The Great Biden Distraction

[honorentheos]

EDUCATION

When President Biden took office, less than half of K-12 students were going to school in person. Over the past four years, the Biden-Harris Administration focused on improving academic achievement, increasing student attendance and engagement, and building communities where all students feel they belong and can thrive.

Investments in Schools, Teachers, and Students

Through the American Rescue Plan, the Biden-Harris Administration secured $130 billion for America's K-12 schools, the single-largest federal investment in K-12 education in history, to help schools safely reopen and address the impact of COVID-19 on students' academic, mental and physical health, and other needs.
The Administration also secured a $2 billion increase in Title I funding to school districts to help improve education opportunities and outcomes for students from low-income backgrounds, as well as a historic $1.4 billion increase in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funds to help states support instruction and services for 7.4 million students with disabilities.
Similarly, the Administration made record investments in America's teachers, increasing investments by more than $100 million across several programs to support recruiting, preparing, developing, and retaining teachers and diversifying the educator workforce. Federal investments have helped create more than 643,000 education jobs.
The Administration made similar investments in higher education, including a record of over $19 billion for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and nearly $16 billion for Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
The Administration provided over $5 billion for American colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, and community organizations to increase college access and success for students from low-income backgrounds, first-generation students, and students with disabilities.
Investments in School Safety and Mental Health

To help make our schools safer and meet the mental health and other needs of our students, the Administration secured $1 billion through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to train and hire 16,000 additional mental health professionals to serve America's schools.
To further help meet the needs of students and improve academic and other, the Administration increased investments in Full-Service Community Schools fivefold, including providing $253 million to create over 2,000 new full-service community schools that provide critical support to more than one million students to meet their physical, mental health, academic, and other needs.
Reducing the Cost of College and Student Debt

From Day One, President Biden set out to fix the student loan system and make sure that higher education is a pathway to the middle class – not a barrier to opportunity. The Biden-Harris Administration took historic steps to reduce the burden of student debt, cancelling more student debt than any President in history and delivering lifechanging relief to students and families. The Biden-Harris Administration approved student debt cancellation for over 5 million Americans, totaling over $180 billion in debt relief through various actions. These actions include:

Making significant improvements to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program so that over one million teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officials, nurses, service members, and other public service workers received the student loan relief they are entitled to under the law. Before President Biden took office, only 7,000 public servants had ever received forgiveness under this program.
Fixing administrative errors in the Income-Driven Repayment programs and delivering relief to hundreds of thousands of borrowers who have been in repayment for decades.
Approving student debt relief for millions of borrowers whose schools suddenly closed or who were defrauded by an institution.
Launching the SAVE plan—the most affordable repayment plan ever. Under the SAVE plan, monthly payments are based on a borrower's income and family size, not their loan balance. The SAVE plan ensures that if borrowers are making their monthly payments, their balances cannot grow because of interest. Prior to lawsuits to attempt to halt these efforts, 8 million borrowers enrolled in the SAVE Plan, and 4.5 million borrowers secured a $0 monthly payment.
Overseeing the largest increase to the maximum Pell Grant awards in a decade to help put higher-education in reach for more Americans, bringing the maximum award to $7,395 and extending its reach to 1.2 million more students in the 2024 to 2025 academic year.
Expanding High-Quality Career Pathways and Workforce Development Programs

During President Biden's term, more than $80 billion from the American Rescue Plan was committed to strengthening and expanding the American workforce—from supporting high-quality free community college programs in high-demand fields, to expanding Registered Apprenticeships, to attracting and retaining a skilled, diverse workforce in critical industries.

President Biden made record investments in high-quality workforce development models. In addition to signing a Registered Apprenticeship Executive Order to bolster apprenticeships in the federal workforce, the Administration secured more than $730 million for Registered Apprenticeships—the gold-standard earn-and-learn pathway—leading to the hiring of more than one million apprentices.
The Administration supported industry-led sector partnerships, such as the $500 million Good Jobs Challenge, that bring together employers, unions, community colleges, and other partners to develop high-quality training programs.
More than one million Americans started a Registered Apprenticeship after President Biden took office, including in new fields. For example, 46 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico now have K-12 teacher Registered Apprenticeship programs; no states had a teacher Registered Apprenticeship program when the Administration took office.
As First Lady Jill Biden announced in November 2024, 34 states and the District of Columbia now have a free community college program. In total, over 400 colleges, cities, and states now offer tuition-free college and job training—up from about 50 programs when she, President Obama, and then-Vice President Biden launched the America's College Promise Initiative in 2015.
More than 80 community colleges across 22 states have created or expanded programming to train semiconductor workers for advanced manufacturing jobs spurred by the President's CHIPS and Science Act.
The Administration invested $225 million through the Strengthening Community College training grants, enabling nearly 200 colleges in more than 30 states to provide affordable, high-quality workforce training for workers and address major workforce priorities for employers in their local communities.
First Lady Jill Biden's leadership in rethinking the high school experience helped drive the Biden-Harris Administration's effort to better connect both high schools and postsecondary programs to career pathways, which included the Unlocking Career Success Initiative's $31 million investment in building model career-connected programs in high schools that will provide up to 120,000 students with pathways to high-wage, high-demand careers.
As First Lady, Dr. Biden championed community colleges and workforce training programs, traveling the country to highlight evidence-based models and promising practices that connect high school and community college students to good-paying jobs.
In 2023, First Lady Jill Biden announced five Investing in America Workforce Hubs in regions where the Administration's Investing in America agenda is catalyzing historic public- and private-sector investments— Augusta, Baltimore, Columbus, Phoenix, and Pittsburgh. Since then, President Biden designated four additional Workforce Hubs in the state of Michigan, Milwaukee, Upstate New York, and Philadelphia. In these Workforce Hubs, the Administration has partnered with state and local officials, employers, unions, community colleges, K-12 schools, and other stakeholders to ensure these regions can meet the demand for labor driven by these investments.
EQUALITY AND OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL AMERICANS

President Biden fought to ensure the promise of America for all individuals and communities across the country, including rural communities, communities of color, Tribal communities, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, women and girls, and communities impacted by persistent poverty.

Racial Equality, Equal Opportunity, and Diversity

From Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration committed to restoring the soul of our Nation and made significant progress to redress systemic barriers, reduce burdens, and close unjust gaps. President Biden signed two historic Executive Orders to advance racial equality and support for underserved communities through the Federal Government.

To promote racial equality and protect equal opportunity, President Biden and Vice President Harris focused on:

Increasing access to federal contracting dollars, capital, and lending programs for small disadvantaged businesses.
Reducing discrimination and approval bias in the housing market.
Tackling persistent poverty and building economic prosperity in rural communities.
Reconnecting communities left behind and divided by historic redlining, disinvestment, and inadequate transportation infrastructure.
Addressing health and health care disparities, including tackling the maternal health crisis and increasing access to treatment for rare and severe disease like sickle cell.
Rooting out educational inequities and preserving pathways to equal opportunity.
Ensuring all Americans can access the federal benefits they are entitled to.
Promoting fairness, transparency, and accountability in the justice system.
Countering discrimination and hate-fueled violence.
Bolstering proactive enforcement that protects the civil rights of all Americans.
Black and Latino Communities

Because of these efforts, the Biden-Harris Administration made record progress:

Achieved the lowest Black unemployment rate on record and a historically low Latino unemployment rate.
Lifted 440,000 Black children and 360,000 Latino children out of poverty through increased SNAP benefits, and narrowed racial disparities in child poverty to a historic low during the COVID-19 pandemic through the expanded Child Tax Credit.
Doubled Black business ownership and increased Latino business ownership by 40% since before the pandemic.
Tripled the number of SBA-backed loans to Black-owned businesses and doubled the number of SBA-backed loans to Latino-owned businesses.
Invested a record of more than $19 billion in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as well as nearly $16 billion in Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
Took on racial bias in home appraisals, closed the racial home value misvaluation gap by 40%, and achieved the largest single-year increase in homeownership rates for Latinos.
Reduced mortgage insurance premiums for FHA loans, saving more than 130,000 Black households and 185,000 Latino homeowners an average of $900 per year.
Distributed $2.2 billion in financial assistance to over 43,000 farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who previously experienced discrimination in loan programs.
Increased Black families' wealth, even after adjusting for inflation, 60% relative to pre-pandemic levels—the largest increase on record.
To further affirm his commitment to racial justice, President Biden proudly signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act—the first new federal holiday since the creation of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday over 40 years ago—to honor and preserve the significance of African American history as U.S. history.

Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities

President Biden and Vice President Harris prioritized the advancement of opportunity, equality, and safety for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities. The Biden-Harris Administration:

Created nearly two million jobs for AA and NHPI workers and historic small business growth.
Lifted 63,000 AA and NHPI individuals out of poverty by updating SNAP benefits.
Cut Asian American child poverty by almost 25% during the COVID-19 pandemic—thanks to the American Rescue Plan's expanded Child Tax Credit in 2021, which lifted 56,000 Asian American children out of poverty.
Delivered $5 billion in American Rescue Plan funds to AA and NHPI-serving colleges and universities.
Increased enrollment in Affordable Care Act coverage which resulted in one million more AA and NHPI individuals having access to quality affordable health care in 2024, a 22% increase since 2020.
Built a Federal Government that looks like America by appointing a record number of AA and NHPI appointees, electing Vice President Kamala Harris, and swearing in three AA and NHPI members of the Cabinet.
Confirmed a record number of AA and NHPI federal judges, including the first Native Hawaiian federal judge.
Re-established and expanded the President's Advisory Commission and White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
Signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law in 2021 and deployed resources to improve the reporting and prevention of hate crimes and strength community-based interventions.
Recognized the cultural heritage of the Indigenous Peoples and communities of the Pacific Islands by renaming the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument as the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.
Became the first Administration to formally honor the Hui Panal??au, Native Hawaiians sent to secure United States territorial claim to the islands in the run up to World War II.
Tribal Nations and Native Communities

President Biden and Vice President Harris worked tirelessly to cement their legacy as one of the most supportive Administrations for Tribes ever. Together, they championed Tribal sovereignty, honored the federal trust responsibility, and strengthened Nation-to-Nation relationships. Through the Investing in America agenda, the Biden-Harris Administration made record investments to support Tribal Nations and Native communities. President Biden:

Signed a historic Executive Order to usher in the next era of Tribal self-determination by making reforms to funding programs to be more in line with Tribal decision-making.
Issued a historic Presidential apology for the Federal Indian Boarding School era, and established the Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to tell the story of the oppression endured by thousands of Native children and their families at this site and others that the Federal Government operated across the country for more than 150 years.
Cut the Native American child poverty rate by over a third in 2021, bringing the gap between Native American and white child poverty rates to a record low thanks largely to the American Rescue Plan's expansion of the Child Tax Credit, which lifted nearly 90,000 Native American children out of poverty.
Nearly doubled the total dollar amount of SBA-backed loans to Native American-owned small businesses.
Provided $118 million in funding to help fight the opioid epidemic in Tribal Communities.
Established the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Native Americans and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities.
Eliminated copayments for Native American veterans receiving care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Signed two Presidential Memoranda directing federal agencies to submit plans of action to implement meaningful consultation with Tribal Nations and establishing uniform standards for Tribal Consultation.
Made historic appointments of Native Americans across the Administration, including Secretary Deb Haaland and over 80 Native Americans in senior Administration roles.
Made the largest direct federal investment in Tribal Nations ever of $32 billion through the American Rescue Plan.
Invested $13 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to build high-speed internet, roads, bridges, public transit, clean water, and improve sanitation in Tribal communities.
Invested $700 million in Native American communities for climate resilience and adaptation programs, drought mitigation, home electrification, and clean energy development through the Inflation Reduction Act.
Re-launched the Tribal Nations Summit and re-established the White House Council on Native American Affairs that serves to foster an all-of-government approach to coordinating and developing Tribal policy.
Signed an Executive Order to improve public safety and criminal justice and address the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People by directing agencies to prioritize addressing this crisis and develop a coordinated and comprehensive federal law enforcement strategy.
Signed a Presidential Memorandum to Restore Healthy and Abundant Native Fish Populations in the Columbia River, which supports cultural and spiritual practices, commerce, and economic growth for Tribes.
Strengthened gender-based violence protections for Tribal communities and established the Not Invisible Act Commission.
Protected and conserved lands and waters significant to Tribes, including restoring protections for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Bears Ears National Monument in Utah; establishing Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada and Baaj Nwaajo I'tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona; designating the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of California; expanding the Berryessa-Snow Mountain National Monument in northern California; and creating the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in California.
Signed more than 400 co-stewardship or co-management agreements to allow Tribal Nations to collaborate with the Federal Government to manage the federal lands, waters, and resources that are most important to them.
Released the first-of-its-kind government-wide Indigenous Knowledge guidance that assists federal agencies in recognizing and including Indigenous Knowledge in federal research, policy, and decision making.
Historic Appointments to the Judiciary

President Joe Biden set a historic precedent by appointing the most demographically diverse federal judiciary in U.S. history.

Since January 2021, the Senate has confirmed 235 of President Biden's nominees to lifetime federal judgeships. This is the largest number of confirmations in a single presidential term since the 1980s.
Of the 235 individuals who were confirmed to lifetime positions on federal courts, 63% are women, and 60% are people of color. President Biden appointed more women (150); people of color (139); Black judges (63); Black women (40); Hispanic judges (39); Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander judges (41); Native American judges (4); and LGBTQ+ judges (12) than any other administration (whether 4 or 8 years) in history.
In April 2022, Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed by the United States Senate as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, the first Black woman to ever serve on the Court.
President Biden ensured professional diversity by appointing a record number of judges with backgrounds and experiences that have long been overlooked, such as advocates for civil rights, worker's rights, immigrants' rights, and more.
LGBTQ+ Rights

President Biden believed that everyone should be treated with respect and dignity and be able to live without fear no matter who they are or whom they love. During his term, President Biden:

Signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, recognizing same-sex marriage as legal in every state in the nation.
Signed an Executive Order Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation, directing all federal agencies to implement fully all federal laws that prevent discrimination on the basis of sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity.
Issued a categorical pardon for former military service members convicted of crimes based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, unlocking access to additional VA benefits such as medical care, disability benefits, home loan guarantee, and burial benefits.
Ended the prohibition on blood donation by gay and bisexual men.
Reversed the ban on transgender military service.
Appointed barrier-breaking LGBTQ+ leaders, including the first openly gay Cabinet Secretary confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Strengthened the Affordable Care Act to ensure LGBTQ+ communities can access the health care they need.
Expanded mental health services for LGBTQ+ youth, including by training and hiring 16,000 mental health professionals in schools and by funding mental health services specifically for the LGBTQ+ community through 988, the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Combatted the discredited practice of so-called "conversion therapy."
Americans with Disabilities

The Biden-Harris Administration took historic action to protect the rights of people with disabilities and deliver on the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Under President Biden:

Americans with disabilities saw a historic 20% increase in employment and, and the number of people with disabilities in registered apprenticeships nearly tripled.
Median household income for disabled Americans rose by over $10,000 while President Biden was in office.
The Department of Justice issued a final rule under Title II of the ADA to ensure the accessibility of web content and mobile applications by state and local governments for the more than 50 million people with vision, hearing, cognitive, and manual dexterity disabilities.
The Department of Health and Human Services issued two final rules protecting the civil rights of people with disabilities in health care and human services programs under the Affordable Care Act.
In 2022, the Department of Transportation issued the first-ever Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights and issued rules increasing the size and accessibility of lavatories, and requiring airlines to provide prompt, safe, and dignified assistance to passengers with disabilities.
In 2023, President Biden signed an Executive Order on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers, directing more than 50 agency actions, including to expand home and community-based services (HCBS) for veterans with disabilities, improve pay for direct support workers, and ensure access to HCBS.
The U.S. Department of Justice pursued key settlements under the Olmstead Act to ensure people with behavioral disabilities are allowed to receive care in their local communities or at home instead of being unnecessarily secluded in emergency rooms, juvenile detention or residential facilities.
In 2022, the U.S. AbilityOne Commission issued a final rule ensuring that workers on federal contracts within the AbilityOne Program are paid at least the full minimum wage.
The Department of Labor issued a proposed rule that will gradually phase out certificates that permit employers to pay workers with disabilities less than the full minimum wage.
President Biden increased annual funding by $1.4 billion for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants that support special education services for Pre-K-12 students.
Federal agencies submitted language access plans with the objective of increasing language equity in government resources, including in American Sign Language, captioning, and simplified English to benefit people with disabilities and people with Limited English Proficiency.
The White House also hired the first American Sign Language interpreters to provide access to multiple briefings, speeches, and recorded events.
Gender Equity and Equality

The Biden-Harris Administration took historic action to invest in the future of women and girls and advance gender equity. This work has been guided by the first-ever White House Gender Policy Council, which President Biden established to advance the rights of women and girls at home and abroad, and our nation's first-ever National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality.

President Biden signed Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda to advance women's rights by directing his Administration to:

Defend access to reproductive health care.
Strengthen the military justice system's response to sexual violence.
Expand and improve research on women's health.
Improve pay equity for federal workers.
Address online harassment and abuse, including image-based sexual abuse.
Expand access to affordable, high-quality care and support care workers and family caregivers.
Promote accountability for conflict-related sexual violence.
Expand and diversify registered apprenticeship programs.
Strengthen our nation's recognition of women's history.
Additionally, during his term, President Biden:

Signed the VAWA Reauthorization Act of 2022, secured increased funding for VAWA programs by over 35% since 2021, issued the White House's first-ever U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, and narrowed the "boyfriend loophole" to help keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.
Restored and strengthened vital protections under Title IX to help keep students and employees safe from sexual assault and harassment on campus, and funded sexual violence prevention programs on university and college campuses.
Strengthened women's economic security by ensuring women have access to good jobs and safe workplaces free from discrimination, leading to historic gains in women's labor force participation—including the lowest women's unemployment rate in 70 years.
Advanced women's health care by defending reproductive freedom, improving maternal health outcomes, lowering health care costs for women, closing gaps in women's health research, and extending Medicaid postpartum coverage from 2 months to 12 months of post-pregnancy care.
Promoted rights and opportunities for women and girls abroad, launching initiatives to increase women's economic security, address gender-based violence, promote women's participation in peace and security processes, and advance women's leadership and human rights.
Appointed a record number of female Cabinet Secretaries as well as the nation's first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and the first woman ever elected as Vice President, Kamala Harris.
Rural Communities

President Biden invested in rural America to create opportunity for farmers, small businesses, families, and communities. The Biden-Harris Administration:

Made the largest investment in rural America's electric system since the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, investing $9.7 billion to help member-owned rural electric cooperatives provide their communities with clean, reliable, and affordable energy.
Created new and better markets for farmers and ranchers to increase competition, including expanding independent meat and poultry processing capacity and announcing rules to enhance transparency, stop discrimination, and support market fairness.
Supported farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners in adopting climate-smart agriculture and forestry practices that provide new revenue streams and yield climate change mitigation benefits, reaching an estimated 180,000 farms and over 225 million acres in the next five years.
Launched the Rural Partners Network (RPN), a program bringing together 25 federal agencies and regional commissions to help rural community leaders access federal resources. Through RPN, 36 rural and Tribal communities across 10 states and Puerto Rico are receiving support from full-time federal staff who live and work locally. Since its launch, RPN has helped federal agencies deliver over $8.5 billion in funding to these communities.
Deployed $90 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and American Rescue Plan to ensure every American has access to affordable, reliable high-speed internet. The Department of Agriculture invested more than $4 billion in projects to expand access to high-speed broadband and bring new economic opportunities and a better quality of life for more than 680,000 people across 46 states through its ReConnect Program.
Invested $4.1 billion through Rural Area Formula Grants at the Department of Transportation to support 1,300 rural transit systems by enabling them to purchase transit vehicles and infrastructure, plan transit more effectively, and fund operations.
Increased investments in the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP), the Department of Education's only formula grant program specifically designated towards rural K-12 districts. Since 2020, the program saw an increase of nearly $35 million, culminating in $220 million being allocated to rural small and/or low-income schools in 2024.
Puerto Rico

President Biden adopted a pathbreaking approach to investing in Puerto Rico. Through the White House Working Group on Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Economic Dialogue, President Biden brought to bear resources across the Federal Government to address issues such as hurricane relief and recovery, energy grid and infrastructure modernization, and workforce development. This approach has been a proven success. Since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office:

Puerto Rico added more than 100,000 new jobs.
Unemployment is at a historic low.
Labor force participation grew to the highest level in more than a decade.
In 2023, Puerto Rico had its first year of positive net migration since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hundreds of thousands more Puerto Ricans have incomes above the poverty line, thanks to the American Rescue Plan permanently making Puerto Ricans eligible for the same refundable tax credits as other Americans.
DEMOCRACY AND CIVIL RIGHTS

Preserving Institutions and Rule of Law

President Biden and Vice President Harris took decisive action to restore and strengthen American democracy.

Upon taking office, he immediately restored the independence of the Department of Justice to respect the rule of law.
He also signed the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act into law, establishing clear guidelines for certifying electoral votes to preserve the will of the people and protect against the type of attempts to overturn our elections that led to the January 6 insurrection.
Countering Hate and Protecting Religious Freedom

The Biden-Harris Administration took numerous steps to counter hate in all its forms and promote pluralism:

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed the Justice Department's first-ever Anti-Hate Crimes Resources Coordinator and designated staff to oversee expedited review of hate crimes.
The FBI elevated hate crimes and criminal civil rights violations to its highest-level national threat priority, which increased the resources for hate crimes prevention and investigations and made hate crimes a focus for all 56 of the Bureau's field offices.
President Biden hosted the first-ever White House United We Stand Summit to address the hate-fueled violence that threatens our public safety and democracy. At the Summit, the White House established the White House Initiative to Counter Hate-Motivated Violence and announced a historic package of new actions to foster national unity and counter hate and toxic polarization.
President Biden established an interagency group to increase and better coordinate federal efforts to counter Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and related forms of bias and discrimination within the United States.
The President released the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, and the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate.
The Biden-Harris Administration sent a guide to the leadership of more than 5,000 colleges and universities with information on resources to promote campus safety, and the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights issued new guidance through a Dear Colleague Letter to every school district and college in the country, providing examples of Antisemitic discrimination, as well as other forms of hate, that could lead to investigations for violations of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) further expanded security capacity-building services to synagogues, community centers, and Jewish day schools. These services include risk assessments, planning assistance, tabletop exercise packages, and active shooter and bomb prevention-related training. Since January 2023, CISA personnel have conducted nearly 400 visits with Jewish houses of worship and other institutions.
The Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism at the Department of State promoted throughout the international community the U.S.-led "Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism," a set of international best practices for effective public policy against Antisemitism. More than 40 countries and entities have endorsed the guidelines.
On his first day in office, President Biden rescinded the discriminatory travel ban that prevented individuals from Muslim-majority and African countries from entering the United States. At President Biden's direction, the Department of State conducted a review of visa applications and took various corrective actions to process applications that were impacted by the discriminatory travel ban, including reconsidering previously denied applications.
In 2022, President Biden became the first United States President to recognize Arab American Heritage Month, which is observed in April. In 2023 and 2024, President Biden issued proclamations honoring this month.
On March 15, 2024, President Biden became the first President to mark the International Day to Combat Islamophobia. In observance of this day, the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights sent a letter to every school district and college in the country, reminding them of their legal obligation to address discrimination against Muslim, Arab, Sikh, South Asian, Hindu, and Palestinian students.
14 federal agencies clarified for the first time in writing that Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act's protections prohibit discrimination on the basis of shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, including certain forms of Antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related forms of discrimination and bias in federally funded programs and activities.
In 2021, President Biden signed into law the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which includes the Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer NO HATE Act, to improve the reporting and prevention of hate crimes and ensure that hate crimes information is more accessible to Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
Since 2021, the Department of Justice awarded over $100 million in grants to law enforcement and prosecution agencies, community-based organizations, and civil rights groups to address hate crimes through outreach, investigations, prosecutions, community awareness and preparedness, reporting, hotlines, and victim services.
Through the Fiscal Year 2024 National Security Supplemental, President Biden secured an additional $400 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which funds security improvements and training to nonprofits, including faith-based organizations such as houses of worship.
President Biden reestablished the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and agency Centers for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships to collaborate with religious and community organizations on serving people in needed. Through this bipartisan initiative, the Administration worked closely with these organizations on objectives such as encouraging communities to get vaccinated for COVID-19; helping expectant mothers improve their health; connecting young people to jobs, internships, and apprenticeships; and affirming the key roles religious leaders play around the world in locally led development and humanitarian assistance.
Voting Rights

Throughout his term, President Biden continued to call on Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and Freedom to Vote Act to protect the sacred right to vote in free and fair elections, and ensure the government is working for the people. In addition, President Biden took the following steps:

In response to obstruction and refusal to even debate the bills, he called for reforming the filibuster to protect our democracy.
As he fought for legislation, President Biden used the tools at his disposal to strengthen democracy, including issuing an executive order to promote voting access.
Annual funding for federal civil rights offices increased by 23% during President Biden's time in office. Since then, the Department of Justice more than doubled its number of voting rights attorneys and enforcement staff.
President Biden marshalled the full resources of the Federal Government to protect American elections from foreign interference and to support state and local officials in their administration of free, fair, and secure elections. The Attorney General established a Task Force to protect election officials from an unprecedented rise in violent threats.
Criminal Justice Reform and Clemency

President Biden and Vice President Harris believed that effective, accountable policing is critical to making our communities safer.

In 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order on effective and accountable policing and criminal justice practices that requires federal law enforcement agencies to ban chokeholds; restrict no-knock warrants; mandate the use of body-worn cameras; provide de-escalation training; submit officer misconduct records into a new national database; and restrict the transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement agencies.
President Biden continued to call on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to advance accountability, transparency, and public trust in law enforcement.
President Biden and Vice President Harris also believed that it was time to end the country's failed approach to marijuana:

To help remedy the country's failed approach to marijuana, including racial disparities, the Administration launched the process to reclassify marijuana under federal law.
President Biden issued categorical pardons for federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana, lifting barriers to housing, employment, educational opportunities, and more for thousands of Americans.
President Biden used his clemency power to grant more pardons and commutations in four years than any of his recent predecessors.

As mentioned above, President Biden issued categorical pardons for federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana, lifting barriers for thousands.
President Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on death row to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Those individuals will have their sentences reclassified from execution to life without the possibility of parole.
In December, the President carried out the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history, commuting he sentences of close to 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who successfully reintegrated into their families and communities, and pardoning 39 individuals who were convicted of non-violent crimes.
Throughout his term, President Biden corrected sentencing disparities and promoted public safety by issuing historic pardons and commutations for individuals with unduly long sentences convicted of non-violent offenses who had demonstrated a commitment to rehabilitation.
President Biden redressed a historic injustice by categorically pardoning former LGBTQ+ service members convicted of private conduct because of their sexual orientation.
Supreme Court Reform

In the face of this crisis of confidence in America's democratic institutions, President Biden released a bold plan to reform the Supreme Court:

No Immunity for Crimes a Former President Committed in Office. President Biden called for a constitutional amendment that makes clear no President is above the law or immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office. This No One Is Above the Law Amendment would state that the Constitution does not confer any immunity from federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction, or sentencing by virtue of previously serving as President.
Term Limits for Supreme Court Justices. President Biden endorsed a system in which the President would appoint a Justice every two years to spend eighteen years in active service on the Supreme Court. Term limits would help ensure that the Court's membership changes with some regularity; make timing for Court nominations more predictable and less arbitrary; and reduce the chance that any single Presidency imposes undue influence for generations to come.
Binding Code of Conduct for the Supreme Court. President Biden called on Congress to pass binding, enforceable conduct and ethics rules that require Justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.

[honorentheos]

There are a few areas I do believe the Biden Administration fumbled, in a couple of cases incredibly badly. One was in the exit from Afghanistan. The other was in the initial months of inflation when they described it as largely a supply chain issue that would resolve as COVID impacts resolved while many economists at the time were pointing to more systemic changes affecting wages (in a way benefiting people for the most part) and real long-term restructuring issues that they failed to acknowledge.

I don't doubt conservative types would hate the Biden administration's policies and programs, but much like Obamacare today, the results of those programs were having positive impacts that, once realized by people, would become non-partisan in how they impacted people's lives for the better.

The tragedy, or a tragedy, is that no one I've seen on the right has acknowledged that inflation didn't go away when Trump took office, that the complexity of the issues involved weren't resolved by soundbites and pen swipes packaged as executive orders, and that the so-called positives you believe have been realized are basically mean-spirited policies made possible only by ignoring the Constitution and regressively removing people's claims to basic human rights.

Regarding leaders, I've posted elsewhere in the limited interest I have in posting regarding Pete Buttigieg's messaging. I think Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders are out taking the message to ever increasing crowds. There is limited action in Congress and I grant that both the House and Senate Democrats have done little to inspire anyone right now. But I don't think the issue is the MAGA types are strong and have fresh faces ready to lead in the wake of Trump. Far from it. Ron DeSantis was the guy until Trump jumped back in the race, probably to avoid legal action if we're being honest so yeah for that. And DeSantis was facing a herd of cats. The MAGA coalition isn't sustainable. Trump is not beholden to voters, and appears to be happy running the grift as far as he can with no regard for keeping any meaningful promises that don't involved hurting people so folks who think hurting people is Christian can feel closer to god I guess.

[honorentheos]

If interested, you can subscribe or read more about Trump's general disregard for the Constitution at this substack:

https://executivefunctions.substack.com ... edium=menu

[Markk]

Hey Honor,

Who wrote the fact Biden fact sheet, and did you read and vet it?

Thanks

[honorentheos]

https://ethanmilne.medium.com/a-differe ... a39d0cd2c5

A Different Way to Think About Confirmation Bias
Ethan Milne

In his book, The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt describes an odd dynamic that occurs when humans think about new evidence:

“… When we want to believe something, we ask ourselves, “Can I believe it?” Then (as Kuhn and Perkins found), we search for supporting evidence, and if we find even a single piece of pseudo-evidence, we can stop thinking. We now have permission to believe. We have a justification, in case anyone asks. In contrast, when we don’t want to believe something, we ask ourselves, “Must I believe it?” Then we search for contrary evidence, and if we find a single reason to doubt the claim, we can dismiss it.”

This happens all the time. You’ve done it, I’ve done it, everyone does it. It’s just how our minds work. But the world has changed faster than our minds can evolve, so sometimes this tendency leads us astray.

Can I Believe It?
This is what most people think of when they say “confirmation bias”. We look for any evidence — no matter how weak — that confirms our prior intuitions. Tim Urban from the Wait But Why blog describes this as thinking like a sports fan:



Where a person thinking like a scientist wants to find the truth even if it contradicts their preferred belief, a sports fan values truth a little bit less and confirmation a little bit more. Note that these are stereotypes: lots of scientists are motivated reasoners, and lots of sports fans, I assume, are rational people.


Must I Believe It?
This is another component of confirmation bias, albeit a less direct part. While we may leap to support evidence confirming our beliefs, we also discount evidence we don’t like.

An example Haidt uses frequently is a study that asks participants to read a study on coffee drinking’s link to bad outcomes. Participants who drank coffee regularly were, unsurprisingly, extremely good at identifying flaws in experimental design relative to their decaffeinated counterparts.

“Must I Believe It” is a mindset that’s very hard to identify as confirmation bias at the beginning. This mindset often comes in the form of what Scott Alexander calls Isolated Demands for Rigour; It’s all well and good to criticize a study for bad methodology, or point out the flaws of using single studies as proof, but if this rigour is only applied to positions you disagree with, it’s probably a case of “Must I Believe It” applied in a biased manner.

[honorentheos]

If you'd like Markk we can pull any issue out of the list you have a concern about and discuss it in more detail.

[honorentheos]

Here's one for example:

From the first section - Provided a historic expansion of the Child Tax Credit, leading to the lowest child poverty rate in American history in 2021.

Sounds cool, but it could be construed as deceptive. Why?

In 2021, the child poverty rate fell to a historic low of 5.2%, due in part to the substantial—but temporary—expansions to the federal Child Tax Credit under the 2021 American Rescue Plan. In 2022, the child poverty rate more than doubled, rising from 5.2% to 12.4%—the largest year-over-year increase on record. The latest Census Bureau data shows that the child poverty rate rose further in 2023, to 13.7%. The sharp and sustained increase in child poverty since 2021 has bolstered calls to permanently expand the Child Tax Credit in a similar way to 2021. This raises the question: what could child poverty rates in 2023 have been if an expanded Child Tax Credit had been in place?

So. If you want to find a reason to call BS, ok. It was as part of the 2021 American Rescue Act which expired at the end of 2021 and the benefits went with it. The act, however, WAS pushed though by the Biden administration and that act had a big effect.

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-re ... ing%202021.

While much work remains to make sure this recovery reaches all Americans and rebuilds our economy stronger than before, the first year of the American Rescue Plan has been a remarkable success. The American Rescue Plan accelerated the economic recovery throughout 2021 and made it more resilient to challenges: one analysis found that the law resulted in 4 million more jobs and nearly doubled GDP growth – and that without it, the United States would have come close to a double-digit recession in spring 2021. Its results have also been historically equitable, with major progress against child poverty, food insecurity, and unemployment for low-income communities and communities of color.

But that wasn't all. It was so successful in reducing child poverty the expansion of the Child Income Tax Credit was proposed but never advanced out of committee in the Senate in 2024 after being overwhelmingly supported in the House. Largely due to politics because we are cool with kids going hungry so long as we keep winning elections, see.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/child-tax- ... the%20bill.

Washington — A major tax package that would bolster the popular Child Tax Credit and cut taxes for businesses failed to advance in the Senate on Thursday in the face of widespread Republican opposition, despite clearing the House by wide bipartisan margins earlier this year.

Known as the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, the legislation would expand the Child Tax Credit to provide relief to lower-income families. Though it's more modest than a pandemic-era enhancement of the credit, which greatly reduced child poverty and ended in 2021, it could still lift roughly half a million children out of poverty, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The bill also included some revived tax cuts for businesses, like research and development deductions.

The legislation fell short in a vote of 48 in favor to 44 opposed, with 60 votes needed to advance the measure. Three Republicans — Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma and Rick Scott of Florida — joined with Democrats in favor of moving forward with the bill.

...

"On a normal day you can't get 357 House members to agree to order a piece of apple pie," Wyden said on the Senate floor Wednesday. "But that's the kind of support this tax bill had."

So why does this matter? Democrat Senators reintroduced the bill this year:

https://www.bennet.senate.gov/2025/04/0 ... ax-credit/

And a similar bill is proposed in the House:

https://delauro.house.gov/media-center/ ... t-expanded

Do these bills sound like a bad idea to you that we are lucky to have Republican lawmakers preventing moving forward? And the benefits of the 2021 temporary increase was just one of many examples of how terrible the Biden administration was and we are lucky to instead have a guy in office whose idea of habeus corpus is it may be a gror-ser-ee people buy to eat with pita?

Anyway, what we got instead is the big, beautiful bill which proves Republicans aren't concerned about deficit spending. They just want it to go to the top 1% and the poor should pay for the privilege.

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/23/child- ... tiful-bill

[honorentheos]

One of many reasons to view the Biden administration as having been incredibly successful is in how the US recovery from the COVID recession out performed our global peers in remarkable ways.

https://rsmus.com/insights/economics/am ... chievement.

The Real Economy
American outperformance in the global economy
November 04, 2024
Key takeaways

Over the past eight quarters, the American economy has grown at a 2.9% annualized pace.

Few would have expected the American economy to be so strong.

With productivity rising, this growth will likely continue.

# Economics The Real Economy
One underdiscussed economic development following the shocks of the pandemic has been the outperformance of the U.S. economy compared with its G7 peers.

Over the past eight quarters, the American economy has grown at a 2.9% annualized pace and is on track to grow at or above 3% in the third quarter. This growth comes in an economy operating at full employment and price stability, consistent with the Federal Reserve’s dual mandates.

Taking into account foreign capital inflows, growth in the third quarter may exceed our forecast of 2.1%.

After the trade war and the pandemic and, now, with the war in Ukraine, few would have expected the economy to be so strong.

In fact, U.S. real gross domestic product through the second quarter was 2.3% higher than projections made by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office before the pandemic in January 2020.

Consider how other developed economies are faring. Real GDP in the second quarter was 8.7% higher in the U.S. than at the end of 2019 compared to growth in:

Canada (5.5%)
France (3.7%)
Italy (3.3%)
UK (2.9%)
European Union (1.9%)
Germany’s real GDP is 2% lower now than in 2019. Japan’s GDP is 2.2% lower and China’s economy is ensnared in a multiyear deleveraging process.

This success of the U.S. economy can be traced to bold monetary and fiscal policies that have hardened supply chains, bolstered energy independence and started the rebuild of the nation’s infrastructure.

[honorentheos]

Makes you wonder why we are blowing that up, doesn't it?

Oh, because Christians think there is a problem with gender identity while other people thought Trump could magically make egg prices go down day one because obviously the price of eggs is controlled by Satan who was aligned with Biden.

Or something. Probably best not to try and make sense of it. Just go with the vibes.

[Gunnar]

Makes you wonder why we are blowing that up, doesn't it?

Oh, because Christians think there is a problem with gender identity while other people thought Trump could magically make egg prices go down day one because obviously the price of eggs is controlled by Satan who was aligned with Biden.

Or something. Probably best not to try and make sense of it. Just go with the vibes.

Honorentheos, thank you so much for compiling that comprehensive list of what Biden managed to accomplish during his one term in office! I wish everyone knew about it. And now Trump is maliciously, it seems, trying to undo all that progress, precisely because it makes him look terrible, by comparison. What's even stupider is that he has the unmitigated gall to claim credit for how well the economy improved during Biden's tenure, while at the same time trying to blame Biden for the evolving disaster happening now during Trump's current tenure! What incredible chutzpah! It's as stupid as the chutzpah of the proverbial Jewish man on trial for murdering his parents who begged for leniency on the grounds that he was now an orphan.