Review of the State of the Union Speech by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Introduction
On Tuesday night, against a backdrop of international conflict, domestic economic anxiety, and rising political tensions around the globe, President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union Address to the U.S. Congress. In his speech, he stressed the importance of defending democracy both at home and abroad, while reiterating his commitment to the federal programs he believes will strengthen communities and families across the United States. The first year of the Biden Administration has had its share of successes and failures. The passage of the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has led to impressive U.S. economic growth, with the unemployment rate at historic lows and job creation outpacing any prior president’s first year in office. Moreover, as the President noted, he signed more than 80 bipartisan bills into law in 2021 alone. However, these achievements are matched against the controversial military and diplomatic exit from Afghanistan, the failure to pass large parts of his domestic agenda in the U.S. Senate, rising energy and consumer prices, elevated concerns around crime in communities throughout the country, and uneven immigration policy enforcement at the southern U.S. border. With his approval ratings under 40 percent and the midterm elections nine months away, most political observers viewed his address as an opportunity for President Biden to reassert his leadership at home and to revitalize American leadership abroad.
Below, we have reviewed four areas of President Biden’s hour-long address: (1) The War in Ukraine; (2) the Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery; (3) the “Unity Agenda”; and (4) his Supreme Court Nomination. In the coming days, we will review other portions of his address and agenda.
The War in Ukraine
Tonight’s speech was not the speech the White House had planned weeks ago. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has redirected the country’s attention. Appropriately, the President devoted significant time to the U.S. and allied response to the conflict in Eastern Europe. Political observers feel the President was on firm ground in accordance with this approach: his own experience as Vice President and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee suggests President Biden is the most experienced foreign policy commander-in-chief since President George H. W. Bush. Like former President Bush, President Biden is receiving broad recognition for his ability to successfully leverage his personal relationships to help rally the international community and reinvigorate the NATO alliance. While warning it is still in the early days of the war, President Biden outlined the steps that the U.S. has already taken to repudiate the Russian president and simultaneously lauded the strength and courage demonstrated by the Ukrainian people. In particular, he praised the leadership of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his fearlessness in the face of such overwhelming numbers from the Russian military, and promised additional economic, military, and humanitarian assistance to further strengthen the resolve of the Ukrainian people.
Additionally, the President outlined the actions the United States has taken in concert with its allies to punish Russia’s overt act of aggression on the global stage. He detailed how the imposition of targeted sanctions on leading Russian financial institutions, senior Russian oligarchs, and President Vladimir Putin himself will collectively serve to isolate Russia from global financial markets, prevent critical technology transfers, and thereby devastate Russia’s economy. Moreover, the President acknowledged that the United States is prepared to mobilize the American military to protect NATO countries if President Putin decides to continue moving west and emphasized that his Administration is actively taking measures to ensure U.S. energy security with the release of thirty million barrels of oil from our nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery
After addressing the progress made against the pandemic over the last year, President Biden turned to the economic anxiety that pervades the nation. The President directly confronted concerns created by 40-year highs in year-over-year inflation and addressed the supply chain disruptions that have restricted the ready availability of consumer and commercial goods. He reminded his audience that unemployment is at an all-time low, and that the economy has added six million jobs in the first year of the Biden presidency – as the Administration is quick to point out – more than any other in history. However, with his signature domestic spending plan in legislative purgatory, the President pivoted to outline key components of a more modest legislative and regulatory agenda, including policies to strengthen domestic manufacturing and the resiliency of supply chains, programs to reduce “everyday” financial strains on families such as child care and prescription drug costs, and initiatives centered upon promoting competition to protect consumers and creating paths to high-skilled, good-paying jobs needed for America to compete in the global economy. Additionally, he focused on his legislative accomplishments, namely the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill’s historic investment to fund the maintenance and construction of roads, airports, ports, waterways, and clean energy projects, to replace lead pipes, to modernize the electric grid, and to reconnect communities trapped in the “last mile.”
The Unity Agenda
Longtime political observers believe that the partisanship – not only in Washington, but across the nation – is at a fever pitch, rivaling political tensions in the 1930s and 1960s when international conflicts and domestic inequalities drove the national debate. As such, the President proposed a “Unity Agenda,” four areas that he hopes will have broad consensus across the country to work towards a solution. The agenda includes solving the opioid crisis, making further progress on the mental health crisis, fully supporting the veterans of America’s armed forces, and finding a cure for cancer. The White House believes these issues have touched every American, regardless of class, race, and geography.
Supreme Court Nominee
Finally, no topic tends to ignite passions in either political party like the appointment of a new Supreme Court justice. With the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer, President Biden announced his intention to nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, fulfilling a campaign promise to seat the first African American woman on the Supreme Court. Judge Jackson won confirmation to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on a bipartisan vote in July 2021. In his speech, the President highlighted Judge Jackson’s extensive qualifications and emphasized the significant support she has already received, including an endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police. Regardless, the nomination process will carry political risk for the President and his party, as the confirmation process has become a vehicle for special interest groups and political activists alike to amplify their agenda.
Conclusion
The President’s address sought to unify the nation in the face of rising geopolitical turmoil and conflict, augmented global competition from China and other foreign nation-states, and heightened domestic and international economic and political concerns centered upon inflation in the post-COVID world. The President underscored his Administration’s robust promotion of domestic manufacturing and global competitiveness and reiterated his pledge to continue resolving some of the nation’s most pressing cultural, social, and political challenges, with an emphasis on fostering unity to combat severe political divisiveness.
In a CBS News public opinion poll immediately taken after the speech, 78 percent of viewers approved of his remarks, with 67 percent of those polled feeling “more optimistic” about the future. Independents seemed to move positively towards the President.
With his first State of the Union now behind him, President Biden and the Congress now must return to the hard work of governing for an uneasy electorate and managing international relations during a dangerous time. In the coming days, FTI Consulting will provide additional analysis of the State of the Union, including review of the Administration’s crime and climate platforms as well as the Republican reaction.
Russ Kelley is a Managing Director in FTI Consulting’s Washington, D.C. office. He is the former full committee counsel to the U.S. Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Greg Mecher is a Managing Director in FTI Consulting’s Washington, D.C. office. He is the former chief of staff to U.S. Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III.
| The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of FTI Consulting, its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, or its other professionals.
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