Joe Biden begins his second year as president, falling in polls. There is a pandemic that continues and almost a third are still unvaccinated. The economy has been recovering, but inflation and unpredictable supply chains have made it difficult for Biden to win.
He’s presided over the roll out of trillions of dollars in healthcare funding and stimulus payments, seen the unemployment ratedropped to 4.2%. He made COVID-19 shots free for everyone over 5 and signed a trillion-dollar infrastructure law. The voters have been unable to recognize him as a creditor, despite being tired by the unknowns of the pandemic. Biden’s approval ratingBelow 50%
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He is now in a difficult position for 2022. The Democrats could lose control of Congress with a evenly divided Senate, and a small majority in the House in the November midterm elections. Biden must complete his list of goals in his second year of office with limited political capital and limited time.
Infighting among Democrats has already delayed the next raft of Biden’s priorities, including expanding paid family leave and access to health care and child care. Campaign promises of passing voting rights legislation has not been fulfilled.
These are the details Six key challenges facing Biden in 2022.
It’s the pandemic, stupid
Experts believe that the COVID-19 virus pandemic will have a major impact on what Biden is able to accomplish in 2022 and the way he will be judged. “The virus is going to determine what the second year looks like” for President Biden, says Timothy Naftali, a historian at New York University.
Scientists and medical professionals are closely watching the Omicron coronavirus variant spreading rapidly throughout the world. What Additional measures must be taken.
The new variant has given more urgency to Biden’s efforts to convince parents to vaccinate their children above the age of four, make rapid tests more widely available, and urge those who are vaccinated to get booster shots. Biden pledged that the federal government would distribute half a million home rapid tests for no cost by January 31st. Biden called for a surge in 1,000 troops to help overstretched U.S. hospital beds.
Just over 70% have had at least one COVID-19 vaccination by the end of 2012, and 60% of Americans are on track for having received it. Completely vaccinatedAccording to Mayo Clinic data. That’s below the goal medical experts have identified Fully vaccinated atMinimum 80% of Americans and 95% of Americans most at risk of contracting the virus must be present to slow down the spread of the disease and reduce its impact. Research suggestsA booster shot may be the best way to slow down the spread of Omicron, as well as reducing the risk of developing breakthrough infections that could lead to death or hospitalization.
Biden could have greater political power if the pandemic is less severe and the economic outlook improves for voters. In the meantime, Biden’s approval rating isHovering inThe low 40s and his voters attribute him to inflation, uncertain supply chains and the tail end of the pandemic. “It’s always a bad thing for presidents when they’re less popular,” Naftali says. “It means there’s not much of a cost involved in saying ‘No’.”
The Build Back Better bill must be passed
Biden starts the year trying to raise more than $1.75 trillion for social spending programs in Congress and on his desk. After months of negotiation within his party, he was finally able to sign the agreement.
The The House passed the bill Build Back BetterIn November, the Senate was evenly divided. However, the Senate faced major problems at December’s end when Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia declared that he would not vote for the bill. With an evenly divided Senate and all 50 Republicans opposed, Manchin’s decision all but doomed the legislation that Biden hoped would be a cornerstone of his domestic policy.
The bill would invest significant amounts in climate change mitigation, pre-Kindergarten subsidy, expanding tax credit for children, guaranteed four weeks paid vacation, expanded affordable housing, elder care, and expanded child tax credits.
Democrats may try to pass different elements of Manchin’s bill in 2022. However, even this path forward is not clear.
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Credit for infrastructure expenditure
Aides close to Biden and Democratic strategists want the President to travel the country in 2022 and talk about what he’s already accomplished to jumpstart American infrastructure projects.
“The President, the cabinet, and congressional Democrats need to get out and sell what’s been accomplished,” says Democratic strategist Jim Margolis, who advised Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. “They can’t let up now and they need to make sure Americans understand the connection between what’s been accomplished and what that means in their lives.”
Since the passage of the infrastructure bill worth $1 trillion, it has been weeks on Nov. 5, Biden has taken trips to New HampshireTo be exact: Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri Maximize your spendingYou can show Americans how investments might affect their commutes, broadband accessibility, water quality and local economies.
Biden will likely continue to make stops in these key states in 2022 ahead of the midterms. He is standing on bridges to be repaired, and speaking out about how new industry investments to combat climate change can also create jobs.
Protection of your right to vote
New urgency has been given to the efforts to stabilize the electoral system prior to the Nov. 8 midterm elections. This was due to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Fueled by former President Donald Trump’s false claims of voting fraud in the 2020 election, Republicans are pushing forward in multiple states to add new restrictions on voting access and to place political loyalists in positions where they could try to overturn legitimate election results. Trump has supported candidates for secretary of state and lieutenant governor in key states, raising concerns he’s laying the groundwork to reverse future Republican electoral losses.
Biden and his allies in Congress are hoping to create legislative guardrails that will stop these efforts. The Freedom to Vote Act (stalled bill) would allow voting access to be standardized across the country. The Senate Republicans blocked debate on another bill, the Freedom to Vote Act.John Lewis, a Georgian congressman and civil rights leader who died in 2012, is honored with a voting rights bill. The bill helps to strengthen parts of the 1965 Voting rights Act that require approval by the Justice Department for changes to some state’s voting laws. Voting rights advocates are urging Democrats to remove the filibuster from both bills. That would enable the legislation with 51 votes to pass instead of the current threshold of 60. Biden said at a CNN Town Hall Event in Baltimore, Oct. 21 that he’d be open to the Senate ending the filibuster for voting rights legislation “and maybe more.”
Manchin presented a compromise version to a bill concerning voting rights. The For the People Act would establish national early voting standards and vote by mail standards. Transparency in political fundraising is required and Election Day will be declared a national holiday. Manchin disagrees. said he doesn’t want to end the filibuster to pass Vote legislation. Like with the Build Back Better bill, the White House and fellow Democrats have struggled to change Manchin’s mind. Biden asked Congress to Move forward on voting rights billsSenate Republicans have blocked them from being debated.
“I’ve never seen anything like the unrelenting assault on the right to vote. Never,” Biden said on Dec. 17, at South Carolina State University’s 2021 fall graduation ceremony. “We’re going to keep up the fight until we get it done.”
Unfair and deadly police policies must be changed
Over efforts to improve police training, transparency and accountability in police operations have caused negotiations to stall in the Senate. The Senate in September voted down the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. It was a bill passed by the House in March.
This House version allows police officers to be convicted of misconduct in federal prosecutions. Justice Department lawyers have more power to subpoena records for investigations into patterns of abuse of police departments. It also restricts the use chokeholds or no-knock warrants. A national registry would be established for misconduct by police officers.
Supporters of police reform demand that Biden make the passage of this legislation a priority for 2022. Biden has thanked the Fraternal Order of Police for “sincerely trying to reach an agreement on meaningful reforms” in Congress. He has also said police departments “need help to do better,” speaking at an Oct. 16 annual memorial service for fallen police officers at the U.S. Capitol. “I want to make sure you have the tools to be the partners and the protectors your communities need.”
Fill vacant positions within the federal government
Biden still hasn’t been able to fully staff his Administration. As of mid-December, 11 months into his administration, 171 of Biden’s picks for senior administration positions were still waiting to be considered by the Senate. Data from Partnership for Public Service shows that 266 posts had been confirmed in Senate confirmations.
White House officials are frustrated and believe Senate Republicans are blocking consideration of Biden appointees to keep Biden’s rate of confirmations at the same slow pace seen during the first years of the Trump Administration. Comparatively, nearly 400 appointments to political posts were filled during the Obama-George W. Bush administrations.
Appointees to political posts are ambassadors and head departments and agencies throughout the federal government. Not having those roles filled can hamper a President’s ability to implement a policy agenda.
