In his first address to a joint session of Congress less than a year ago, President Joe Biden stood before a country still in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic crisis and “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War,” the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“One hundred days ago, America’s house was on fire,” Biden said in April of last year.
Biden had, a little over a month before, signed into law the American Rescue Plan, his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. The president had also overseen a successful vaccination drive at that point, with over 200 million COVID-19 shots administered — more than doubling the goal he initially set of 100 million shots in 100 days.
“Our progress these past 100 days against the worst pandemic in history has been one of the logistical achievements this country has ever seen,” Biden said at the time.
But in many ways, the fire is still burning: Mask mandates became a major flashpoint in the culture wars dividing Americans along party lines. Vaccination rates slowed, with nearly 65% of the country fully inoculated against the coronavirus. And the omicron variant surge after Christmas of 2021 only added to the nation’s collective COVID fatigue.
Since that speech, the United States has seen a historic job growth and economic recovery under President Biden, thanks in large part to the American Rescue Plan. The United States’ economy grew by 5.7% in 2021, the fastest rate in a full year since the 1980s. Congress also passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill in widely bipartisan fashion, which, taken with the ARP, comprised two-thirds of Biden’s Build Back Better agenda.
And the president has made major strides in helping rebuild America’s presence on the world stage after relations with allies withered under his predecessor’s “America First” agenda — which can be seen most recently in the coordination of sanctions against Russia in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine.
But the last year has not been without challenges for the Biden administration: Months after Biden’s speech, Biden oversaw the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years, a process that was criticized as chaotic and messy. Rising consumer prices have hurt Americans’ wallets and been a source of contention for the president’s critics.
And the third part of Biden’s economic agenda — the Build Back Better bill, a sweeping climate change and social spending measure — stalling in the Senate after a moderate holdout balked, putting the difficulties of a 50-50 Senate on full display for the American people.
All this ahead of a crucial midterm election cycle, with both parties vying for control of Congress in eight months’ time.
With all that in mind, President Biden will spend much of his first State of the Union address on Tuesday talking about his continued economic path forward for America — touting the progress of his administration’s economic gains, while also addressing the pain inflation is causing the American people and laying out his plan to address rising consumer prices.
“The president is proud of the administration’s progress to date,” a senior administration official told reporters on a call previewing Biden’s speech, adding: “What you can expect the president to lay out tomorrow is how his plan, the ideas he’s put forward, lowers costs for families, can reduce the deficit and that it’s time for Congress to act.”
“It’s time for Congress to get him a piece of legislation that addresses those core challenges for families right now,” the official said.
“We have a choice,” Biden will say, according to excerpts from his prepared remarks shared with Spectrum News. “One way to fight inflation is to drive down wages and make Americans poorer. I have a better plan to fight inflation.”
The White House on Monday outlined President Biden’s four-point plan to lower costs for American families:
- Increasing American manufacturing and production, strengthening domestic supply chains and moving items faster and cheaper;
- Reducing everyday expenses for Americans while also reducing the deficit;
- Promoting fair competition and aiding small businesses, and;
- Eliminating barriers to good-paying jobs for workers nationwide
“Lower your costs, not your wages,” the president is expected to say. “Make more cars and semiconductors in America. More infrastructure and innovation in America. More goods moving faster and cheaper in America. More jobs where you can earn a good living in America. And, instead of relying on foreign supply chains, let’s make it in America.”
“Economists call it ‘increasing the productive capacity of our economy,’” Biden will say, according to his prepared remarks. “I call it building a better America. My plan to fight inflation will lower your costs and lower the deficit.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki pledged that Biden will take on the issue of inflation head-on in his speech Tuesday.
“The President will absolutely use the word ‘inflation’ tomorrow and he will talk about inflation in his speech,” Psaki said at a briefing on Monday. “That is a huge issue on the minds of Americans.”
Biden will also highlight the impact that his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill will have on the lives of Americans this year by announcing a commitment to start repair on 65,000 miles of roads and 1,500 bridges, and calling on Congress to pass elements of his Build Back Better agenda — specifically, passing comprehensive clean energy and climate action legislation, and legislation aimed at reducing costs for child care, elder care and prescription drugs.
Biden will “reiterate his call for Congress to move forward” on lowering those costs, Psaki said Monday, but noted that in his speech, “he’s going to make clear that one of the best ways to lower costs over the long run is to increase the productive capacity of our economy to make more things in America with more American workers contributing and earning a good living.”
“He’s going to describe the emerging manufacturing comeback with American companies betting on America again, because of the administration’s commitment to domestic industrial revitalization and technological development,” Psaki said. “He will also explain that we can also lower costs by promoting fair competition in the U.S. economy. And he will talk about steps to lower consumer prices and level the playing field for American businesses and ocean shipping and new steps to protect seniors and other nursing home residents by cracking down on unsafe nursing homes.”
On the climate front, Biden will highlight highlight how climate spending and tax credits would cut energy costs and help save American families an average of $500 per year.
The president will “reflect on one of the strongest labor market recoveries in American history and make clear that it’s important to continue to take steps to eliminate barriers to good paying jobs for workers across America,” Psaki added.
“He’ll call on Congress to send bills to his desk that deliver progress on ideas that have historically been supported by Democrats and Republicans,” Psaki continued. “Some of those are economic, and some of those are in other areas that could just impact and help communities across the country. And you will certainly hear him call … for a continued effort or a doubling of the effort to move forward on steps that will reduce costs for the American people in these key areas of child care, health care and prescription drugs.”
Biden is also expected to touch on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, specifically “the unity of the vast majority of the global community and standing up against President Putin,” Psaki said.
The White House spokesperson added that Biden will, in his speech, touch on “laying out efforts to the American people that the United States has undertaken to rally the world for democracy and against Russian aggression.”
“Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson: when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos,” Biden is expected to say of Putin’s actions in Ukraine, per his prepared remarks. “They keep moving. And, the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising.”
“That’s why the NATO Alliance was created to secure peace and stability in Europe after World War II,” Biden is expected to say. “It matters. American diplomacy matters.”
“Putin’s war was premeditated and unprovoked,” the president will say, per his prepared remarks. “He rejected efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and NATO wouldn’t respond. And he thought he could divide us here at home.”
“Putin was wrong,” Biden is expected to add. “We were ready.”
Biden will also launch a major overhaul of nursing homes standards in his State of the Union speech, White House officials said Monday, with measures intended to raise the bar on quality, increase government oversight, and continue efforts to keep COVID-19 out of nursing homes.
The cornerstone of Biden’s plan is a new requirement for minimum staffing standards for nursing homes. The president is ordering the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to conduct a study on staffing and publish proposed regulations within a year. Biden’s plan also calls for moving nursing homes toward private rooms for their residents, directing federal regulators to explore how to phase out living arrangements that house three or more residents in the same room.
Beefed-up oversight is another priority: Biden’s plan calls for increasing the nursing home inspection budget by $500 million, a boost of nearly 25%. Nursing home inspections are generally carried out by the states, following guidelines from Medicare. Biden will also ask Congress to give Medicare new legal authority to weed out nursing home chains that operate substandard facilities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
