In his first two years as president, Joe Biden surprised and delighted the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Early on, he enacted the American Rescue Plan, a nearly $2 trillion economic stimulus law aimed at pandemic relief. He signed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package and the first gun control legislation in decades.

But recently, President Biden has taken a series of steps that counter the liberal narrative. He OK’d a major oil drilling project in Alaska. He rolled out a budget heavy in deficit reduction and helped Congress overturn a crime bill passed by the Washington, D.C., city council.

None of these latest moves should come as a surprise, say longtime Biden-watchers. As a decadeslong Washington fixture, both in the Senate and as vice president, he was a creature of the middle, often willing to work across the aisle and make deals. 

“He always manages to find whatever the center of the Democratic Party is, and kind of be there,” says Seth Masket, a political scientist at the University of Denver.

Now, Mr. Biden seems to be getting ready for an expected 2024 reelection campaign, and with no sign that he will face major opposition for the Democratic presidential nomination, he can focus his messaging right at mainstream general election voters.

In his first two years as president, Joe Biden surprised and delighted the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

Early on, he enacted the American Rescue Plan, a nearly $2 trillion economic stimulus law aimed at pandemic relief. He signed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package and the first gun control legislation in decades. He is attempting a massive student debt relief initiative, now before the Supreme Court. And last August, he signed landmark climate change and health care legislation.

“Biden has gone left wing,” conservatives essentially screamed from the sidelines. 

Against this backdrop, President Biden has taken a series of recent steps that counter the liberal narrative: He OK’d a major oil drilling project in Alaska. He rolled out a budget heavy in deficit reduction. He helped Congress overturn a crime bill passed by Washington, D.C., countering the city’s statehood movement. And he is reportedly considering reinstating a Trump-era practice of detaining migrant families that cross the southern border illegally. 

What gives? In fact, none of these latest moves should come as a surprise, say longtime Biden-watchers. As a decadeslong Washington fixture, both in the Senate and as vice president, he was a creature of the middle, often willing to work across the aisle and make deals.