President Joe Biden formally launched his bid for reelection this week, an announcement that follows an exceptionally productive first few years. Since his election in 2020, Biden has gotten quite a lot of policy done, though major Democratic priorities like immigration reform, voting rights, and police reform are still on the table.
Compared to his predecessors, Biden’s first two years were “among the most productive of any president in the past half century,” per a November analysis by the Atlantic. Biden has shepherded several massive bills through Congress, including the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which contained substantial Covid-19 relief; the Inflation Reduction Act, which included historic investments in clean energy and health care; and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which contained significant funds for roads and bridges. Additionally, he’s used executive action in an attempt to cancel student debt, pardoned thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession, and appointed a new wave of judges at a rapid pace.
Presidential historians tell Vox that Biden has seen more landmark bills passed than Donald Trump at this point in his presidency, and is on par with the legislative achievements made under Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
“He has passed a number of important pieces of legislation, and not only did he pass them but he did it with a very narrow legislative majority,” says Tevi Troy, a presidential historian at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
But Biden’s robust legislative record hasn’t necessarily translated to public support. Currently, his polls are still middling to poor, with 42 percent of people approving of the job he’s done and 54 percent disapproving, according to a FiveThirtyEight polling aggregator.
Experts said that the disconnect between Biden’s legislative productivity and his popularity is likely due, in part, to the fact that inflation is still high. Although unemployment remains…
Read the full article here
