Biden and Democrats run up against relentless conservative power

Democrats control Washington but President Joe Biden is staring at a wall of conservative power, accrued over years and wielded with a ruthlessness and zeal for rule-breaking that his own party has rarely matched.

The President's struggles to implement his strategy to protect US democracy and reshape the economy to help working Americans are hampered by divisions in his own party. But a wider battle is playing out -- a generational struggle between conservatism and liberal activism that Biden appears to be losing, despite some early legislative successes, as the right's hold on critical institutions of the US political system tightens.

On Thursday, the new conservative Supreme Court majority, fresh from weakening the constitutional right to an abortion, dealt another devastating blow to Biden, striking down his Covid-19 vaccine and testing requirement mandates for big businesses.