Accomplishments
Covid-19 relief
In March, Biden signed a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus package, also known as the American Rescue Plan, which is one of the biggest economic relief measures ever taken in the entire US history.
It was also the first major legislative accomplishment of Biden’s presidency. The legislation also took care of funding for vaccine distribution, $1,400 direct payments to all eligible Americans, bolstered unemployment benefits, but also expanded child tax credit, and billions of dollars to help the schools, colleges, and universities reopen.
The president tried to push the legislation through Congress without needing anything from Republicans, and use only the polls showing that US voters were strongly approving the initiative.
Millions of Americans got vaccinated
When Biden came to the Oval Office, less than 1% of the entire US population was completely vaccinated. At that time, he pledged that 100 million shots will be given in his first 100 days.
Only a year later, around 63% of the entire US population is completely vaccinated. Over 526 million doses have been given ever since. A significant portion of the population is still unvaccinated, and the US keeps on trailing much of the world when it comes to vaccination rates. However, this didn’t happen because of a lack of access.
The vaccine was extremely politicized, and misinformation ran all over the place, with many people refusing to get vaccinated. “At the end of the day, the proof can be seen in the results.” Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association told PolitiFact around the time Biden celebrated his 100 days in the office.
Infrastructure bill
In November, Biden had another important legislative accomplishment, after signing into law the infrastructure bill that was worth $1 trillion – the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
As Insider’s Joseph Zeballos-Roig explained, the law injects a lot of federal money into America’s aging public-works system. The whole purpose of it was to repair roads and bridges, renovate ports, and expand broadband access, but also replace every lead pipe in America.
Low unemployment rate
The US unemployment rate eventually fell to 3.9% in December, which marked a pandemic-era low, even if the economy added fewer jobs than it was expected.
That being said, economists were worried that the contagious Omicron variant of Covid might slow the economic recovery. There were also ongoing concerns regarding the labor-participation rate, which was 61.9%. As Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell declared, “There’s still a weak labor-force participation recovery.”
Number of federal judges confirmed
Since Biden’s inauguration, there have been more than 40 federal judges confirmed in the Senate. In fact, he appointed more to the bench than any other president, since Ronald Reagan.
His actions were applauded by progressive groups, as he prioritized diversity, especially when it came to his nominees. “President Biden has gone above and beyond, setting historic trends for what our judiciary system should look like.” as Christopher Kang, chief counsel at Demand Justice, recalled.
