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A Look Back on Biden’s First Year

Jan. 27 will mark a year and one week since Joe Biden was sworn in as president of the United States. This year can be looked back on in terms of events, numbers, and promises.

Events

Jan. 6 – 2 Weeks Prior to Biden’s Inauguration

On Jan. 6, 2021, as the votes deciding the next President were being counted in the Capitol, a riot ensued. Hundreds stormed the Capitol’s steps, smashed windows, hurled racial slurs, and more.

The Department of Justice and the FBI’s investigations have since resulted in the arrests and charges of more than 700 people, and the FBI are looking to identify more than 300 others. On Jan. 5, 2022, the day before the anniversary of the riot, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke about the DOJ’s ongoing investigation.

“The Justice Department remains committed to holding all Jan. 6 perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law – whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy,” Garland said.

Afghanistan

Another notable aspect of Biden’s first year in office was how he dealt with the war in Afghanistan.

Although Biden inherited the withdrawal from Trump, Biden himself had advocated for the removal of troops from Afghanistan since his vice presidency with Barack Obama.

On April 14, 2021, Biden extended the withdrawal deadline from May 1 to Sept. 11.

In August 2021, as the Taliban continued to push toward the Afghan capital of Kabul, the CIA warned U.S. officials of an impending collapse of the Afghan government. According to a map of the Taliban’s advance, the Taliban added 259 districts in three days, nearly tripling the number of districts they controlled.

A former CIA official said a worst-case scenario “was pretty close to what happened.”.

At the close of U.S. involvement, many Afghan civilians attempted to flee Afghan, crowding the airport tarmac. Thirteen U.S. troops and over 150 Afghans died in an attack at a checkpoint outside the airport.

After 20 years, America’s longest war was over on Aug. 30.

Numbers

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 increased from 385,453 in 2020 to 451,475 in 2021. Vaccination rates also rose during 2021; currently, over 200 million are fully vaccinated and over 80 million have received a booster shot.

During Biden’s presidency, the economy added a record 6.4 million jobs, and the unemployment rate fell from 6.3% in January 2021 to 3.9% in December 2021. Consumer prices inflated by 7%, “the fastest rate of inflation in 40 years,” CBS News wrote in their by-the-numbers look at Biden’s first year.

The national debt increased from 27.8 trillion to 29.8 trillion.

At the Mexican border, there were 1.7 million migrant apprehensions and over 1 million Title 42 expulsions. Title 42 grants authority to turn away asylum applicants due to the contagiousness of COVID-19.

Promises

According to PolitiFact, which has tracked 100 of Biden’s “most important campaign promises,” Biden has 24 stalled, has compromised on 3, has 46 in progress, has fulfilled 16 and has broken 0 of his campaign promises.

Stalled

Biden promised to “forgive all undergraduate tuition-related federal student debt from two- and four-year public colleges and universities and private HBCUs and MSIs for debt-holders earning up to $125,000.”

This promise is reportedly stalled as Biden extended a pandemic related pause of student loan payments multiple times but has yet to pursue loan forgiveness in Congress or by executive action.

Additional stalled promises include blocking new fracking on federal lands (but not banning all fracking), introducing an amendment to eliminate private dollars from federal elections and eliminating cash bails.

Compromised

Biden’s promise to enact terrorism was made in response to claims believing there were clearer laws outlining international terrorism than domestic. However, 51 of the FBI’s 57 statutes regarding terrorism are applicable to domestic terrorism.

Biden promised masks and ordered mandates encompassing federal buildings, trains and planes, but lacked the authority to extend them to cities and states, thereby allowing some to drop the mask-up mandate.

Biden split his infrastructure promise into two bills, the second of which – Build Back Better – has yet to pass.

In the works

In-progress promises include doubling the value of Pell Grants, ending online sale of firearms and ammunition, lowering the cost of prescription drugs and establishing an offshoring tax penalty.

Kept

Biden kept his promise of providing 100 million COVID-19 vaccine shots for 50 million people in 100 days as well as increasing COVID-19 testing. He also kept his promise to rejoin the Paris Climate Accords, rejoin the World Health Organization and establish new fuel economy standards.

Broken

According to PolitiFact, Biden has broken none of the promises they have tracked.

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