Lars Brandt (USE)

Lars Brandt
President of the United States
In office January 20, 2023 – Present
Preceded by	Keith E. Chism
Personal details
Born	Lars Brandt
Political party	New Liberals
Relatives	Brandt family

Lars Brandt, often referred to as LB, has been the XX president of the United States since 2023. He is a member of the New Liberals Party and is one of multiple presidents who has continued the string of NLP dominance in the executive since 2018, which was the first election the NLP has won since the 1998 presidential election. Prior to 2018, the federal government was mainly powered by the Conservation, Pro-State and Nationalist parties.

Lars is one of the oldest candidates to win a presidential election in the party's history, born in 19XX in XXX, XXX, going on to enroll in college at the early age of 16 to major in political science. He would travel to the north and visit northern colleges during his education to see different perspectives and cultures and to learn how to best engage with a nation divided by north and south. This tactic, now famously adopted in college curricula nationwide, won him a seat in the House of Representatives, where he stayed until his term limit came up. Afterwards, he decided to become a law enforcement officer to see firsthand what police culture is like, and how to best improve it through learned experience. Through this experience, he successfully lobbied multiple states to pass effective anti-corruption laws that would later be modeled by him when he joined the Senate in 20XX.

In 2008, Lars was the Vice Presidential pick for the NLP's ballot, having been running as an independent all this time. He accepted, however, the candidate did not win the election, but they did win the primary. He would not get another shot at the presidential election until he decided to run in the party primary for the 2023 presidential election, knowing that an independent presidency had not yet occurred in US history. He won it by a landslide, and then ended up beating the other candidates by significant margins.

Presidency (2023-Present)

Inauguration

Brandt was inaugurated as the XX President of the United States on January 20th, 2023. At XX, he is the oldest New Liberals candidate to assume the office. He is the second NLP president after President Chism in the 2018 election and is a continuation of the dominance of the party that came after the massive outcry and failure of the Nationalists Party in 2008, and the subsequent failures of the Greens in 2013. His inauguration was attended by many, including outgoing President Keith E. Chism. Keith would be appointed as Brandt's Chief of Staff following his inauguration.

First 100 Days

On day one, Brandt had a stronger Congress, with maintaining the majority in the House of Representatives, and making the Conservation Party hang on to their majority in the Senate by a thread. This allowed him to do things that were previously difficult or required coalitions with the Chism cabinet. He additionally followed up on his campaign promise to repeal Chism's bathroom equality policy instituted by the Department of Education, and passed an executive order forbidding any policies on bathroom usage "that goes against natural bodily phenomenon." The repeal took effect December 2023. Within the first week, Brandt had passed over 60 executive orders, the majority of them on addressing inequities and racism in the nation. In February, he signed the Transgender Rights Act of 2023 into law, which was attempted during the Chism Administration but it was successfully killed through bipartisan action and never made it to his desk. The law established that the status of being transgender applies towards the equal protection clause of the Constitution insofar as they successfully undergo and verify their status in hormone replacement therapy. While not completely reversing the previous executive order on bathroom usage, it did weaken it some. Additionally, it mandated the creation of what are now referred to as "Title V" offices, after Title V of the act mandating the establishment of transgender rights departments enforcing the act and also enforced the law against companies, forbidding them from asking your transgender status or from questioning your gender as applicable by law.

Domestic Policy

Law Enforcement & Judiciary

Four years into Brandt's term, he began campaigning for a new federal agency dedicated to foreign surveillance and counter-intelligence activities. His justification for the agency was that "The government cannot at present ascertain the foreign threats that may be present in our nation, nor can we proffer a guarantee of security in any territories not controlled by the United States." This campaigning later led to a direct proposal from Brandt to the House of Representatives, titled the Federal Counter-Intelligence Act. It barely passed the House of Representatives because many party members bickered over the potential of using the existing authorization for the NSA to fulfill this purpose, and this was a topic of discussion when it got to the Senate. The Senate ended up denying it, with over half the chamber voting "No", including party members. At the time, Senate Majority Leader Raos Egede for the Conservation Party stated that "This is exactly what our party is attempting to quell. Overreach of federal authority by way of excuses to create new agencies, which can later turn around and be used for a completely different purpose."

After the FCIA failed to gain the necessary support in Congress, Brandt did what the party ultimately recommended and passed an executive order similar to what the FCIA was attempting to accomplish. The order was subject to multiple lawsuits by the states, however, the courts ruled that the president was within "their constitutional authority to pass directives which shall such be followed by those applicable to it." and the US Court of Appeals agreed. The Supreme Court rejected the case upon appeal, ultimately ending the lawsuits and upholding the order.