Beltway Briefing Podcast
Grading Biden’s First Year
January 24, 2022
President Biden took office a year ago, promising to tackle four crises that were roiling American life in 2020: fight the coronavirus, restore the economy, combat climate change, and make the country more equal. Biden’s record has been mixed, however, leaving many who clamored for the changes he promised feeling that not enough has been done to this point. On Wednesday, in a nearly two-hour news conference wrapping up his first year in office, the president defended his policies, citing millions of people getting vaccinated in 2021, passage of a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure bill, and strong U.S. job gains over the past year, while acknowledging the setbacks caused by a new coronavirus variant, rising inflation, supply-chain bottlenecks, and widespread criticism over the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Biden also said he likely would have to break up his stalled healthcare, education, and climate agenda to pass his policies in Congress and promised a reset, saying he would engage more with Americans. Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, Patrick Martin, Towner French, and Kaitlyn Martin recap Biden’s biggest wins and most bitter disappointments during his first year in office and discuss what Democrats need to do next to re-group before facing voters in November.
