‘Personnel is policy’: How progressives are shaping Biden administration

As Congress becomes gridlocked, both the left and right have increasingly looked to wield influence from within the executive branch.

In the first six months of the Biden administration, progressives have scored a series of landmark achievements – beyond what even they had expected.

They got Congress to approve $4 billion for Black farmers as part of the spring COVID-19 relief bill, in what some have called the most significant legislation for Black land ownership in America’s history, though it now faces a court challenge.

They have taken the helm and broadened the mandate of...