The First 100 Days: Joe Biden
There is considerable significance placed on a new president's first 100 days in office for some reason, perhaps because historically there have been chief executives who had come out of the gate strongly and who have made a mark by some monumental action that set the tone for their presidency. In the past some new presidents have been given a honeymoon or grace period from Congress and the media, though in recent times this has been much less prevalent. The ability of social media to reach vast audiences has resulted in strong political polarization. Social media companies and their search engines tend to feed account holders search results and suggestions or friends that mirror their own political view, resulting in the creation of "echo chambers" that convince the account holder that his or her point of view is the dominant one. This has resulted in significant injury to diversity of thought, with the default position being that the counter-held opinion is so wrong that any weighing of its merits are uncalled for. In some cases those daring to question that point of view are viciously attacked. This is not uniquely a liberal or conservative problem, it is a universal one. When asked to acknowledge the issue, many people agree that the problem exists, but also believe that this is because of the lunacy or malevolence of the other side.
So in that current climate, how does a historian judge President Joe Biden's first 100 days in office? If this first chunk of the Biden Presidency had a theme song, it would be "go big or go home." The centerpiece of the Biden presidency will be its record spending. The debate will now begin about whether it was money spent wisely or recklessly. In the days immediately prior to his inauguration, Biden laid out his proposal for a massive economic relief proposal, asking Congress to approve $1.9 trillion in funding to provide Americans with another round of stimulus checks, aid for the unemployed, support for small businesses and money to help schools reopen. In March, Congress approved the package, dubbed the "American Rescue Plan", most of which mirrored Biden's proposal. Congress tinkered with some key changes, including narrowing the scope of the $1,400 stimulus payments, reducing the federal boost to unemployment benefits and removing Biden's plan for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 a hour. Opponents of the plan complained that it was far too much spending and that future generations would be burdened with the bill. They also said that the legislation was not strictly a relief package and that it included projects designed to reward key Democratic leaders, rather than being a pure stimulus bill.
In the first 100 days, the Biden administration sent out more than 160 million stimulus payments worth up to $1,400 per person. Over $80 billion in aid was paid for state education agencies and beefed up Affordable Care Act subsidies on the federal exchange, healthcare.gov. It has also delivered $39 billion to states to help child care providers. States have implemented the $300 federal enhancement to weekly jobless benefits and the extension of two key pandemic unemployment programs through early September. Also in place is a federal income tax break on $10,200 in unemployment compensation for those earning less than $150,000. The package also provides more than $350 billion to states and local governments, territories and tribes, extends a 15% boost to food stamp benefits through September and offers billions of dollars in aid to renters and homeowners. It also enhances the child tax credit for one year, increasing its size, allowing more low-income parents to qualify and providing half of it as a monthly stream of income from July to the end of the year.
Democrats have called Republican governors who accepted the plan's money as hypocrites, though as former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie explained on the ABC news show This Week with George Stephanopoulis, no governor is going to turn down federal aid, because the alternative to taking the aid money is a state tax increase. The $1.9T package was more than twice as big as the 2009 recession package. According to many economists, the stimulus checks fueled what they refer to as "revenge spending".
Another larger than life promise of the Biden administration was a pledge to achieve a target of 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days. At the time he said: "I know it's ambitious, twice our original goal. But no other country in the world has even come close, not even close, to what we are doing." During that time he more than doubled that target with over 230 million shots have already jabbed into American arms. Around 16 million of these were given during the Trump administration, meaning that around 220 million have been delivered during President Biden's first 100 days in in office. Biden expanded eligibility to all adults. The rollout was so successful that now, the United States is providing vaccine supplies to India, where Covid is surging.
President Biden's proposed spending won't stop with the "Rescue Plan". He has unveiled a $2.3 trillion proposal to improve his nation's infrastructure. His infrastructure plan requires bumping the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% and he also wants to raise income taxes on the wealthy, and reportedly, nearly double taxes on investment gains to around 40% for people earning $1 million or more.
The President has faced criticism from Republicans and others in the south west over the rapid influx of illegal immigrants crossing the US/Mexico border since his inauguration. In an address to Congress, President Biden said that most of the undocumented people living in the US initially came into the country legally on visas, which have then expired. But the recent surge in illegal migration over the US southern border with Mexico has caused a disconnect between Biden and his critics on this issue. According to Biden, "There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year." This is not completely in sync with statistics provided by US Customs and Border protection. In January and February 2021, 78,442 and 100,441 people were encountered, significant more than for the same two months in the previous year, which were each just over 36,000. The figure for March has been released at 172,331, the highest in recent years.
The President has created a task force focused on identifying and reuniting migrant families separated at the US-Mexico border as a result of his predecessor's controversial "zero tolerance" policy. He also revoked a proclamation that limited legal immigration during the Covid-19 pandemic. He has also ended President Donald Trump's "remain in Mexico" policy, which required asylum seekers to stay in Mexico until their immigration court dates in the United States, and began a process for the gradual entry of migrants who still had active cases. His administration also initiated a review of policies "that have effectively closed the US border to asylum seekers."
One significant problem has been the influx of unaccompanied minors, who have been held in Border Patrol stations as officials struggle to find places to accommodate them. The Department of Health and Human Services, which is charged with the care of unaccompanied migrant children, opened at least 11 new temporary facilities to try to get these kids out of Border Patrol stations. Vice President Kamala Harris was assigned to oversee efforts with Central American countries to stem the flow of migrants to the US southern border.
President Biden has pledged $2 trillion to be spent on developing clean energy. His infrastructure plan includes EV rebates and 500K electric vehicle chargers. He also unveiled a new target to slash US emissions by 2030. That could boost EV makers and clean energy companies. He also recently fulfilled his pledge to host a global climate summit within his first 100 days in office. During the event, he committed the US to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to 52% below its 2005 emissions levels by 2030. He has also rejoined the Paris climate agreement, but the goals he has set are nonbinding and his administration has not yet rolled out a plan on how the US will meet them.
One area where President Biden and his predecessor appear to be on the same page is in the goal of reducing the presence of US troops in Afghanistan. Two decades after the US launched what has become America's longest war, President Biden has committed to withdrawing troops from Afghanistan before September 11, the 20th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. He has said that the withdrawal will begin May 1, in line with an agreement made with the Taliban during the Trump administration. Some US troops will remain in Afghanistan to protect American diplomats, but the precise number has not been disclosed. US humanitarian and diplomatic efforts will continue in Afghanistan and the US will continue to support peace efforts between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
The President has also set a goal of working to salvage the US-Iran nuclear deal put in place in 2015 under President Barack Obama, which was abandoned by the Trump administration in 2018. The US and Iran resumed talks in Vienna in April. Delegations from the two countries did not interact directly but instead exchanged views through intermediary officials from other nations who were a party to the originakl deal. A State Department official has said that the Vienna conversations were "just the first step of this first phase of a potential return to" the nuclear deal.
The Biden administration issued sanctions and diplomatic expulsions against Russia in response to Moscow's interference in the 2020 US election, its SolarWinds cyber-attack and its continued occupation and human rights abuses in Crimea. He has named the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service as the group behind the SolarWinds hack. The White House has promised the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats in Washington, including "representatives of Russian intelligence services," for the hack and the election meddling. The Biden administration also barred US financial institutions from participating in the primary market for bonds issued by Russia's central bank and other leading financial institutions. Two days before issuing the sanctions, Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and proposed a summit between the two countries later this year.
The "report card" reproduced above comes from NPR's website, checking off some of the other goals that Biden has set. Over the first 100 days, his job approval rating sits at near 54 percent, according to FiveThirtyEight’s presidential approval tracker. Donald Trump’s rating was 42 percent approval rating on his 100th day as president. But Biden’s approval is still lower than any other newly elected president since such polls have been taken. He has signed fewer laws than most of his predecessors, but he has also made more executive orders (40) than any President since Franklin Roosevelt and has also revoked more of his predecessor's executive orders (39) than any other President.
In the final analysis, the most striking factor from Biden's first 100 days is the spending. Over two months into Joe Biden's presidency, the national debt has grown to about $28.1 trillion, a record high, according to Treasury Department data as of April 6. It is too early to judge the long term effects of this spending, and by the time its effects can be properly assessed, the problem will be left on the doorstep on another President. The first 100 days marked a return to the time of Franklin Roosevelt or Lyndon Johnson. How this will impact the nation's future and its standing in the world economically is a subject that those in competing echo chambers will never reach consensus on.
For the rest on the month, we'll look back on how other Presidents spent their first 100 days in office.
So in that current climate, how does a historian judge President Joe Biden's first 100 days in office? If this first chunk of the Biden Presidency had a theme song, it would be "go big or go home." The centerpiece of the Biden presidency will be its record spending. The debate will now begin about whether it was money spent wisely or recklessly. In the days immediately prior to his inauguration, Biden laid out his proposal for a massive economic relief proposal, asking Congress to approve $1.9 trillion in funding to provide Americans with another round of stimulus checks, aid for the unemployed, support for small businesses and money to help schools reopen. In March, Congress approved the package, dubbed the "American Rescue Plan", most of which mirrored Biden's proposal. Congress tinkered with some key changes, including narrowing the scope of the $1,400 stimulus payments, reducing the federal boost to unemployment benefits and removing Biden's plan for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 a hour. Opponents of the plan complained that it was far too much spending and that future generations would be burdened with the bill. They also said that the legislation was not strictly a relief package and that it included projects designed to reward key Democratic leaders, rather than being a pure stimulus bill.
In the first 100 days, the Biden administration sent out more than 160 million stimulus payments worth up to $1,400 per person. Over $80 billion in aid was paid for state education agencies and beefed up Affordable Care Act subsidies on the federal exchange, healthcare.gov. It has also delivered $39 billion to states to help child care providers. States have implemented the $300 federal enhancement to weekly jobless benefits and the extension of two key pandemic unemployment programs through early September. Also in place is a federal income tax break on $10,200 in unemployment compensation for those earning less than $150,000. The package also provides more than $350 billion to states and local governments, territories and tribes, extends a 15% boost to food stamp benefits through September and offers billions of dollars in aid to renters and homeowners. It also enhances the child tax credit for one year, increasing its size, allowing more low-income parents to qualify and providing half of it as a monthly stream of income from July to the end of the year.
Democrats have called Republican governors who accepted the plan's money as hypocrites, though as former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie explained on the ABC news show This Week with George Stephanopoulis, no governor is going to turn down federal aid, because the alternative to taking the aid money is a state tax increase. The $1.9T package was more than twice as big as the 2009 recession package. According to many economists, the stimulus checks fueled what they refer to as "revenge spending".
Another larger than life promise of the Biden administration was a pledge to achieve a target of 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days. At the time he said: "I know it's ambitious, twice our original goal. But no other country in the world has even come close, not even close, to what we are doing." During that time he more than doubled that target with over 230 million shots have already jabbed into American arms. Around 16 million of these were given during the Trump administration, meaning that around 220 million have been delivered during President Biden's first 100 days in in office. Biden expanded eligibility to all adults. The rollout was so successful that now, the United States is providing vaccine supplies to India, where Covid is surging.
President Biden's proposed spending won't stop with the "Rescue Plan". He has unveiled a $2.3 trillion proposal to improve his nation's infrastructure. His infrastructure plan requires bumping the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% and he also wants to raise income taxes on the wealthy, and reportedly, nearly double taxes on investment gains to around 40% for people earning $1 million or more.
The President has faced criticism from Republicans and others in the south west over the rapid influx of illegal immigrants crossing the US/Mexico border since his inauguration. In an address to Congress, President Biden said that most of the undocumented people living in the US initially came into the country legally on visas, which have then expired. But the recent surge in illegal migration over the US southern border with Mexico has caused a disconnect between Biden and his critics on this issue. According to Biden, "There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year." This is not completely in sync with statistics provided by US Customs and Border protection. In January and February 2021, 78,442 and 100,441 people were encountered, significant more than for the same two months in the previous year, which were each just over 36,000. The figure for March has been released at 172,331, the highest in recent years.
The President has created a task force focused on identifying and reuniting migrant families separated at the US-Mexico border as a result of his predecessor's controversial "zero tolerance" policy. He also revoked a proclamation that limited legal immigration during the Covid-19 pandemic. He has also ended President Donald Trump's "remain in Mexico" policy, which required asylum seekers to stay in Mexico until their immigration court dates in the United States, and began a process for the gradual entry of migrants who still had active cases. His administration also initiated a review of policies "that have effectively closed the US border to asylum seekers."
One significant problem has been the influx of unaccompanied minors, who have been held in Border Patrol stations as officials struggle to find places to accommodate them. The Department of Health and Human Services, which is charged with the care of unaccompanied migrant children, opened at least 11 new temporary facilities to try to get these kids out of Border Patrol stations. Vice President Kamala Harris was assigned to oversee efforts with Central American countries to stem the flow of migrants to the US southern border.
President Biden has pledged $2 trillion to be spent on developing clean energy. His infrastructure plan includes EV rebates and 500K electric vehicle chargers. He also unveiled a new target to slash US emissions by 2030. That could boost EV makers and clean energy companies. He also recently fulfilled his pledge to host a global climate summit within his first 100 days in office. During the event, he committed the US to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to 52% below its 2005 emissions levels by 2030. He has also rejoined the Paris climate agreement, but the goals he has set are nonbinding and his administration has not yet rolled out a plan on how the US will meet them.
One area where President Biden and his predecessor appear to be on the same page is in the goal of reducing the presence of US troops in Afghanistan. Two decades after the US launched what has become America's longest war, President Biden has committed to withdrawing troops from Afghanistan before September 11, the 20th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. He has said that the withdrawal will begin May 1, in line with an agreement made with the Taliban during the Trump administration. Some US troops will remain in Afghanistan to protect American diplomats, but the precise number has not been disclosed. US humanitarian and diplomatic efforts will continue in Afghanistan and the US will continue to support peace efforts between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
The President has also set a goal of working to salvage the US-Iran nuclear deal put in place in 2015 under President Barack Obama, which was abandoned by the Trump administration in 2018. The US and Iran resumed talks in Vienna in April. Delegations from the two countries did not interact directly but instead exchanged views through intermediary officials from other nations who were a party to the originakl deal. A State Department official has said that the Vienna conversations were "just the first step of this first phase of a potential return to" the nuclear deal.
The Biden administration issued sanctions and diplomatic expulsions against Russia in response to Moscow's interference in the 2020 US election, its SolarWinds cyber-attack and its continued occupation and human rights abuses in Crimea. He has named the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service as the group behind the SolarWinds hack. The White House has promised the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats in Washington, including "representatives of Russian intelligence services," for the hack and the election meddling. The Biden administration also barred US financial institutions from participating in the primary market for bonds issued by Russia's central bank and other leading financial institutions. Two days before issuing the sanctions, Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and proposed a summit between the two countries later this year.
The "report card" reproduced above comes from NPR's website, checking off some of the other goals that Biden has set. Over the first 100 days, his job approval rating sits at near 54 percent, according to FiveThirtyEight’s presidential approval tracker. Donald Trump’s rating was 42 percent approval rating on his 100th day as president. But Biden’s approval is still lower than any other newly elected president since such polls have been taken. He has signed fewer laws than most of his predecessors, but he has also made more executive orders (40) than any President since Franklin Roosevelt and has also revoked more of his predecessor's executive orders (39) than any other President.
In the final analysis, the most striking factor from Biden's first 100 days is the spending. Over two months into Joe Biden's presidency, the national debt has grown to about $28.1 trillion, a record high, according to Treasury Department data as of April 6. It is too early to judge the long term effects of this spending, and by the time its effects can be properly assessed, the problem will be left on the doorstep on another President. The first 100 days marked a return to the time of Franklin Roosevelt or Lyndon Johnson. How this will impact the nation's future and its standing in the world economically is a subject that those in competing echo chambers will never reach consensus on.
For the rest on the month, we'll look back on how other Presidents spent their first 100 days in office.