Summary
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. born November 20, 1942 is an American politician who is the 46th and current president of the United States.
A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under Barack Obama and represented Delaware in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009.
“As President, Biden will restore America’s leadership and build our communities back better.” (from White House page).
The White House – 07/03/2024 (01:52)
On March 7, President Biden spoke directly to the American people about the historic progress we’ve made, the work that lies ahead, and his optimism for the future.
This is the recording of before, during, and after President Biden’s address.
OnAir Post: US Presidency
News
Calling for unity as the nation stumbles through a waning pandemic, surging inflation and an international crisis, President Joe Biden used his first State of the Union address to attempt to turn the page on his unpopular presidency. Biden urged lawmakers to return to stalled legislation he said would bolster the economy and rallied the chamber around bipartisan support of Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia.
Even on the day that President Joe Biden delivered his most jarring warning yet that democracy is in severe danger, Donald Trump teased how he might use a new White House term to further erode that core American birthright.
At Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and their fellow founders set the nation on a democratic path, Biden warned their legacy of government for the people by the people was in peril in one of the most stark prime-time speeches ever given by a president.
He warned that Trump and his fellow ideologues represent a dark, dangerous force bent on using lies and violence to crush the will of the majority.
“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” Biden said in another energetic and passionate speech that belied the low-wattage tone of much of his term so far.
PBS NewsHour, March 25, 2022
President Biden Delivers Address from Poland
“Be not afraid.” These were the first words that the first public address of the first Polish pope after his election in October of 1978, they were the words who would come to define Pope John Paul II. Words that would change the world.
John Paul brought the message here to Warsaw in his first trip back home as pope in June of 1979. It was a message about the power, the power of faith, the power of resilience, the power of the people. In the face of a cruel and brutal system of government, it was a message that helped end the Soviet repression in the central land in Eastern Europe 30 years ago.
It was a message that we’ll overcome the cruelty and brutality of this unjust war. When Pope John Paul brought that message in 1979, the Soviet Union ruled with an iron fist behind an Iron Curtain. Then a year later, the solidarity movement took hold in Poland. While I know he couldn’t be here tonight, we’re all grateful in America and around the world for Lech Walesa. [Applause] It reminds me of that phrase from the philosopher Kierkegaard, “Faith sees best in the dark.” And they were dark moments.
Ten years later, the Soviet Union collapsed and Poland and Central and Eastern Europe would soon be free. Nothing about that battle for freedom was simple or easy. It was a long, painful slog. Fought over not days and months but years and decades. But we emerged anew in the great battle for freedom. A battle between democracy and autocracy. Between liberty and repression. Between a rules-based order and one governed by brute force. In this battle, we need to be clear-eyed. This battle will not be won in days or months either. We need to steel ourselves of a long fight ahead.
Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Mayor, members of the parliament, distinguished guests, and the people of Poland, and I suspect some people of Ukraine that are here. We are [applause], we are gathered here at the royal castle in this city that holds the sacred place in the history of not only of Europe but human kind’s unending search for freedom.
For generations, Warsaw has stood where liberty has been challenged and liberty has prevailed. In fact, it was here in Warsaw when a young refugee who fled her home country from Czechoslovakia was under Soviet domination, came back to speak and stand in solidarity with dissidence. Her name was Madeleine Korbel Albright. She became one of the most ardent supporters of democracy in the world. She was a friend with whom I served. America’s first woman Secretary of State.
She passed away three days ago. She fought her whole life for central democratic principles. And now in the perennial struggle for democracy and freedom, Ukraine and its people are in the front lines.
Fighting to save their nation and their brave resistance is part of a larger fight for essential democratic principles that unite all free people. The rule of law, fair and free elections, the freedom to speak, to write and to assemble. The freedom to worship as one chooses. The freedom of the press. These principles are essential in a free society. [Applause]
But they have always, they have always been under siege. They have always been embattled. Every generation has had to defeat democracy’s moral foes. That’s the way of the world, for the world is imperfect, as we know. Where the appetites and ambitions of a few forever seek to dominate the lives and liberty of many.
My message to the people of Ukraine is a message I delivered today to Ukraine’s foreign minister and defense minister, who I believe are here tonight. We stand with you. Period! [Applause]
Today’s fighting in Kyiv and Melitopol and Kharkiv are the latest battle in a long struggle. Hungary, 1956. Poland, 1956, and then again, 1981. Czechoslovakia,1968. Soviet tanks crushed democratic uprisings, but the resistance continued until finally in 1989, the Berlin Wall and all the walls of Soviet domination, they fell. They fell! And the people prevailed.
But the battle for democracy could not conclude, and did not conclude with the end of the Cold War. Over the last 30 years, the forces of autocracy have revived all across the globe. Its hallmarks are familiar ones — contempt for the rule of law, contempt for democratic freedom, contempt for the truth itself.
Today, Russia has strangled democracy and sought to do so elsewhere, not only in his homeland. Under false claims of ethnic solidarity, there’s invalidated neighboring nations. Putin has the gall to say he’s ‘denazifying’ Ukraine. It’s a lie. It’s just cynical, he knows that and it’s also obscene.
President Zelenskyy was democratically elected. He’s Jewish. His father’s family was wiped out in the Nazi Holocaust. And Putin has the audacity, like all autocrats before him, to believe that might will make right.
In my own country, a former president named Abraham Lincoln voiced the opposing spirit to save our union in the midst of the Civil War. He said let us have faith that right makes might. Right makes might. Today, let us have that faith again. [Applause] Let us resolve to put the strength of democracies into action to thwart the designs of autocracy.
Let us remember that the test of this moment is the test of all time. A criminal wants to portray NATO enlargement as an imperial project aimed at destabilizing Russia. Nothing is further from the truth. NATO is a defensive alliance. It has never sought the demise of Russia. In the lead up to the current crisis, the United States and NATO worked for months to engage Russia to avert war. I met with him in person, talked to him many times on the phone.
Time and again, we offered real diplomacy and concrete proposals to strengthen European security, enhance transparency, build confidence on all sides. But Putin and Russia met each of the proposals with disinterest in any negotiation, with lies and ultimatums.
Russia was bent on violence from the start. I know not all of you believed me and us when we kept saying, they are going to cross the border, they are going to attack. Repeatedly he asserted we had no interest in war, guaranteed he would not move. Repeatedly saying he would not invade Ukraine. Repeatedly saying Russian troops along the border were there for training. All 180,000 of them.
There’s simply no justification or provocation for Russia’s choice of war. It’s an example, one of the oldest human impulses, using brute force and disinformation to satisfy a craving for absolute power and control. It’s nothing less than a direct challenge to the rule-based international order established since the end of World War II. And it threatens to return to decades of war that ravaged Europe before the international rule-based order was put in place.
We cannot go back to that. We cannot. The gravity of the threat is why the response of the West has been so swift and so powerful and so unified, unprecedented and overwhelming. Swift and punishing costs are the only thing that are going to get Russia to change its course.
Within days of his invasion, the West has moved jointly with sanctions to damage Russia’s economy. Russia’s Central Bank is now blocked from global financial systems, denying Kremlin’s access to the war fund that’s stashed around the globe. We have aimed at the heart of Russia’s economy by stopping the imports of Russian energy to the United States.
To date, the United States has sanctioned 140 Russian oligarchs and their family members, seizing their ill-begotten gains, their yachts, their luxury apartments, their mansions. We’ve sanctioned more than 400 Russian government officials, including key architects of this war. These officials and oligarchs have reaped enormous benefit from the corruption connected to the Kremlin. And now they have to share in the pain.
The private sector has acted as well. Over 400 private multinational companies have pulled out of doing business in Russia. Left Russia completely. From oil companies to McDonald’s. As a result of these unprecedented sanctions, the ruble almost is immediately reduced to rubble. The Russian economy — that’s true, by the way, it takes about 200 rubles to equal $1.
The economy is on track to be cut in half in the coming years. It was ranked, Russia’s economy was ranked the 11th biggest economy in the world before this invasion. It will soon not even rank among the top 20 in the world.
Taken together [applause] these economic sanctions, a new kind of economic statecraft with the power to inflict damage that rivals military might. These international sanctions are sapping Russian strength, its ability to replenish its military, and its ability to project power. And it’s Putin, it is Vladimir Putin who is to blame. Period.
At the same time, alongside these economic sanctions, the Western world has come together to provide for the people of Ukraine with incredible levels of military, economic, humanitarian assistance.
In the years before the invasion, we, America, had sent over $650 million, before they crossed the border, in weapons to Ukraine, including anti-air and anti-armor equipment. Since the invasion, America has committed another $1.35 billion in weapons and ammunition. And thanks to the courage and bravery of the Ukrainian people, the equipment we’ve sent and our colleagues have sent have been used to devastating effect to defend Ukrainian land and air space.
Our allies and partners have stepped up as well. But as I’ve made clear, American forces are in Europe — not in Europe to engage in conflict with Russian forces. American forces are here to defend NATO allies. Yesterday I met with the troops that are serving alongside our Polish allies to bolster NATO’s front line defenses. The reason we want to make clear is their movement on Ukraine — don’t even think about moving on one single inch of NATO territory. We have sacred obligation. We have a sacred obligation under Article 5 to defend each and every inch of NATO territory with the full force of our collective power.
And earlier today I visited your national stadium, where thousands of Ukrainian refugees are now trying to answer the toughest questions a human can ask. My God, what is going to happen to me? What is going to happen to my family? I saw tears in many of the mothers’ eyes as I embraced them. Their young children, their young children, not sure whether to smile or cry.
One little girl said, Mr. President — she spoke a little English — is my brother and my daddy, are they going to be okay? Will I see them again? Without their husbands, their fathers. In many cases, their brothers and sisters have stayed back to fight for their country.
I didn’t have to speak the language or understand the language to feel the emotion in their eyes, the way they gripped my hand, little kids hung on to my leg, praying with a desperate hope that all this is temporary. Apprehension that they may be perhaps forever away from their homes. Almost a debilitating sadness that this is happening all over again.
But I was also struck by the generosity of the people of Warsaw — for that matter, all the Polish people — for the depths of their compassion, their willingness to reach out [applause], for opening their hearts. I was saying to the mayor, they were opening their hearts and their homes simply to help.
I also want to thank my friend, the great American chef Jose Andres, and his team for help feeding those who are yearning to be free. But helping these refugees is not something Poland or any other nation should carry alone. All the world’s democracies have a responsibility to help. All of them. And the people of Ukraine can count on the United States to meet its responsibility. I have announced two days ago, we will welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. We already have 8,000 a week coming to the United States of other nationalities. We will provide nearly $300 million of humanitarian assistance, providing tens of thousands of tons of food, water, medicine and other basic supplies.
In Brussels, I announced the United States is prepared to provide more than $1 billion in additional humanitarian aid. The World Food Programme told us that despite significant obstacles, at least some relief is getting to major cities in Ukraine. But not Metripol — no, excuse me — not Mariupol because Russian forces are blocking relief supplies.
But we’ll not cease our efforts to get humanitarian relief wherever it is needed in Ukraine and for the people who’ve made it out of Ukraine. Notwithstanding the brutality of Vladimir Putin, let there be no doubt that this war has already been a strategic failure for Russia already. Having lost children myself, I know that’s no solace to the people who’ve lost family but he, Putin, thought Ukrainians would roll over and not fight. Not much of a student of history. Instead Russian forces have met their match with brave and stiff Ukrainian resistance. Rather than breaking Ukrainian resolve, Russia’s brutal tactics have strengthened the resolve. Rather than driving NATO apart, the West is now stronger and more united than it’s ever been.
Russia wanted less of a NATO presence on its border but now he has a stronger presence, a larger presence with over 100,000 American troops here along with all the other members of NATO. In fact, Russia has managed to cause something I’m sure he never intended. The democracies of the world are revitalized with purpose and unity found in months that we’ve once taken years to accomplish.
It’s not only Russia’s actions in Ukraine that are reminding us of democracy’s blessing. It’s our own country, his own country, the Kremlin, it’s jailing protesters. Two hundred thousand people who have allegedly already left. There’s a brain drain leaving Russia. Shutting down independent news. State media is all propaganda. Blocking the image of civilian targets, mass graves, starvation tactics of the Russian forces in Ukraine.
Is it any wonder as I said that 200,000 Russians have all left their country in one month. A remarkable brain drain in such a short period of time. Which brings me to my message to the Russian people. I worked with Russian leaders for decades. I sat across the negotiating table going all the way back to Soviet Alexei Kosygin to talk arms control at the height of the Cold War. I’ve always spoken directly and honestly to you, the Russian people. Let me say this, if you’re able to listen. You, the Russian people, are not our enemy. I refuse to believe that you welcome the killing of innocent children and grandparents, or that you accept hospitals, schools, maternity wards and for God sake’s being pummeled with Russian missiles and bombs. Or cities being surrounded so that civilians cannot flee. Supplies cut off and attempting to starve Ukrainians into submission.
Millions of families are being driven from their homes, including half of all Ukraine’s children. These are not the actions of a great nation. Of all people, you, the Russian people, as well as all people across Europe still have the memory of being in a similar situation in the late ’30s and ’40s. Situation in World War II still fresh in the minds of many grandparents in the region. Whatever your generation experienced, whether it experienced the siege of Leningrad or heard about it from your parents and grandparents. Train stations overflowing with terrified families fleeing their homes. Nights sheltering in basements and cellars. Mornings sifting through the rubble in your homes. These are not memories of the past. Not anymore. Because it’s exactly what the Russian army is doing in Ukraine right now.
March 26, 2022, just days before we’re at the 21 — you were a 21st century nation, with hopes and dreams that people all over the world have for themselves and their family. Now, Vladimir Putin’s aggression have cut you, the Russian people, off from the rest of the world, and it’s taking Russia back to the 19th century. This is not who you are. This is not the future you deserve for your families and your children. I’m telling you the truth, this war is not worthy of you, the Russian people. Putin can and must end this war. The American people will stand with you, and the brave citizens of Ukraine who want peace.
My message to the rest of Europe, this new battle for freedom has already made a few things crystal clear. First, Europe must end its dependence on Russian fossil fuels. And we, the United States will help. [Applause] That’s why just yesterday in Brussels I announced the plan with the president of the European Commission to get Europe through the immediate energy crisis. Over the long-term, as a matter of economic security and national security and for the survivability of the planet, we all need to move as quickly as possible to clean, renewable energy. And we’ll work together to help to get that done so that the days of any nation being subject to the whims of a tyrant for its energy needs are over. They must end. They must end.
And second, we have to fight the corruption coming from the Kremlin to give the Russian people a fair chance. And finally, most urgently, we maintain absolute unity, we must, among the world’s democracies. It’s not enough to speak with rhetorical flourish of ennobling words of democracy, of freedom, of quality, and liberty. All of us, including here in Poland, must do the hard work of democracy each and every day — my country as well. That’s why [applause], that’s why I came to Europe again this week with a clear and determined message for NATO, for the G7, for the European Union, for all freedom-loving nations — we must commit now to be in this fight for the long haul. We must remain unified today and tomorrow and the day after. And for the years and decades to come. It will not be easy. There will be costs. But it is a price we have to pay because the darkness that drives autocracy is ultimately no match for the flame of liberty that lights the souls of free people everywhere.
Time and again history shows that. It’s from the darkness moments that the greatest progress follows. And history shows this is the task of our time, the task of this generation. Let’s remember the hammer blow that brought down the Berlin Wall, the might that lifted the Iron Curtain were not the words of a single leader, it was the people of Europe, who for decades fought to free themselves. Their sheer bravery opened the border between Austria and Hungary for the Pan-European Picnic. They joined hands for the Baltic Way. They stood for solidarity here in Poland. And together it was an unmistakable and undeniable force of the people that the Soviet Union could not withstand. And we’re seeing it once again today for the brave Ukrainian people showing that their power of many is greater than the will of any one dictator.
So in this hour, let the words of Pope John Paul burn as brightly today. Never ever give up hope. Never doubt. Never tire. Never become discouraged. Be not afraid! [Applause]
A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase a people’s love for liberty. Brutality will never grind down their will to be free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, for free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness. We will have a different future, a brighter future, rooted in democracy and principle, hope and light. Of decency and dignity and freedom and possibilities. For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power. God bless you all. And may God defend our freedom, and may God protect our troops. [Applause] Thank you for your patience. Thank you. Thank you.
If there’s one nation that understands Ukraine’s torment, it’s Poland, which welcomes President Joe Biden on Friday as part of his emergency mission to shore up NATO’s defenses following Russia’s brutal invasion.
In the United States, Biden’s warnings that democracy is under siege from menacing autocrats can seem remote, even after former President Donald Trump’s US Capitol insurrection and attempt to steal the 2020 election.
But in Poland, which neighbors Ukraine, freedom is fresh enough to still be a novelty. In a tortured 20th-century history, the country — torn between East and West — was repeatedly conquered, was ruled by foreign tyrants and saw millions of its people purged or driven as refugees from homes destroyed by warfare.
Poland again finds itself on the front line of conflict. It’s on the dividing line between states in the NATO club, to which it now belongs, and President Vladimir Putin’s Russian orbit, which includes another Polish neighbor, Belarus. Poland has opened its borders to more than 2 million of the 3.7 million Ukrainians who have fled Putin’s onslaught, and the war came close to its borders with a Russian strike on a base in western Ukraine earlier this month.
PBS NewsHour, March 1, 2022
There were more headlines Thursday about Donald Trump and his potential mishandling of White House records, including questions about whether the former president broke federal law. Chuck Rosenberg, a former U.S. attorney and senior FBI official, joins Geoff Bennett to discuss.
CNN, – February 23, 2022
The new US sanctions triggered by Russian’s latest actions in Ukraine included targets that in the past have gone untouched: the family members of those in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
By designating the sons of two powerful players close to the Russian President, the Biden administration sent a clear signal that its target list for individual sanctions extends beyond public officials and financiers as part of a new effort to shut down pathways for top Putin associates to shield their wealth by giving it to family members.
Denis Bortnikov and Vladimir Kiriyenko, both designated for individual sanctions by the Treasury Department on Tuesday, hold their own prominent positions in Russian business. But both will now have any US-held assets frozen and be barred from dealing with any US persons solely because their fathers serve as Putin’s domestic intelligence chief and as one of Putin’s closest advisers, respectively.
Why voters so often punish the president in midterm elections.
The historical pattern is clear, and ominous for Joe Biden and Democrats this year: The president’s party usually does poorly in midterm elections.
“It’s not quite a law of physics, but it’s probably as close as you’re going to get in the social sciences,” says Carlos Algara, a professor of political science at Claremont Graduate University.
Despite the persistence of this pattern, we know surprisingly little about why it happens — and why, every so often, it’s somehow averted.
Political scientists have argued about it for decades — there’s a 1988 paper called “The Puzzle of Midterm Loss.” Some theories focus on lower turnout among the president’s supporters. Others emphasize the public’s tendency to sour on an incumbent president. They may both be correct to some extent.
About
Source: White House website
Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the first of four children of Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden and Joseph Robinette Biden, Sr. In 1953, the Biden family moved to Claymont, Delaware. President Biden graduated from the University of Delaware and Syracuse Law School and served on the New Castle County Council.
JOE BIDEN’S FAMILY
At age 29, President Biden became one of the youngest people ever elected to the United States Senate. Just weeks after his Senate election, tragedy struck the Biden family when his wife Neilia and daughter Naomi were killed, and sons Hunter and Beau were critically injured, in an auto accident.
Biden was sworn into the U.S. Senate at his sons’ hospital bedsides and began commuting from Wilmington to Washington every day, first by car, and then by train, in order to be with his family. He would continue to do so throughout his time in the Senate.
Biden married Jill Jacobs in 1977, and in 1980, their family was complete with the birth of Ashley Blazer Biden. A lifelong educator, Jill earned her doctorate in education and returned to teaching as an English professor at a community college in Virginia.
Beau Biden, Attorney General of Delaware and Joe Biden’s eldest son, passed away in 2015 after battling brain cancer with the same integrity, courage, and strength he demonstrated every day of his life. Beau’s fight with cancer inspires the mission of President Biden’s life — ending cancer as we know it.
A LEADER IN THE SENATE
As a Senator from Delaware for 36 years, President Biden established himself as a leader in facing some of our nation’s most important domestic and international challenges. As Chairman or Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee for 16 years, Biden is widely recognized for his work writing and spearheading the Violence Against Women Act — the landmark legislation that strengthens penalties for violence against women, creates unprecedented resources for survivors of assault, and changes the national dialogue on domestic and sexual assault.
As Chairman or Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 12 years, Biden played a pivotal role in shaping U.S. foreign policy. He was at the forefront of issues and legislation related to terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, post-Cold War Europe, the Middle East, Southwest Asia, and ending apartheid.
“America is an idea. An idea that is stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant. It gives hope to the most desperate people on earth, it guarantees that everyone is treated with dignity and gives hate no safe harbor. It instills in every person in this country the belief that no matter where you start in life, there’s nothing you can’t achieve if you work at it. That’s what we believe.”
JOE BIDEN, APRIL 25, 2019
THE 47TH VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
As Vice President, Biden continued his leadership on important issues facing the nation and represented our country abroad. Vice President Biden convened sessions of the President’s Cabinet, led interagency efforts, and worked with Congress in his fight to raise the living standards of middle-class Americans, reduce gun violence, address violence against women, and end cancer as we know it.
Biden helped President Obama pass and then oversaw the implementation of the Recovery Act — the biggest economic recovery plan in the history of the nation and our biggest and strongest commitment to clean energy. The President’s plan prevented another Great Depression, created and saved millions of jobs, and led to 75 uninterrupted months of job growth by the end of the administration. And Biden did it all with less than 1% in waste, abuse, or fraud — the most efficient government program in our country’s history.
President Obama and Vice President Biden also secured the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which reduced the number of uninsured Americans by 20 million by the time they left office and banned insurance companies from denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
He served as the point person for U.S. diplomacy throughout the Western Hemisphere, strengthened relationships with our allies both in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, and led the effort to bring 150,000 troops home from Iraq.
In a ceremony at the White House, President Obama awarded Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction — the nation’s highest civilian honor.
A NEW CHAPTER
After leaving the White House, the Bidens continued their efforts to expand opportunity for every American with the creation of the Biden Foundation, the Biden Cancer Initiative, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, and the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware.
On April 25, 2019, Biden announced his candidacy for President of the United States. Biden’s candidacy was built from the beginning around 3 pillars: the battle for the soul of our nation, the need to rebuild our middle class — the backbone of our country, and a call for unity, to act as One America. It was a message that would only gain more resonance in 2020 as we confront a pandemic, an economic crisis, urgent calls for racial justice, and the existential threat of climate change.
“WE ARE LIVING THROUGH A BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THIS NATION.”
JOE BIDEN, APRIL 25, 2019
Web Links
Videos
Ukraine
President Joe Biden arrives in Poland after NATO summit
March 25, 2022
By: CNN
CNBC’s Kayla Tausche joins ‘Squawk on the Street’ to break down President Joe Biden’s schedule while visiting Poland over the next few days.
Presidency
How Trump may have violated the Presidential Records Act
February 10, 2022
By: PBS
There were more headlines Thursday about Donald Trump and his potential mishandling of White House records, including questions about whether the former president broke federal law. Chuck Rosenberg, a former U.S. attorney and senior FBI official, joins Geoff Bennett to discuss.
Priorities
Source: White House website
President Biden will deliver bold action and immediate relief for American families as the country grapples with converging crises. This will include actions to control the COVID-19 pandemic, provide economic relief, tackle climate change, and advance racial equity and civil rights, as well as immediate actions to reform our immigration system and restore America’s standing in the world.
COVID-19
The National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan – will enable America to move forward safely, sustaining and building on the progress we’ve made over the past 13 months. This plan lays out the roadmap to help us fight COVID-19 in the future as we begin to get back to our more normal routines. We look to a future when Americans no longer fear lockdowns, shutdowns, and our kids not going to school. It’s a future when the country relies on the powerful layers of protection we have built and invests in the next generation of tools to stay ahead of this virus.
Climate
President Biden will take swift action to tackle the climate crisis. To meet the demands of science, the President is mobilizing a whole-of-government effort to reduce climate pollution in every sector of the economy and increase resilience to climate impacts. The Biden Administration will create good-paying, union jobs to build a modern and sustainable infrastructure, deliver an equitable clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050.
Racial Equity
The promise of our nation is that every American has an equal chance to get ahead, yet persistent systemic racism and barriers to opportunity have denied this promise for so many. President Biden is putting equity at the center of the agenda with a whole of government approach to embed racial justice across Federal agencies, policies, and programs. And President Biden will take bold action to advance a comprehensive equity agenda to deliver criminal justice reform, end disparities in healthcare access and education, strengthen fair housing, and restore Federal respect for Tribal sovereignty, among other actions, so that everyone across America has the opportunity to fulfill their potential.
Economy
President Biden will take bold steps to address the inequities in our economy and provide relief to those who are struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. The President will also work with Congress to pass the American Rescue Plan to change the course of the pandemic, build a bridge towards economic recovery, and invest in racial justice. And, he will build our economy back better from the pandemic and create millions of jobs by strengthening small businesses and investing in the jobs of the future.
Health Care
President Biden will make a renewed commitment to protect and expand Americans’ access to quality, affordable health care. He will build on the Affordable Care Act to meet the health care needs created by the pandemic, reduce health care costs, and make our health care system less complex to navigate.
Immigration
President Biden will reform our long-broken and chaotic immigration system. President Biden’s strategy is centered on the basic premise that our country is safer, stronger, and more prosperous with a fair and orderly immigration system that welcomes immigrants, keeps families together, and allows people across the country—both newly arrived immigrants and people who have lived here for generations—to more fully contribute to our country.
Restoring America’s Global Standing
President Biden will take steps to restore America’s standing in the world, strengthening the U.S. national security workforce, rebuilding democratic alliances across the globe, championing America’s values and human rights, and equipping the American middle class to succeed in a global economy.
Executive Office of the President
Source: White House website
Every day, the President of the United States is faced with scores of decisions, each with important consequences for working families. To provide the President with the support that he or she needs to govern effectively, the Executive Office of the President (EOP) was created in 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The EOP has responsibility for tasks ranging from communicating the President’s message to the American people to promoting our trade interests abroad.
Council of Economic Adviser
Source: White House website
Established by Congress in 1946, the Council of Economic Advisers is charged with advising the President on economic policy based on data, research, and evidence.
The CEA is composed of three members, including a Chair who is appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, who analyze and interpret economic developments and formulate and recommend economic policies that advance the interests of the American people.
Some of the tasks of the CEA include:
- Assisting the President in preparing the Economic Report, an annual report written by the CEA Chair that provides an overview of the nation’s economic progress
- Analyzing information on economic developments and trends
- Reviewing federal government policies and programs to ensure they continue to promote sound economic policy
- Recommending economic policies that will benefit American workers
Under President Biden, Cecilia Elena Rouse serves as Chair of the CEA, and Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey serve as members. Together, they are helping steer America’s economic recovery and ensure that our nation builds back better.
Council on Environmental Quality
Source: White House website
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) within the Executive Office of the President coordinates the federal government’s efforts to improve, preserve, and protect America’s public health and environment.
CEQ, which was created in 1969 by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), advises the President and develops policies on climate change, environmental justice, federal sustainability, public lands, oceans, and wildlife conservation, among other areas. As the agency responsible for implementing NEPA, CEQ also works to ensure that environmental reviews for infrastructure projects and federal actions are thorough, efficient, and reflect the input of the public and local communities.
Brenda Mallory
Brenda Mallory was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 14, 2021 and sworn in as the 12th Chair of CEQ. She is the first African American to serve in this position. As Chair, she advises the President on environmental and natural resources policies that improve, preserve, and protect public health and the environment for America’s communities. She is focused particularly on addressing the environmental justice and climate change challenges the nation faces while advancing opportunities for job growth and economic development.
To see her full bio, click here.
Domestic Policy Council
Source: White House website
The Domestic Policy Council (DPC) drives the development and implementation of the President’s domestic policy agenda in the White House and across the Federal government, ensuring that domestic policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President’s stated goals, and are carried out for the American people.
President Biden has directed Ambassador Susan Rice, Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, to lead a Domestic Policy Council system that brings greater dignity, equity, opportunity, and prosperity to the everyday lives of Americans. Staffed by policy experts on a range of issues, the DPC will craft and implement policies on everything from education to health and immigration, along with cross-cutting issues that tackle the profound and multifaceted challenges and opportunities before us.
You can read the 1993 Executive Order that established the DPC here.
Domestic policy staff have existed in the White House since the 1960s. President Lyndon B. Johnson assigned a senior-level aide to organize staff and develop domestic policy. In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon issued an executive order that created the Office of Policy Development, a large White House office with jurisdiction over economic and domestic policy. President William J. Clinton split the office, forming the current Domestic Policy Council and the National Economic Council.
Gender Policy Council
Source: White House website
The Gender Policy Council (GPC) was established by President Biden to advance gender equity and equality in both domestic and foreign policy development and implementation. The GPC covers a range of issues—including economic security, health, gender-based violence and education—with a focus on gender equity and equality, and particular attention to the barriers faced by women and girls. It also plays an essential role in the President’s efforts to advance equity in government policy for those who face discrimination and bias based on multiple factors—including members of the Black, Latina, Native American, AAPI, and LGBTQI+ communities, as well as persons with disabilities.
The GPC works in coordination with the other White House policy councils—including the Domestic Policy Council, National Security Council, and National Economic Council—and across all federal agencies to instill a strategic, whole-of-government approach to gender equality and gender equity. Its co-chairs are Jennifer Klein, who also serves as the Executive Director, and Julissa Reynoso, who also serves as First Lady Dr. Jill Biden’s Chief of Staff. The council is staffed by domestic and global gender policy experts, including a Senior Advisor focused on gender-based violence.
While previous administrations have had offices focused on women and girls—including the White House Council on Women and Girls under President Obama and the Office of Women’s Initiatives and Outreach under President Clinton—the Gender Policy Council is the first freestanding policy council focused on gender equity and equality within the Executive Office of the President.
You can read the March 8, 2021 executive order establishing the Gender Policy Council here.
National Economic Council
Source: White House website
The National Economic Council (NEC) was established in 1993 to advise the President on U.S. and global economic policy. It is part of the Executive Office of the President. By Executive Order, the NEC has four key functions: to coordinate policy-making for domestic and international economic issues; to give economic policy advice to the President; to ensure that policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President’s economic goals; and to monitor implementation of the President’s economic policy agenda.
Working with many department and agency heads within the administration, the NEC Director coordinates and implements the President’s economic policy objectives. The Director is supported by a staff of policy experts in various fields including: infrastructure, manufacturing, research and development, small business, financial regulation, housing, technology and innovation, and fiscal policy.
President Biden has appointed Brian Deese as the Director of the National Economic Council.
National Security Council
Source: White House website
The National Security Council (NSC) is the President’s principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his or her senior advisors and cabinet officials. Since its inception under President Truman, the Council’s function has been to advise and assist the President and to coordinate matters of national security among government agencies.
The National Security Council is the President’s principal forum for national security and foreign policy decision making with his or her senior national security advisors and cabinet officials, and the President’s principal arm for coordinating these policies across federal agencies.
Today’s challenges demand a new and broader understanding of national security–one that facilitates coordination between domestic and foreign policy as well as among traditional national security, economic security, health security, and environmental security. The Biden-Harris NSC recognizes and reflects this reality.
The NSC is chaired by the President. Its regular attendees are the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Chief of Staff to the President, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the military advisor to the Council, and the Director of National Intelligence is the intelligence advisor. Counsel to the President and the Legal Advisor to the NSC are invited to attend every NSC meeting. The heads of other executive departments and agencies, as well as other senior officials, including the COVID-19 Response Coordinator and the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, are invited to attend meetings of the NSC when appropriate to address the cross-cutting nature of many critical national security issues, such as homeland security, global public health, international economics, climate, science and technology, cybersecurity, migration, and others.
The National Security Council was established by the National Security Act of 1947 (PL 235 – 61 Stat. 496; U.S.C. 402), amended by the National Security Act Amendments of 1949 (63 Stat. 579; 50 U.S.C. 401 et seq.). Later in 1949, as part of the Reorganization Plan, the Council was placed in the Executive Office of the President.
National Space Council
Source: White House website
he National Space Council (NSpC) is the White House policy council responsible for ensuring the United States capitalizes on the rich opportunities presented by our nation’s space activities. Under the leadership of its chair, Vice President Kamala Harris, the NSpC advises and assists the President on the development and implementation of space policy and strategy and is comprised of Cabinet-level Secretaries and other senior executive branch officials.
The NSpC synchronizes the nation’s civil, commercial, and national security space activities to advance the broader priorities of the Biden-Harris Administration.
The NSpC was established by law as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 1989. The Council was not operational from 1993-2017. The NSpC is aided by a staff from the Executive Office of the President led by a civilian Executive Secretary. It is also supported by the Users Advisory Group, a Federal Advisory Committee consisting of outside experts from industry, academia, and other non-Federal organizations.
United States Space Priorities Framework
Office of Domestic Climate Policy
Source: White House website
The Office of Domestic Climate Policy (Climate Policy Office) implements the President’s domestic climate agenda, coordinating the all-of-government approach to tackle the climate crisis, create good-paying, union jobs, and advance environmental justice.
President Biden has appointed Gina McCarthy as the National Climate Advisor and Ali Zaidi as the Deputy National Climate Advisor. Under their leadership, the Climate Policy Office convenes the National Climate Task Force, which assembles Cabinet-level leaders from across 21 federal agencies and departments.
The Climate Policy Office also convenes a wide range of interagency working groups to assist the National Climate Task Force on federal actions to: reduce climate pollution in every sector of the economy; increase resilience to the impacts of climate change; protect public health; conserve our lands, waters, oceans, and biodiversity; deliver environmental justice; and spur good-paying, union jobs and economic growth.
President Biden established the Climate Policy Office in the January 27, 2021 Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.
Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
Source: White House website
The Office of Intergovernmental Affairs serves to engage State, local, and Tribal governments, in addition to elected officials across Puerto Rico and our island communities to address the most pressing issues impacting our country and communities.
President Biden has appointed Julie Chavez Rodriguez to serve as Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
Office of Management and Budget
Source: White House website
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) serves the President of the United States in overseeing the implementation of his or her vision across the Executive Branch. OMB’s mission is to assist the President in meeting policy, budget, management, and regulatory objectives and to fulfill the agency’s statutory responsibilities.
the implementation of the President’s vision across the Executive Branch. OMB carries out its mission through five main functions across executive departments and agencies:
- Budget development and execution;
- Management, including oversight of agency performance, procurement, financial management, and information technology;
- Coordination and review of all significant Federal regulations from executive agencies, privacy policy, information policy, and review and assessment of information collection requests; and
- Clearance and coordination of legislative and other materials, including agency testimony, legislative proposals, and other communications with Congress, and coordination of other Presidential actions.
- Clearance of Presidential Executive Orders and memoranda to agency heads prior to their issuance.
Office of National Drug Control Policy
Source: White House website
The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is a component of the Executive Office of the President. The mission of ONDCP is to reduce substance use disorder and its consequences by coordinating the nation’s drug control policy through the development and oversight of the National Drug Control Strategy and Budget.
(ONDCP) leads and coordinates the nation’s drug policy so that it improves the health and lives of the American people. ONDCP accomplishes this through:
- Developing and overseeing implementation of the National Drug Control Strategy. The Strategy uses the latest evidence and research to promote public health and public safety approaches that address substance use disorder, reduce the consequences associated with it, and help Americans recover from substance use disorder.
- Developing and overseeing implementation of the National Drug Control Budget. Through the budget, ONDCP aligns the funding resources for sixteen Federal government agencies and departments with the goals of the National Drug Control Strategy; and
- Administering High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) and Drug-Free Communities (DFC) grant programs. Through the HIDTA program, ONDCP supports collaborative Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and public health efforts to address overdoses and disrupt drug trafficking and production. Through the DFC program, ONDCP supports community-led efforts to reduce youth substance use across the nation.
Office of Public Engagement
Source: White House website
The Office of Public Engagement supports the President’s goal of building a government that is inclusive, transparent, accountable, and responsible to its citizens.
inclusive and accessible to its citizens, the Office of Public Engagement is responsible for creating and coordinating direct dialogue between the Biden-Harris administration and the diverse American public.
The Office of Public Engagement works at the local, state, and national levels to ensure community leaders, diverse perspectives, and new voices all have the opportunity to inform the work of the President. Creating and maintaining a two-way dialogue between the administration and communities across the nation ensures that voices are heard and that concerns can be translated into action across the administration.
Through outreach, communication, public events, and official announcements from the administration and the various departments of the Executive Office of the President, the Office of Public Engagement removes obstacles and barriers and creates opportunities to improve public awareness and involvement in the work of the Biden-Harris administration.
Working alongside the citizens who want a government that works and that they can be a part of, the Office of Public Engagement helps build and maintain the transparent, responsible, and accountable government President Biden and Vice President Harris have promised.
President Biden has appointed Rep. Cedric Richmond to serve as Senior Advisor and Director of the Office of Public Engagement.
White House website
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Source: White House website
The mission of OSTP is to maximize the benefits of science and technology to advance health, prosperity, security, environmental quality, and justice for all Americans.
Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in 1976. The OSTP advises the President and others within the Executive Office of the President on the scientific, engineering, and technological aspects of the economy, national security, homeland security, health, foreign relations, and the environment.
OSTP leads efforts across the Federal government to develop and implement sound science and technology policies and budgets, and works with the private and philanthropic sectors, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, the research and academic communities, and other nations toward this end.
OSTP also assists the Office of Management and Budget with an annual review and analysis of Federal research and development in budgets, and serves as a source of scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the President with respect to major policies, plans, and programs of the Federal government.
OSTP’s Senate-confirmed Director may also serve as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. The Director co-chairs the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and supports the Cabinet-level National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), which is chaired by the President.
United States Trade Representative
Source: White House website
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) was created in 1962 to advise the President on trade issues, lead international trade negotiations, and oversee the resolution of disputes, enforcement actions and other matters before global trade policy organizations such as the World Trade Organization.
With more than 200 committed public servants, USTR meets with governments, business groups, legislators and the general public to gather input on trade issues and discuss the President’s trade policy positions. With offices in Washington, Geneva, and Brussels, USTR is also part of the Executive Office of the President.
