Russia invaded Ukraine. The Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections. President Joe Biden signed same-sex and interracial marriage protections into law.
These are just a few of the moments included in another monumental year in Washington, D.C., with history being made on the Supreme Court and in the White House.
In January, lawmakers in both Congress and the White House commemorated the first anniversary of the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Lawmakers gathered to share their experiences from that fateful day.
Just three weeks later, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced his intent to retire from the bench at the end of the June term. The move set up President Joe Biden to fulfill a campaign promise to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.
His search for a nominee concluded with the nomination of then-federal court judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Brown Jackson, a graduate of Harvard Law, clerked for Breyer at the beginning of her law career.
February also saw a seismic shift in foreign relations when Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking a war that is continuing to be fought in eastern Europe. The U.S. has since provided tens of billions of dollars in aid to the Ukraine since then, as they continue to fight Russian forces.
In March, President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address, focusing on economic growth, the COVID-19 pandemic, and rampant inflation.
“Tonight, we meet as Democrats, Republicans and independents, but most importantly as Americans,” Biden said to thunderous applause. “With a duty to one another to the American people to the Constitution. And with an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny.”
Just a few weeks later, Judge Brown Jackson sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee for her confirmation hearings in late March. The moment, steeped in history, which the future justice acknowledged during her testimony before 22 members of the Senate.
“I stand on the shoulders of so many who have come before me, including Judge Constance Baker Motley, who was the first African American woman to be appointed to the federal bench and with whom I share a birthday,” Jackson said in her opening remarks. “And like Judge Motley, I have dedicated my career to ensuring that the words engraved on the front of the Supreme Court building ‘equal justice under law’ are a reality and not just an idea.”
Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman confirmed to the bench in April, with a 53-47 confirmation vote, mostly along party lines.
The Supreme Court stayed in the news in May, but for a much different reason: the leak of a draft decision, penned by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, that would overturn federal abortion rights.
The high court confirmed that the draft was authentic, but said it does not represent a decision by the court nor the final position of any of its members. Despite that assurance, protesters came from far and wide to hold vigil outside the court.
In a statement, Roberts called the leak “a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here.” Roberts called for an investigation into the leak, but little has been made public about the status of the investigation.
In June, the White House was facing a baby formula shortage while also losing its most visible messenger: Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Psaki entered the briefing room for the Biden administration in January 2021, and made her exit for a position on MSNBC. Karine Jean-Pierre was tapped to fill the position, making her the first Black woman and first openly LGBTQ person to hold the role.
Two mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, N.Y. brought June to a sobering close. Across the country, people cried out for gun reform. Congress answered the call, passing the most impactful gun reform legislation in decades, which President Biden signed into law.
Then in the heat of summer, the most consequential and controversial decision from the Supreme Court was released: the Dobbs v. Jackson decision which overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade case that had, for nearly 50 years, provided federal abortion rights to women in America.
Just across the street, things were also heating up for the January 6th Select Committee, which held its first primetime hearing in June. Public hearings continued throughout the summer and into the end of the year, and concluded with ethics referrals for some members of congress, and a criminal referral for former President Donald Trump.
Already rising gas prices started soaring over the summer. President Biden was met with some criticism for his meeting with the oil rich Saudi Crown Prince in July.
When the president returned from the trip, he tested positive for COVID, and later for a rebound case.
But the summer wound up as a legislative juggernaut for Biden. He signed into law three major bills, including the PACT Act (to help veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits), the CHIPS and Science Act (to spur american manufacturing of microchips), and the Inflation Reduction Act (which focused on reducing prescription drug costs as well as major energy reforms).
Former President Donald Trump was back in the news in August, when the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago resort for classified documents. The investigation into those documents are still ongoing by the Department of Justice and special counsel Jack Smith.
After decades of service, Dr. Anthony Fauci announced in June he would be retiring at the end of the year.
“It’s been a very, very long haul,” Fauci said in a November interview with Spectrum News. “But there have been phases during those decades that things were done – not alone with a lot of help from a lot of very good people – that I feel very good about.”
Former President Barack Obama, accompanied by former First Lady Michelle Obama, returned to the White House for the unveiling of their official portraits.
“This day is not just about what has happened. It’s also about what could happen,” Mrs. Obama said during the ceremony. “Because a girl like me, she was never supposed to be up there next to Jacqueline Kennedy and Dolly Madison. She was never supposed to live in his house and she definitely wasn’t supposed to serve as first lady.”
In the fall, House Republicans started their full-court press to win back the House majority. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., surrounded by members of the House Republican caucus, unveiled the “Commitment to America,” reminiscent of Newt Gingrich’s 1994 “Contract with America.” The plan called for making America energy independent, securing the border, and cutting inflation.
“This Congress controlled by Democrats has spent more than everybody else and put us in a $31 trillion debt, we would actually put us on a path to be able to be balanced in the future,” McCarthy said at the time during an interview with Spectrum News.
Republicans did win the majority in November 2022, but by a slim margin, teeing up what could be a difficult two years for Kevin McCarthy if he is able to secure enough votes to become the next Speaker of the House.
Current Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she would be stepping down from Democratic leadership next year following the Democrats loss of the House. Her announcement came just months after her husband, Paul, was attacked in the couple’s San Francisco home. Democrats elected new leadership following Pelosi’s announcement, selecting Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, to be the next Democratic leader.
In the upper chamber, Democrats were able to keep control of the Senate, despite Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema changing her registration to Independent. She says unlike Senators Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Angus King, I-Maine, she will not caucus with Democrats next year.
As the year wound down, things stayed busy in Washington. November and December saw White House visits from French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the latter of whom delivered an impassioned address to Congress during his first out-of-country visit since Russia launched its war in February of this year.
“Against all odds, and doom and gloom scenarios. Ukraine didn’t fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking,” Zelenskyy said to lawmakers, later adding: “Our two nations are allies in this battle. And next year will be a turning point. I know it – the point when Ukrainian courage and American resolve must guarantee the future of our common freedom. The freedom of people who stand for their values.”
President Joe Biden in mid-December signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, a bill protecting marriage for LGBTQ+ and interracial couples.
“My fellow Americans: the road to this moment has been long. But those who believe in equality and justice, you never gave up,” the president said at a South Lawn signing ceremony, adding: “So many of you put your relationships on the line, your jobs and your lives on the line to fight for the law I’m about to sign.”
Just this week, President Joe Biden – who is spending the holidays with his family on St. Croix – signed into law a $1.7 trillion budget just ahead of the 118th Congress being sworn in January 3rd.
