Almost a full year into his presidency, President Biden has failed to fill vacancies on the United States Sentencing Commission. Only one of the seven positions is currently filled on the commission, which sets federal sentencing guidelines for many crimes. The failure to fill these vacancies prevents the commission from even meeting the required quorum of four voting members, rendering it effectively powerless. President Trump nominated five members to the commission in August of 2020, but the Senate took no action on the Trump nominees. The U.S. Judicial Conference recommended six judges in April of 2021 for nomination, but President Biden has taken no steps to nominate a single judge.
President Biden’s Office of Public Management issued new proposed regulations that will tie managers’ hands when attempting to apply disciplinary actions against delinquent workers. The proposed regulations came by the direction of a January 2021 Biden executive order and would make it once again incredibly difficult to terminate the employment of federal workers for cause, even those who have been found guilty of criminal activity.