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The American president has been described as the most powerful man in the world for generations.
Compared to other political leaders, his power is enormous.
Not only because the USA with its 330 million inhabitants is still the politically and economically most powerful country in the world.
But also because of his formal functions: The US President is head of state, head of government and commander-in-chief.
At least informally, he is also the chairman of the party on whose ticket he captured the White House.
As one person, the American president holds four positions that are held by four different political leaders in other western democracies, for example in Germany at the moment.
The USA is a presidential democracy, which is what constitutes and constitutes the power of the president.
He is elected by the people (via the detour of the electoral body) and can only be removed in a complicated procedure in exceptional circumstances.
Joe Biden does not have to fear a constructive vote of no confidence, as would be possible in Germany.
He is elected until January 2025.
In addition, Biden has a friendly congress at his side.
The Democratic Party managed to win two previously Republican Senate seats in Georgia runoff elections in January (which was overlaid in the media as a result of the violent storming of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob).
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Democrats and Republicans now each have 50 seats in the Senate.
In the event of a tie, Vice President Kamala Harris has a vote.
The Democrats therefore provide the majority leader in the Senate, lead committees and set the agenda.
They have had a majority in the House of Representatives since 2019, even if their lead over the Republicans has shrunk quite a bit in the most recent elections.
The Democrats have 221 MPs and the Republicans 211.
So everything is good for Joe Biden?
Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that.
It is precisely in these days that the sometimes very narrow limits of presidential power in the USA are becoming apparent.
The concern that Biden could “rule through” need not concern his critics.
These days it is not only the Republicans who are making life difficult for the president, but also some of his own people, "party friends".
At the end of last week, for example, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from conservative West Virginia announced that he would not confirm Neera Tanden, which Biden had proposed as budget director.
Ministers and top officials require a second Chamber seat.
Tanden could now be Biden's first recruitment proposal, which he has to collect again.
The new majority leader Chuck Schumer is trying to collect the necessary votes for Tanden.
But he should still suspect that Biden - after all sorts of undisputed confirmations - threatens the first setback in personnel issues.
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It is noticeable that Biden is only lukewarm for Tanden.
No wonder: the candidate is not a Biden confidante, but closely interwoven with Hillary Clinton.
Tanden is the prime example of a campaign worker.
It belongs to the party establishment, is good at organizing campaign donations, and was most recently "parked" at the left-liberal think tank "Center for American Progress".
Senator Manchin's announced no contradicts the common thesis that only the left wing of the Democrats will make Biden's life difficult.
Left senators have every reason to criticize Tanden.
Her once poisonous tweets and insults from party friends are legendary.
Left Senator Bernie Sanders, for example, knows this all too well.
At a recent hearing, he asked Tanden critical questions, for example about the financing of their think tank by large corporations.
Sanders did not announce a no vote, nor did the left-wing Elizabeth Warren.
But Biden's limited power is evident not only in personnel policy, but also in political projects.
The president decided to integrate the increase in the national minimum wage, which his party had long demanded, into the $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package.
Accordingly, the minimum wage, which has been in force since 2009, is set to rise gradually from currently 7.25 dollars per hour to 15 dollars in 2024.
Many states long ago introduced such a minimum wage rate, sometimes after referendums.
Dispute over the minimum wage
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But it is now uncertain whether the minimum wage passage may be part of the Corona aid package.
Neither Biden nor the majority faction in the Senate decides on this question, but the so-called non-partisan
Senate Parlamentarian
, a kind of arbitrator in matters of rules of procedure.
That
Senate Parliamentarian
Elizabeth MacDonough, not well known to the American public, probably has the final say on whether or not an important project from Biden's election manifesto is implemented.
Because it is relevant to the budget, the aid package only requires a simple majority in the Senate.
Or, to put it another way, almost all other laws require a super majority of 60 senators.
Biden's power is very relative in the Senate, despite the electoral successes of his party.
Nothing works without a cooperation with the Republicans.
Certainly, long-time Senator Biden (first election to the Senate in 1972!) Has talked, negotiated, bargained and compromised with the Republicans for decades.
But is today's Republican Party, which is still under the thumb of Donald Trump, even able to make such compromises with the new resident of the White House?
How limited Biden's power is can also be seen in his most important topic: the fight against Covid.
With regard to the vaccinations, Biden had practiced a modest, so clever expectation management: 100 million vaccinations in 100 days - that was his watchword.
That wasn't an ambitious goal.
In the last few days of Trump's term in office, over a million vaccinations were given every day.
Recently, their seven-day average rose to 1.5 million, even 1.6 million, once even over 1.7 million.
That looked like a clean balance sheet.
Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that.
In recent days, as a result of the cold weather - and a power outage in millions of households due to a severe onset of winter in Texas - far fewer vaccinations than before.
Biden's proudly rising row of numbers is broken.
The White House is powerless.
The vaccinations are in the hands of the states.
Next to Georgia, Tennessee and Utah, Texas has the lowest vaccination rate.
That state, then, in which millions of people recently had to freeze and queue for clean water.
Ironically, the state that always sees itself as something better than its neighbors and especially when it comes to “Washington”.
Texas can hardly make demands on Biden for more vaccine at the moment.
About a million vaccine doses are still in Texas refrigerators.
The key to turning vaccination doses into vaccinations isn't in the White House.
Joe Biden is relatively powerless, even there.