Biden’s Final Move: Abuse Power and Expand Government Control

The Biden Administration has not held back on rulemaking and regulatory action in its final months, making sure to leave an imprint on every sector before President-elect Donald Trump assumes office for his second term. Recent actions by various bureaucrats and other functionaries of the administrative state in the waning days of the administration are nothing short of blatant government overreach.

In a push to cripple politically unfavorable sectors, the Biden administration has often targeted American oil and gas. Despite price pressures placed on inflation-weary consumers, Biden continues to push for a green energy transition, testing the limits of government authority.

Most recently, Biden issued an executive order banning new offshore drilling leases in large swaths of U.S. coastal waters. Prior to this, the Department of Energy placed a moratorium on new liquid natural gas (LNG) export permits, which threatens the economic well-being and energy security of the nation. This faced extensive bipartisan opposition and failed to hold up in court, but the Biden administration has continued to run out the clock on the legal process, appealing the ruling in clear opposition to the desires of the country.

In November, the Biden administration rushed through a study from the Department of Energy, in an attempt to make it more challenging for Trump to reverse Biden’s LNG ban. It is a clear example of how the federal government tries to weaponize bureaucratic “studies” to make claims supporting predetermined politically charged conclusions.

The abusive expansion of government control does not stop at energy, however. The Biden administration has also weaponized the administrative state to “debank” and restrict the crypto industry.

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen recently revealed that the Biden administration has pressured financial institutions over the past few years to “debank” key executives and founders in the crypto industry, restricting the sector from accessing the banking system. Some have equated the practice to “financial redlining.”

The practice spans several federal agencies including the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which is accused of abusing its power to pressure banks to “choke off” an entire industry. Dubbed “Operation Choke Point 2.0,” these actions -- in tandem with Biden’s SEC declaring “war on crypto”-- highlight Biden’s rampant administrative overreach disguised through bureaucratic agencies mounting control. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse last month appeared on “60 Minutes,” where he detailed the SEC’s “war on crypto” and explained how the incoming Trump administration will take a different approach.

Even more recently, the Biden administration has declared a new administrative war, attempting to entirely rewrite federal housing regulations and malign the mortgage industry in efforts to shift blame for the housing affordability crisis that Biden has exacerbated.

In October, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit claiming that a Colorado housing appraiser engaged in racial discrimination, undervaluing a black woman’s home. The DOJ not only targeted the appraiser but tacked on the country’s biggest mortgage lender, Rocket Mortgage. That lawsuit sparked criticism from experts throughout the industry and legal scholars, who argued that mortgage lenders cannot be held responsible for the actions of an independent appraiser. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act makes the role of the mortgage lender in appraisals clear: lenders cannot influence appraisers.

Now, Rocket Mortgage is punching back. Last month, the company sued the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), asking courts to clarify the contradictory federal laws and DOJ enforcement actions. Rocket contends that it was only named as a defendant in the DOJ lawsuit by ambitious federal prosecutors attempting to garner media attention.

In the waning days of the administration, Biden’s bumbling bureaucracy has also mobilized a federal consumer watchdog – the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – to further attack the mortgage industry. On Dec. 23, the CFPB sued Rocket Homes, a sister company to Rocket Mortgage, accusing the company of being part of a sprawling kickback scheme with The Jason Mitchell Group (JMG), a real estate broker. JMG Founder Jason Mitchell has since slammed the lawsuit, revealing that the CFPB offered him a settlement in exchange for turning on Rocket.

Looking at Biden’s track record, it’s clear that the administration continues to target large corporations that will score them any remaining political points before the presidency changes hands and Republican rule takes over the House, Senate, and Oval Office.

Frivolous lawsuits against the housing and mortgage industry, engaging in questionable legal actions to ban offshore drilling, and mobilizing the bureaucratic state to aggressively attack companies seen as political enemies are all indicators of Bidens’ poor final attempt to cement his legacy, regardless of the extreme abuse of power.

The incoming Trump administration should be prepared to act as quickly as possible to dismantle the lingering cases of Biden’s lawfare. Florida’s own Pam Bondi will play a key role in this as she takes over the Trump administration’s Justice Department. The Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, should provide assistance, slashing the web of bureaucratic red tape that has been woefully abused by federal agencies under Biden.