Joe Biden’s Christmas Is Off to a Great Start
Christmas #Christmas
President Joe Biden will be able to kick his feet up this weekend and enjoy his Christmas thanks to a string of year-end wins for his administration and a historic visit from one of the highest-profile politicians of today.
In the week before the holiday weekend, Biden saw the passing of a massive omnibus spending bill geared largely towards his priorities, staved off an awkward rebuttal of his border policy from members of his own party and delivered a speech on foreign policy that was generally met with praise.
And despite a tumultuous year that saw a starkly high disapproval rate, Biden has pulled his favorability back up and is likely capping off his second year in office with the same approval that he began 2022 with.
On Friday, the House averted a government shutdown and sent a $1.7 trillion spending package to Biden’s desk in what could be the final legislative victory for the Democrats. Once Republicans take control of the congressional chamber in January, it will be more difficult for Biden to get his legislation through Congress.
The bill includes $45 billion in emergency funding to support Ukraine—a request the White House made to Congress last month, the Electoral Count Act—which has been seen as a rebuke of Biden’s predecessor and tens of billions of funding dollars for health care and government programs that Democrats have sought to secure before the next Congress.
What Is In The $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill?
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The omnibus was on shaky ground less than 24 hours before it passed both chambers de to GOP Senator Mike Lee’s border proposal that sought to cut spending for Biden’s Department of Homeland Security unless the president reinstated the COVID-era Title 42 policy that expedites the deportation of migrants.
With a number of centrist Democrats under fire over the unprecedented numbers at the southern border, many were likely to vote for Lee’s amendment, but attaching it to the omnibus would have also threatened its support among progressive Democrats.
Luckily, a side-by-side amendment introduced by Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who recently switched her party affiliation from Democrat to independent, helped Biden avoid an uncomfortable stand-off over his border policies.
On Wednesday, congressional lawmakers saw a historic visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who made his first trip outside of the country since Russia invaded 10 months ago.
Ahead of Zelensky’s address, Biden welcomed his Ukrainian counterpart to the White House and vowed to “give Ukraine what it needs to be able to defend itself, to be able to succeed, and to succeed on the battlefield.”
“We are staying with Ukraine as long as Ukraine is there,” Biden said.
On January 1, Biden’s approval rating stood at 43.4 percent, but that number took a tumble in the summer as skyrocketing inflation and high gas prices plagued many everyday Americans. By the end of July, Biden’s favorability fell nearly six points to 37.7 percent.
However, as of Thursday, FiveThirtyEight shows Biden’s approval rating slightly higher than the one he started with, at 43 percent even.
But while Biden’s 2022 is finishing off strong, it’s unclear how his 2023 might shape up with Republican controlling the House in January.
And while the Democrats unexpectedly gained a Senate seat in this year’s midterm elections thanks to Senator Raphael Warnock’s win in Georgia’s runoff earlier this month, Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s decision to switch from a Democrat to independent took away the party’s outright majority and brought the Senate back to a 50-50 split.
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