Pres. Joe Biden & VP Kamala Harris

Administration Accomplishments*

*This list may not contain the entirety of the Biden Administration's accomplishments and will be updated frequently.

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Black Americans

- Addressed maternal health disparities by expanding postpartum APR coverage from 60 days to 12 months in 43 states and Washington D.C., covering 700,000 more women in the year after childbirth. Medicaid covers approximately 65% of births for Black mothers.- Financed projects that will replace hundreds of thousands of lead pipes to help protect against lead poisoning, which disproportionately affects Black communities.- Countered hateful attempts to rewrite history, including:

- The Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act.- Juneteenth as a national holiday.- Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monuments in Mississippi and Illinois.- More than $295 million in infrastructure funding and historic preservation grants to protect and restore places significant to Black History.

- Repeatedly and forcefully called on Congress to pass essential legislation, including the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act.- Delivered a historic investment of over $7 billion to support historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).- Supported small and disadvantaged businesses through CHIPS Act to create equitable pathways for economically disadvantaged individuals and plan support procurement from small, minority-owned, veteran-owned, and women-owned businesses.- Nominated the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court and more Black women to Federal circuit courts than every President combined.- Powered a historic economic recovery that created 2.6 million jobs for Black workers and achieved both the lowest Black unemployment rate on record and the lowest gap between Black and White unemployment on record.- Cut in half the number of Black children living in poverty in 2021 through ARP's Child Tax Credit expansion. This benefited 9 million Black children.- Set up the first-ever national infrastructure to stop evictions, scaling up the ARP-funded Emergency Rental Assistance program in over 400 communities across the country, helping 8 million renters and their families stay in their homes. Over 40% of the renters who received assistance are Black, preventing millions of evictions, with the largest effects seen in majority-Black neighborhoods.- Championed the largest increase to Pell Grants in the last decade – a combined increase of $900 to the maximum award over the past two years – affecting the over-60% of Black undergraduates who rely on Pell grants.- Increased Black enrollment in health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act by 49%, around 400,000 people, from 2020 to 2022, helping more Black families gain health insurance than ever before.- Connected an estimated 5.5 million Black households to affordable high speed internet through the Affordable Connectivity program, closing the digital divide for millions of Black families.- Achieved the fastest creation rate of Black-owned businesses in more than 30 years, and more than doubled the share of Black business owners from 2019 to 2022.- Launched a whole-of-government effort to expand access to federal contracts for small businesses, awarding a record $69.9 billion to small, disadvantaged businesses in 2022.- Created the Justice40 Initiative, which is delivering 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments in clean energy, affordable sustainable housing, clean water, and other programs to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment, and overburdened by pollution, as part of the most ambitious climate, conservation, and environmental justice agenda in history.- Provided 264 grants with the $1 billion in Bipartisan Safer Communities Act funds to increase the supply of school-based mental health professionals in communities with a high poverty rate.- Also See Childcare and Crime and Law Enforcement.

Business

- Awarded the most ever federal contracting dollars to small businesses and disadvantaged small businesses.- Secured commitments from 20 leading Internet providers to increase speeds and cut prices.- Signed Executive Order to encourage competition across industries.- US factory and small business investment is at a record high.- Also see Black Americans and Economy.

Childcare

- Secured a 30% increase in childcare assistance funding last year. Black families comprise 38% of families benefiting from federal childcare assistance.- Secured $1 billion for Head Start, a program where more than 28% of children and pregnant women who benefit identify as Black.

Climate/Environment

- Launched the National Climate Task Force. As part of that vision, the President set groundbreaking goals:

- Reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030.- Reach a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.

- Deliver 40% of the benefits from federal investments in climate and clean energy to disadvantaged community.- Spurred a clean energy boom with the Inflation Reduction Act, contributing to more than $360 billion in private sector clean energy announcements. This, and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are projected to cut energy rates up to 9% by 2030, with tax credits and rebates that will help families lower energy costs even further.- Launched the American Climate Corp 2024 to prepare tens of thousands of young people for good-paying jobs in the clean economy, putting them to work conserving and restoring our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, deploying clean energy, implementing energy efficient technologies, advancing environmental justice, and more.- Signed an executive order to conserve and restore old growth trees in US National forests by expanding logging restrictions.- The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will help reduce America's carbon emissions 40% by 2030 by:

- Incentivizing clean energy, electric cars, and electric homes.- Investing in green technology to ramp up manufacturing to meet the new demand.

- Paused exports of liquified natural gas (LNG) to determine its harmful effects.- Oversaw the largest ever federal investment in clean energy and electric vehicles, 1 million EV sales in the first 11 months of 2023, a record.- Proposed through the EPA rules to cut planet-warming pollution from power plants and implement restrictions on tailpipe emissions.- Oversaw a crackdown on methane leaks from oil and gas wells.- Is building on already historic progress to protect clean drinking water and restore our nation's rivers, lakes, ponds, and wetlands.- Finalized strict limits on toxic “forever chemicals” in drinking water and wastewater, requiring that utilities measure them at the lowest level they can be reliably measured.- Is investing $1 billion to restore the Great Lakes.- Tackled transboundary water pollution in the Elk-Kootenai watershed at the Montana and Idaho crossing.- Invested $1 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to restore the flow of rivers and streams across the country.- Is restoring wild salmon, steelhead and other native fish in the Columbia River Basin.- Invested $370 billion to boost wind, solar, and other renewable energy with millions in tax credits to homeowners. Created nine million jobs from climate legislation.- Builds on historic progress with One World Water Day to protect clean drinking water, restore our nation's rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands.- Is investing in America with commitment to replace lead pipes and other drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, build resilience to drought and conserve.- Safeguarded the Colorado River watershed by protecting nearly 1 million acres of greater Grand Canyon Landscape.- Protected the Boundary Water Area Wilderness and surrounding watershed from mining.- Addressed threats Alaska's Bristol Bay ecosystem to help protect them from contamination associated with developing Pebble Mine.- Preserved 1.4 million acres in 2023 using the Antiquities Act for four new monuments.- Also see Energy.

Climate Justice

- Created the Justice 40 Initiative, which directs 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments to:

- Clean energy and energy efficiency- Clean transit- Affordable and sustainable housing- Training and workforce development- The remediation and reduction of legacy pollution- The development of clean water infrastructure – to flow to disadvantaged communities (DACs).

All 17 selected projects are in or adjacent to disadvantaged communities that are disproportionally overburdened by pollution and historically underserved.- Also see Climate and Energy.

Consumers

- Cracked down on fees for essential bank services. Bounced check fees are down more than 86 percent since 2021 saving consumers nearly $2 billion. Nearly two-thirds of large banks have eliminated these fees entirely.- Reduced the junk fees in the banking industry by two-thirds.- Launched the new Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing to root out and end illegal corporate behavior that raises prices for Americans through anti-competitive, unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent business practices.- Announced rules requiring automated refunds of airline tickets and ancillary service fees for canceled or significantly delayed flights.

Conservation

- Awarded more than $1 billion to initiate cleanup and clear the backlog of 49 previously unfinished Superfund sites, over $250 million to clean up hundreds of contaminated Brownfield sites and $725 million for abandoned mines.- Restored protections for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts national monuments and designated Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument to conserve our lands and waters, honor our nation's veterans, protect tribal cultural resources, and support jobs and America's outdoor recreation economy.- Restored protections for threatened or endangered species rolled back under the Trump administration. The Endangered Species Act, was established in 1973.- Is investing $1.5 billion in planting trees in more than 350 cities and tribal communities.- Protected the Thompson Divide in central Colorado from future mineral development. This announcement delivers on Biden's commitment to advance the conservation and restoration of at least 30% of US lands and waters by 2030. He is on track to conserve more lands and waters than any President in history.- Disbursed (through the Interior Department) over $353 million to Gulf States for coastal restoration, conservation and hurricane protection.- Safeguarded the Colorado River watershed by protecting nearly 1 million acres of the greater Grand Canyon landscape.- Delivered the largest single federal investment in the Everglades through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and established the Everglades to Gulf Conservation Area, a 4-million-acre wildlife refuge.- Is restoring the Klamath River Basin ecosystem and building drought resilience.

Covid-19

- Mailed FREE Covid-19 test kits directly to tens of millions of Americans.- Implemented American Rescue Plan to address the pandemic:

- Launched a national vaccination program for Covid 19.- Provided $130 billion to safely reopen schools.- Gave working families $1400 check per person.- Extended unemployment benefits and eligibility ($300/week supplemental benefits).- Provided emergency aid to cover back rent so Americans could stay in their homes.- Increased SNAP benefits.- Increased the Child Tax Credit from $2000 to $3000.- Increased the Earned Income Tax Credit for 17 million workers.- Expanded childcare assistance, the single biggest increase since WWII.- State assistance for additional cash costs of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.- Lowered or eliminated Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance premiums for lower and middle incomes.

Crime and Law Enforcement

- Is advancing equity and racial justice through historic criminal justice reform.- Signed a historic Executive Order requiring Federal law enforcement agencies to:

- Ban chokeholds.- Restrict no-knock warrants.- Mandate the use of body cameras.- Implement stronger use-of-force policies.- Provide de-escalation training.- Submit use-of-force policies.- Submit officer misconduct records into a new national accountability database.- Restrict the sale or transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement agencies, among other things.

- Secured the first-ever dedicated federal funding stream for community violence intervention programs, which have been shown to reduce violence by 60%. Trusted messengers work directly with individuals most likely to commit gun violence, intervene in conflicts, and connect people to social, health, wellness, and economic services to reduce the likelihood of violence as an answer to conflict.- Also see Black Americans, Native American Issues, and Marijuana.

Diversity

- Confirmed Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and 387 federal judges of diverse backgrounds.- Appointed a record number of women and people of color to serve in his administration.

Economy

- Lowered the deficit with the single largest annual reduction in American history.- Shows a booming (3.3% during 4Q23) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with the best worldwide recovery from the Pandemic. The GDP measures the value of the final goods and services produced in the United States (without double counting the intermediate goods and services used up to produce them).- Shows the best economic performance of any President since FDR.- Shows wage growth that outpaced inflation over the past 2.5 years.- Shows wage increases with 4.5% growth.- Rescued the economy and changed the course of the pandemic.- Shows the three strongest years of job growth in history.- Saw nearly 15 million jobs created since 2021.- Boasts a 3.4% to 3.9% unemployment rate since December 2021, the lowest in 50 years.- Shows the U.S. economy growing at the fastest pace in nearly 40 years.- Saw Dow Jones hit over 39,780, a historic high.- Shows US factory and small business investment at a record high.

Election Security

- Signed the Electoral Count Act in 2022, which takes long overdue steps to protect the integrity of our elections.

Employment

- Saw more than 700,000 people joining the labor force in August 2023, which means the highest share of working-age Americans are in the workforce now than at any time in the past 20 years. People are coming off the sidelines, getting back to their workplaces. Job satisfaction is higher than it's been in 36 years.- Has near-record low unemployment rate for Hispanics.- Has near-record low unemployment rate for Black Americans.- Has record low unemployment rate for people with disabilities.

Energy

- Announced more than $366 million toward 17 projects across 20 states and 30 tribal nations and communities to accelerate clean energy deployment in rural and remote areas. This funding is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (also see Infrastructure) and will support a variety of community-driven energy projects in rural and remote regions, such as building microgrids for community health centers to ensure electricity for critical life-saving equipment, or constructing a new hydroelectric facility on Tribal lands to improve access to reliable, affordable energy. - Also see Climate Justice.

Foreign Policy

- Brought a renewed seriousness to U.S. foreign policymaking stands in sharp contrast with the chaos of the Trump era.- Strengthened alliances and partnerships to deliver for the American people, and reiterated American's commitment to defend NATO partners who are under attack.- Rejoined the Paris Agreement on Day One to reassert the United States global leadership to combat the climate crisis.- Led a massive effort to push back against Russia after it unleashed the most horrific war of aggression in Europe since 1945, against Ukraine.- Built and expanded new alliances to contain China in the Indo-Pacific.

Guns

- Implemented first ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, to end the scourge of gun violence, overseen by the Vice President.- Approved the expansion of background checks on gun sales at gun shows and through private sellers, to regulate a fast-growing shadow market of weapons that has fueled gun violence.- Signed an executive order to keep more guns out of dangerous hands by increasing effective use of “red flag” laws.- Requested a report from the Federal Trade Commission analyzing how gun manufacturers market to minors.- Signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act calling on Congress to:

- Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.- Require safe storage of weapons.- Repeal gun manufacturers immunity from liability.- Enhance background checks for individuals under age 21.- Narrow the dating partner loophole in gun background checks.- Provide law enforcement with tools to crack down on gun trafficking.

- Invested $12 billion in new funding for women's health research. This investment would be used to create a Fund for Women's Health Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance a cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research agenda and to establish a new nationwide network of research centers of excellence and innovation in women's health—which would serve as a national gold standard for women's health research across the lifespan.- Capped out-of-pocket expenses for drugs to $3,000.- Lowered the cost of hearing aids by making them available over the counter.- Announced the American Rescue Plan ARPA-H initiative for advance cutting-edge research on cancer and other diseases.- Reignited the Cancer Moonshot with the goal of cutting the cancer death rate by at least half over the next 25 years.

Hunger

- Announced Food Forward, a produce recovery and hunger relief nonprofit, which will recover 290 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste and distribute this surplus free of charge to people experiencing food insecurity.- By increasing its current annual recovery volume from 80 million to 100 million pounds by 2026, Food Forward will provide 1.6 billion more servings of fresh fruits and vegetables to historically underserved communities.

Infrastructure

- Passed a $108 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. This includes:

- A $1 billion investment to clean up and restore the Great Lakes.- Funding of $8.2 billion for passenger rail including a “world class” high speed rail system.- Investment in high-speed Internet.

- Launched over 7,800 bridge repair projects. In addition, since President Biden took office, improvements have started on 135,800 miles of roads thanks to funding provided by the Department of Transportation.

LGBTQAI

- Signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law to protect marriage for LGBTQI and interracial couples.

Manufacturing

- Oversaw a historic recovery in domestic manufacturing. The economy added 800,000 manufacturing jobs – the most in nearly 30 years.- Brought manufacturing as a share of U.S. GDP to pre-pandemic levels and created more manufacturing jobs in 2022 than in any single year in nearly 30 years.- Accelerated adoption of electric vehicles by reducing costs for families, jump-started the first national EV charging network, and made historic investments in EV batteries and materials.- Jump-started the American offshore wind partnership.- Made in America policies, and transformational investments such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have catalyzed historic domestic investments by the private sector to bring good-paying manufacturing jobs back home. This includes nearly $80 billion in planned investments in semiconductor manufacturing and more than $100 billion in announced investments in electric vehicles, batteries, and critical minerals, since 2021.- Awarded $1 billion in funding to the Michigan-backed clean hydrogen hub project to develop regional supply chains.- Provided $9.4 billion in funding to rebuild Michigan's roads and bridges, replace lead pipes to provide clean water, provide high-speed internet to every family, deliver cheaper and cleaner energy to households and businesses, modernize roads, ports and waterways all across America, and Michigan airports in Detroit, Grand Rapids and Flint, and create good-paying jobs under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).- Passed the CHIP Act 2023 with a $166 billion investment in computer and electronic manufacturing, to make sure supply chains for America are in America, and address the shortage of semiconductors we experienced in the Pandemic, and lessen our reliance on foreign manufacturing.- Also see Unions and Business.

Marijuana

- Reclassified marijuana to allow for medical research to identify its potential medical uses. This move could also clear obstacles for the cannabis industry to access banking services.- Issued a presidential proclamation that pardoned many Federal and D.C. offenses for simple marijuana possession in violation of Federal law prior to December 22, 2023.- Added additional pardons for simple marijuana possession and use.

National Parks

- Invested $195 million in funding over the next decade for climate restoration and resilience projects protecting American and national parks for generations to come.

Native American Issues

- Implemented a Tribal co-management and co-stewardship of Federal lands and waters.- Prioritized relationships with Tribal Nations built on respect for Tribal sovereignty and self-governance.- Allotted $32 billion of the American Rescue Plan, $13 billion of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and $700 million of the Inflation Reduction Act toward Tribal committees and native people.- Established uniform standards for Tribal consultation across the Federal government.- Implemented the new Indigenous Knowledge Guidance For Federal Agencies.- Provided better access to capital in Indian Country.- Announced the Secretarial Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) signed by 8 agencies, which will increase collaboration with Tribes to ensure stewardship and access to sites, and incorporate traditional ecological knowledge into management, treatment and protection procedures.- Allotted a significant portion of agency procurement spending on contracts and services to Native-owned or controlled businesses under the Buy Indian Act.- Implemented the Ten-year National Plan to revitalize Native languages and Tribal self-determination.- Is delivering clean water to Tribal Nations under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.- Is facilitating the development of Tribal clean energy production along the Columbia River System.- Also see whitehouse.gov for many more accomplishments under this topic.

Reproductive Rights

- Is calling on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law so women in every state have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions so those rights are not in the hands of legislators.- Implemented the President's three Executive Orders and a Presidential Memorandum issued since the Court overturned Roe v. Wade. To date, the Administration has acted to:

- Protect access to abortion, including FDA-approved medication abortion.- Defend access to emergency medical care.- Strengthen access to high-quality, affordable contraception.- Support the ability to travel for reproductive health care, and support patients traveling out of state for medical care.- Safeguard the privacy of patients and health care providers.- Ensure access to accurate information and legal resources.

Seniors

- Lowered seniors'ß health care expenses, including by capping out-of-pocket expenses on prescription drugs for seniors at $2000 per year, ensuring that people enrolled in Medicare will not pay more than $35 for a month's supply of insulin, and recipients will receive free vaccines. In addition, he locked in lower monthly premiums for health insurance.- Rolled out negotiated drug prices for Medicare.

Student Loans and Debt

- Canceled student loan debt of over $150 billion for more than 4.3 million Americans (this figure keeps rising).- Canceled student loan debt for an additional 78,000 public service workers – teachers, nurses, firefighters, and more through Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and 277,000 more borrowers as of April 12, 2024.- Increased the maximum value of Pell Grants by $900.

Terrorism

- Successful counterterrorism missions and ongoing efforts in West Afr¬ica, Istanbul, the West Bank, against the leaders of Al Qaeda and ISIS.- Improved information-sharing on domestic terrorism threats across the federal government and with our state, local, tribal+, and territorial law enforcement partners.

Unions

- Proposed Good Job Challenge to grow the economy from the middle out, and then up.- Supports workers on the picket line.- Promotes investment in good union jobs.- Stresses contract workers' rights to organize and unionize, and receive benefits.- Is the most pro-union President in history.- Also see Manufacturing.

Veterans

- Expanded VA health care to millions of Veterans, years earlier than the PACT Act called for.- The PACT Act is a law that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances. This law helps provide generations of Veterans—and their survivors—with the care and benefits they've earned and deserve.

Voting Rights

- Signed into law the bipartisan Electoral Reform Count Act, which establishes clear guidelines for our system of certifying and counting electoral votes for President and Vice President, to preserve the will of the people, and to protect against attempts to overthrow our elections that led to the January 6th insurrection.- Increased funding for the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, which has more than doubled the number of voting rights enforcement attorneys. The Justice Department also created the Election Threats Task Force to assess allegations and reports of threats against election workers, and investigate and prosecute these matters, where appropriate.

Women

- Invested $12 billion in new funding for women's health research.- Signed legislation to reauthorize and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act 2022.- Addressed maternal health disparities by expanding postpartum APR coverage from 60 days to 12 months in 43 states and Washington D.C., covering 700,000 more women in the year after childbirth. Medicaid covers approximately 65% of births for Black mothers.- Also see Health and Reproductive Rights.

Joe Biden, Master Oil Trader

Summarized from an MSNBC Chris Hayes interview with Dick Dicker, Energy Markets Expert

OPEC is an oil cartel that currently has 12 petroleum exporting countries as members, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and others. It was established six decades ago.

The Economist reported that Saudi Arabia had refused Biden's request for oil after the Pandemic.

Pent up demand during the Pandemic had resulted in raised oil prices because OPEC couldn't meet the demand when people returned to traveling and flying. In addition, there was a new war between Russian and Ukraine. Both Biden and the Europeans wanted to freeze Russia out with sanctions so they could not use their oil machine – their biggest export – to finance the war. All of this resulted in an extremely bullish oil market.

In response to this, President Biden released 180 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 2022 when the price was $95 a barrel. That 180 million barrels was more than had ever been released before, compelling other oil traders to lower their prices.

When the price came down to $67 a barrel in July 2023, President Biden began to purchase oil at that price to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

President Biden has replaced 1/5^th of what he sold, posting a profit of $582 million, timing the market to perfection.

This has never been done before. This is an innovative tactic in using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to put a guardrail on oil prices, stabilizing the market.

View This Interview on YouTube