State of the Union: Biden’s presidency faces slew of setbacks, claims some major victories

Heading into his first State of the Union speech, President Biden is struggling to overcome obstacles to his legislative agenda, cut back on crime, reign in rising prices for Americans and to get control of cascading international crises.

He’ll also come to Congress with some significant accomplishments under his belt. Those include the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the nomination of potentially the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, and millions more American jobs than when he came into office. Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases are decreasing significantly in much of the country.

“Tomorrow, the President will make a strong case that the Biden-Harris economic strategy to rebuild the economy from the bottom up and the middle out is producing historic results, and he will lay out his plan for the work ahead,” a White House official told Fox News.

“He will underscore that during his first year in office, in large part due to the American Rescue Plan, entrepreneurship and business investment rebounded, and the economy achieved its fastest job growth in American history, the fastest economic growth in nearly 40 years, and a faster recovery than every other Advanced Economy in the G7,” the official added.

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The official also said Biden will “lay out his plan to lower costs for American families while continuing an historically strong economic recovery.”

Democrats say there’s reason for optimism heading into the second year of Biden’s presidency. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said on MSNBC Sunday that although “the last two years have been nearly the toughest two years in most Americans’ life… I believe even in these tough times we can see a little bit of a sense of uplift.”

But for many Americans, the negatives outweigh the positives.

In a Fox News poll released last week, Biden had a 43% approval rating compared to a 56% disapproval. Fifty-one percent of Americans disapproved of Biden’s COVID-19 policy, 58% disapproved of his handling of foreign policy, 61% disapproved of his handling of the economy, 59% disapproved of his handling of crime and 62% disapproved of Biden’s job on immigration.

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The president’s speech will likely acknowledge Russia’s war against Ukraine, U.S. aid to Ukraine, and the international threat posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Biden said in 2020 voters should trust him to go “toe-to-toe” with Putin. But now 56% of Americans don’t think Biden’s been tough enough on Putin, according to the Fox News poll.

Biden’s numbers bode poorly for Democrats in the midterms. And many believe the president’s unpopularity may have already helped GOP Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin turn the state red after several years of Democrat dominance.

Domestically, the centerpiece of the president’s agenda is the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The $1.2 trillion legislation resulted from months of negotiations between centrist Republicans, Democrats and the White House. The need for it was only underscored when a bridge in Pittsburgh collapsed the day Biden visited the city to make a speech touting the bill.

But the White House also expected a $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill to pass as a compliment to the infrastructure bill. It was meant to encompass a grab bag of progressive policies ranging from free child care to battling climate change.

Now it’s dead. After months of negotiating in the House, then in the Senate, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., finally announced he would cut off talks in a December Fox News interview.

Also dead are multiple versions of Democrat-backed election bills that Biden pushed for. Those includes the Freedom to Vote Act, John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act – which Democrats said was their top priority in 2021.

Democrats couldn’t even corral full support for the For the People Act – Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., said she opposed it. Then, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., failed in an attempt to blow up the Senate filibuster for the other two voting bills because Sinema and Manchin opposed the move in the 50-50 split Senate.

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Despite the setbacks Biden has potentially one of the biggest victories of his presidency upcoming – the likely confirmation of his Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Additionally, the White House touts decreased child poverty, the most diverse Cabinet in history, more Americans covered with health insurance and overall reduced hunger from when Biden was sworn in.

There are many other areas that the president’s struggling or hasn’t made much progress, however.

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Biden’s vaccine mandate for large companies was blocked by the Supreme Court. as was his eviction moratorium. Student loan payments are delayed but aren’t canceled, an effort for a bill to combat China economically is stalled, Afghanistan is under Taliban control after the deadly and disorganized American withdrawal, and inflation is increasing at a historic clip.

“With regard to inflation, hope the president doesn’t just step forward with some big government solutions,” Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., told Fox News. “Deficit spending to put more money in Americans’ pockets will move us in the wrong direction. It’s overspending that is largely to blame for inflation.”