and MIA Program Director, Marxe School, and Adjunct Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relation
Robert Courtney Smith, Professor, Marxe School
Mitchel B. Wallerstein, CUNY University Professor, Past President of Baruch College, and Fellow, National Academy of Public Administration

Moderator: David S. Birdsell, Marxe Dean and Professor, Marxe School