The Week Evening Review
Biden's lame-duck plans, the future of Hamas, and Walz's relationship with China

 
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION

What can we expect from Biden's lame-duck period?

With five months left in office, President Joe Biden is firmly in his lame-duck era, a period of planned obsolescence as his eventual successor's inauguration draws nearer. And he can focus solely on governing without the distractions that came with running his now-abandoned reelection campaign.

What did the commentators say?
As Biden "looks to secure a one-term legacy," he has charged his White House staff with four "main pillars" on which to focus in the coming months, CNN said. They include the continued push for "key legislation," economic growth via student debt relief and lower costs for prescription drugs, countering hate and extremism, and a strong foreign policy agenda. 

Presidents in their lame-duck periods have often used the "waning days of their presidencies to take big shots at weighty policy," PBS NewsHour said. Given the war between Ukraine and Russia, as well as ongoing cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, foreign policy could be Biden's "best hope for a final legacy-defining moment." Still, "realistically, there might not be enough time for big breakthroughs," former U.S. Ambassador Gordon Grey said to PBS. 

Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, hope Biden can use his "unusual station to advance a host of Democratic policy priorities," said The Hill. Even if they have little chance of becoming law, this could "put a spotlight on specific issues and set off a messaging blitz." 

What next?
The coming months for Biden will likely feature increasing opposition from congressional Republicans working to "connect his administration to Vice President Kamala Harris," Foreign Policy said. Moreover, Biden may have already hit a limit on what he can accomplish through executive actions, "leaving little more the president can do without more funding from Capitol Hill," The Hill said. 

Ultimately, Biden could be most effective by becoming a "juggernaut on the campaign trail," PBS NewsHour said. However, as Harris seeks to carve out her electoral niche, she needs to "distinguish herself from his administration," Rob Mellen, a professor at the University of South Florida, said at The Washington Examiner. With that in mind, he's more likely "poised to float out of office like a lame duck on the tides of change."

 
 
QUOTE OF THE DAY

'"You can't do it, Vladimir. If you do it, it's going to be a bad day. You cannot do it." And I told him what I'd do. And he said, "No way." And I said, "Way."'

Donald Trump claiming he tried to offer Vladimir Putin an alternative to invading Ukraine, during a two-hour interview with Elon Musk on X

 
 
The Explainer

The future of Hamas under Yahya Sinwar

After the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to kill the three members of Hamas that he held responsible for the atrocities: the political leader Ismail Haniyeh; the leader of the military wing, Mohammed Deif; and the leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. Haniyeh was killed in a rocket strike in Tehran last month. Days later, Israel announced Deif had been killed in Gaza earlier in July. Hamas has not confirmed Deif's death, but in a show of defiance, the group has announced Sinwar as its new political leader. 

Who is Yahya Sinwar? 
One of Hamas' "most influential leaders" and considered the mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks, Sinwar wields "outsize power while remaining mostly hidden in tunnels beneath Gaza," said The New York Times. He founded the Hamas security service known as al-Majd and with it hunted down Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel, leading to the nickname The Butcher of Khan Yunis. He has since built up the group's military strength, helping to establish the armed wing known as the Qassam Brigades. 

He was designated a "global terrorist" by the US in 2015. Two years later, he was appointed head of Hamas' political bureau in Gaza. 

What does his selection mean for Hamas? 
It's "likely to provoke Israel," said The Associated Press. Iran and Hezbollah have both praised Sinwar's appointment. 

It also signals that Hamas leadership in Gaza has "taken over" from overseas figures, putting Gaza "front and center," Nour Odeh, a Palestinian political analyst, said to Al Jazeera. "And it really sends a signal, as far as negotiations of a cease-fire are concerned, that Gaza calls the shots." 

What does his selection mean for Gaza? 
Sinwar "has been and remains the primary decider when it comes to concluding the cease-fire," said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. But there's no longer the "comparatively pragmatic voice" of Haniyeh to "balance Sinwar's uncompromising maximalist views," said CNBC. 

Sinwar is seen as "less ready to concede ground to the Israeli negotiators," said The New York Times. Israeli and U.S. intelligence officers believe that Sinwar's strategy is to "keep the war in Gaza going for as long as it takes to shred Israel's international reputation."

 
 

Statistic of the day

160%: The percentage by which monkeypox cases have surged in Africa in 2024. Health officials for the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the disease, also called mpox, has been detected in more than 10 countries. Congo has had more than 96% of all reported cases and deaths. 
The Associated Press

 
 
In the SPotlight

Tim Walz's long, complicated history with China 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) was nicknamed Fields of China in 1989 by students in Guangdong, China, during the year he spent teaching there after college. The moniker was intended to convey that his kindness was "as big as the fields of China," Walz said to The Hill in 2007. Walz has returned to China about 30 times, and when elected to the House of Representatives in 2006, he served on the government commission tasked with monitoring Chinese human rights and the rule of law. Now, as Walz enters the national spotlight as a vice-presidential nominee, that longstanding relationship has come under renewed scrutiny. 

'Nuanced' position
Republicans have quickly seized upon Walz's time spent in China as a liability. The Make America Great Again PAC posted clips of the Minnesota governor disagreeing with the suggestion that China "necessarily needs to be an adversarial relationship."

Walz's policy toward China would be the "weakest in generations," said former Trump administration State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus on X. China, for one, is "very happy" with Walz on the Democratic ticket, said Richard Grenell, a former acting National Intelligence director under Trump.

During his time in Congress, however, Walz "joined numerous initiatives criticizing Beijing's human rights abuses" and met with "several of the Chinese Communist Party's top detractors," the National Review said. Walz blends "robust human rights advocacy with a willingness to emphasize the importance of 'cooperation' with Beijing." 

For as much as Walz has been "skeptical of the Chinese leadership, he still worked to engage with the Chinese people," The Washington Post said. He has described his "nuanced" position as "neither a 'dragon slayer' nor a 'panda hugger.'"

'Not starting from square one'
Walz's deep relations with China could also be an asset in the White House. Several activists in Hong Kong have "touted Walz" given his "support for the territory’s democratic movement," Semafor said. 

His China experience will ultimately "put a lot of people who care a lot about American foreign policy in this part of the world at ease," Lev Nachman, a political scientist at National Taiwan University, said to Voice of America. He is "informed, has spent time in the region and is not starting from square one when it comes to learning about American foreign policy in East Asia." 

 
 

Good day 🎤

… for Miley Cyrus. The singer-songwriter and actor became the youngest star to be named a Disney Legend at the D23 fan convention on Sunday. As she collected her award at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, an emotional Cyrus said she was "still proud to have been Hannah Montana" in the Disney Channel series.

 
 

Bad day 🏋️

… for Blink Fitness. The affordable gym chain, owned by luxury fitness company Equinox, filed for bankruptcy and said it may have to shut down an unspecified number of its 101 clubs. The bankruptcy is a "sign that this is an industry still going through growing pains post-Covid," Rick Caro, the president of fitness industry consulting firm Management Vision, said to CNN.

 
 
Picture of the day

Greek inferno

Local residents comfort each other as firefighters battle a dangerously fast-moving wildfire in Varnavas, near Athens. At least one person has died, thousands have been evacuated, and buildings have been destroyed in the suburbs around the capital.
Xinhua / Shutterstock

 
 
Puzzles

Test your general knowledge with The Week's daily crossword, part of our puzzles section, which also includes sudoku and codewords

 
 
The Week recommends

Mexico and the U.S. have been inexorably woven together for centuries, and the food of the two countries flows in both directions. At these three restaurants, coastal Mexican cooking intersects with the foodstuffs of the American Gulf and Southern California.

Panther City BBQ, Fort Worth, Texas 
The flacodilla says it all: a quesadilla with asadero cheese but studded with smoked brisket. Such is the approach of Chris Magallanes and Ernest Morales at this celebrated barbecue spot. Texas-style barbecue staples like brisket, slaw, and mac and cheese are served alongside charro beans, elote cups and the weekends-only smoked barbacoa. 

Chilango, Minneapolis
The corn for the masa that stars in the house-made tortillas at Chilango comes from both Minnesota and Mexico. That's how Jorge Guzman thinks about his food sourcing: Be where you are, but never quit your foundations. Plied with heirloom tomatoes, Duke's mayo, and salsa macha — that dark nut-laden salsa born in Veracruz — the pan con tomate is a vitalizing jumble of influences from the American South to coastal Mexico to Spain. 

Holbox, Los Angeles
A 2023 James Beard Award nomination, the Los Angeles Times' 2023 Restaurant of the Year, endless Angeleno mouths, and brains upended — Gilberto Cetina's homage to his motherland, the Yucatán Peninsula, merges the ingredients and cooking styles of Southern California and Mexico. 

It's all seafood all the time here. Uni often plays a starring role, in, say, a tostada with kanpachi, walnuts and Pecorino Romano. On Thursdays and Fridays, the counter format converts to a tasting menu. 

 
 

Poll watch

The majority of Americans say potential nominations to the Supreme Court will play a factor in how they vote in the presidential election, according to a new USA Today / Ipsos poll. The poll surveyed 1,024 adults and found that 81% say nominations to the Supreme Court are "important" when it comes to their choice in the upcoming election. 

 
 
INSTANT OPINION

Today's best commentary

'How to transform city streets — without losing your parking spot'
Amanda Shendruk at The Washington Post
More "street space for people means less space for vehicles," but there's a "way to have your park — and parking, too," says Amanda Shendruk. It's called a "superblock — an urban planning concept gaining traction throughout Europe." Superblocks "don't aim to eliminate cars; they just make them less important." Taking car spaces can be a "hard sell." But if "we care about the well-being of our communities," city planners "can't stick with the status quo."

'We all pay the price for protectionism'
Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux at The Wall Street Journal
"Protectionism and industrial policy misallocate resources and reduce economic efficiency," says Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux. When firms in a "free market produce outputs that consumers won't buy, the money entrepreneurs and investors lose is their own," and when "protectionists and industrial policy planners make mistakes, they often mask them with more subsidies and tariffs — at taxpayers' expense." In "attempting to answer" the jobs question, it "becomes clear that the new mantra is the same old siren song."

'The H1-B lottery is too easily gamed. Here's how to fix it.'
Bloomberg editorial board
H1-B visas for educated foreigners are "awarded not by merit but by lottery," but this "random allocation never made much sense," says the Bloomberg editorial board. This lottery has "imposed an inefficient and unpredictable standard that prevents employers from hiring the best candidates." A "better approach would be to scrap the lottery in favor of a merit-based system," while "another option is to prioritize higher-wage earners, who are typically more skilled."

 
 
WORD OF THE DAY

cruisezilla

Giant passenger vessels are getting even bigger, according to new research by advocacy group Transport & Environment. Today's cruisezilla makes the Titanic "look like a small fishing boat," said Inesa Ulichina, a sustainable shipping analyst for the group, which predicts that by 2050 the biggest ships will be eight times larger by tonnage than the infamous sunken ocean liner.

 
 

Evening Review was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Harold Maass, Harriet Marsden, Joel Mathis, Summer Meza, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz, Anahi Valenzuela and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Getty Images; Yousef Masoud / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images; Demetrius Freeman / The Washington Post via Getty Images; Larisa Blinova / Getty Images