Biden's first 100 days in office: 'Aggressive' progressive agenda even to the left of Obama

President Biden’s first 100 days in office were marked by fierce debates on Capitol Hill over the rollout of progressive policy initiatives that have drawn comparisons to those enacted by his Democratic predecessors Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson.

While Biden’s proposals are part of "an aggressive, progressive agenda" compared to recent presidential predecessors dating back to the 1970s, they are likely to be less transformative to the role of the federal government than Roosevelt’s "New Deal" or Johnson's "Great Society," according to Brooks Simpson, a presidential historian and professor at Arizona State University. With the Democrats holding a razor-thin majority in Congress, the most progressive elements of his plan will likely be tempered by GOP opposition and moderate members of Biden's own party. "Government, even under Reagan or either Bush, was a larger entity doing a lot more things than government in either one of those two situations," Simpson said. "To see it as tremendously radical is an overstatement. You can see that in fact from some of the real progressives in the Democratic party who are not necessarily happy that Biden isn’t going further and being much more confrontational." Biden’s agenda has drawn criticism from prominent Republicans who have accused his administration of abandoning its own call for bipartisanship. The president’s longtime friend, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, has described the Biden White House as a "totally left-wing administration" and accused Biden of campaigning as a centrist, only to pursue partisan policy goals once elected.