Since elected, President Joe Biden held his first press conference and addressed his lengthy to-do list, ranging from voting rights and immigration to increasing competition between China and the U.S.

Biden opened with an announcement of doubling the goal of “100 million shots in the arms of Americans” by his 100th day. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported over 133 million vaccines administered.

Mack Shelley, chair of the political science department, said Republicans had a hard enough time swallowing the $1.9 trillion relief package. Democrats have an easier time working through legislation related to tax spending and debt limits. Through the use of reconciliation, Congress can vote with a simple majority on finances. 

Voting rights legislation is another item of focus for the Democratic Party, with the filibuster as the one thing standing in their way. 

“There is absolutely zero way to get 60 votes on that (voting rights bill),” Shelley said. 

Biden agreed during the press conference that the filibuster embodies the Jim Crow era and that the parliamentary procedure has been abused. Senators used to “talk till this dropped” but it all changed in the ’70s. Now, opposition only has to announce their intentions to filibuster. This forces the party in power to assemble a 60-40 super majority to pass legislation.

While some Democrats have called for compromise on voting rights bills to avoid abolishing the filibuster, Biden said he would support going in that direction if it meant progress on the bill.

“What I am worried about is how un-American this whole intuitive thing is, it is sick,” Biden said. “It is sick.”

Through history, the filibuster was used by segregationists to prevent civil rights and anti-lynching legislation from passing. 

“Understand that these are all relating to race and that is exactly the situation we are in right now again,” Shelley said.

The Biden administration also must address multiple issues that cross domestic and international politics.

Another “intermestic” issue is the influx of migrant children seeking asylum. In 2017 there were an estimated 10.5 million unauthorized immigrants in comparison to more than 35 million lawful immigrants residing in the U.S.

A reporter questioned whether the Biden administration sent a message encouraging migrants to cross the border as a reason for the increase. Biden said a surge in migrants is expected from January to March because it is safer to travel through than the heat. 

The Biden administration is increasing efforts to improve the contact between minors who cross the border and their relatives. Biden assigned Vice President Kamala Harris to efforts regarding migration at the southern border. 

“I can’t guarantee we’re going to solve everything,” he said. “But I can guarantee you we can make everything better. I can make it better. We can change the lives of so many people.”

Shelley said this response differs from former President Donald Trump, who often claimed he had the solution to everything. 

“Dealing certain things that are just that elemental to the function of our democracy, like the right to vote, like the basic right to vote,” Biden said.