Biden battered by crises since last State of the Union

President Biden has faced several domestic and foreign policy crises since he declared a strong “State of the Union” during his most recent address to Congress 11 months ago.

“We are stronger today than we were a year ago,” Biden said in his first State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol on March 1, 2022. “And we’ll be stronger a year from now than we are today.”

However, since the president’s remarks, the nation has struggled to contain a growing influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, gasoline prices have hit record highs and inflation has hit a 40-year high. reached, supply chain problems led to a nationwide crisis. Shortages of baby formula, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are no end in sight and Biden has faced pressure over the misuse of classified documents while serving as vice president.

While Biden’s approval rating has risen from 40.6% to 43.9% since his last state of the union, his approval rating was 36.8 in July 2022, according to an average of polling data compiled by RealClearPolitics. %, which is its lowest level. His approval rating is lower than that of every recent president except former President Donald Trump, who had a 41% approval rating at this point in his presidency.

Military experts clearly foresee US shortcomings in potential conflicts with China

“If President Biden is looking for an opportunity to change his mostly stable approval ratings, the State of the Union is his next best chance,” Lee Meringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, said last week. . “Biden needs to find a middle ground to change public sentiment about union power and offset the many Americans who view political parties as extreme.”

The most recent crisis to hit the White House has been the revelation that a Chinese spy balloon was flying across the United States, gathering intelligence at strategic locations throughout the Midwest. On Saturday, seven days after the balloon was first discovered by defense officials off the west coast of Alaska and two days after the Pentagon publicly acknowledged it, a US military fighter jet shot the balloon down into the Atlantic Ocean. shot from the sky above.

The Pentagon is working to recover a Chinese spy balloon, expecting valuable intel

While Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin explained that the delayed response was to protect Americans who were harmed by the balloon crash, Republican lawmakers criticized the administration for being too weak. One GOP congressman said the incident was enough to warrant the resignations of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“The devastating Chinese spy balloon sighting clearly threatens American families from Alaska to my hometown in South Carolina and confirms that President Biden and Vice President Harris must resign,” he said. said Rep. Joe Wilson, RS.C, a member of the House Armed Services. Committee.

The president has also come under fire over a scandal surrounding how he mishandled classified documents from his time in the Obama administration. Over the past several weeks, several batches of classified documents, some of which were marked “top secret,” have been found at various locations associated with Biden, including the Penn Biden Center, his foreign policy office. Think tanks, and garages included. His Wilmington, Delaware, residence.

Biden’s classified documents: 57 percent of Americans disapprove of White House handling, as stonewalling continues

The White House has said it has been transparent about its search for the documents, but critics have accused Biden of deliberately playing up the scandal to blunt its political impact after the 2022 midterm elections. Be silent. Shortly before the November election, the president’s lawyers received some classified documents.

In addition, the border crisis over the past year has fueled calls for Biden to be more aggressive on immigration, and some Republicans have supported moving forward with a resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Meyerkas.

“The Department of Homeland Security states that the Secretary’s goal is to ‘secure and manage our borders.’ You have failed to do so. Furthermore, you have shown a complete inability or unwillingness to address the problems created by your policies,” a group of 11 Texas Republican lawmakers wrote to Meyerkas last month. was written

According to Customs and Border Protection, immigrants face immigration in December. crossed 250,000 for the first time on record. Additionally, nearly 300,000 illegal immigrants eluded border agents in less than four months, compared to 600,000 reported last year, and border encounters are already at a record high in fiscal year 2023.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Meyerkas testifies during an April 2022 House hearing.
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The Biden administration has also faced a shortage of baby formula that has caused chaos for parents across the country. In mid-February 2022, baby formula maker Abbott Nutrition shut down its production plant in Michigan, leading to shortages in the coming months that extended into 2023.

“Well, that’s the deal. I became aware of the issue sometime in early April — after April — about how severe it was,” Biden said in June. “And so, we’ve done everything in our power since then, and that’s all I can tell you right now. And we’ll keep doing it until we’re done.”

Parents look for homemade baby formula recipes amid shortages

After receiving criticism about his administration’s response to the crisis, which left store shelves empty across the country, Biden ordered various agencies to devote resources to addressing supply chain issues. And the White House unveiled “Operation Fly Formula.” Since then, dozens of “formula missions” have been conducted, bringing millions of bottles of formula from overseas to the United States.

And inflation has remained a top concern of Americans since Biden’s last State of the Union speech. Inflation after month of address in June A year-on-year increase of 9.1 percent.The fastest growth of its kind since 1981.

Rising consumer prices have affected almost every aspect of Americans’ lives, from energy and food to shelter, clothing and everyday goods. While inflation has fallen below 7 percent, it is well above government targets and the Federal Reserve Interest rates continue to tighten. Which could have a negative impact on the entire US economy.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks while listening to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Oct. 19. The president has on several occasions ordered the Department of Energy to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to combat high gas prices.
(Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Energy prices eg Heating and gasoline costs It has put a particular strain on American families. Pump prices rose above $5 a gallon in mid-June, reaching their highest level ever recorded before falling again, but are currently 46 percent higher than when Biden took office.

Part of the downward pressure on energy costs comes from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, another crisis facing Biden. Biden has repeatedly stood by other Western nations in support of Ukraine, sending tens of billions of dollars in military aid to the war-torn country over the past 12 months or so.

“Through every step of this terrible war, the American people have been strong and unwavering in their support,” Biden said in remarks on Jan. 25.

“And Democrats and Republicans in Congress stand together,” he said. “The United States has worked closely with our allies and partners around the world to ensure that the people of Ukraine are able to defend themselves against their nation, their families, and brutality — as truly brutal as Russia’s aggression is.” In the strongest position. Haven’t seen such a favorite in a long time.

Experts, however, predict that the conflict will continue into 2023 in what could be the bloodiest year of the war, possibly forcing the president to make additional decisions about how much aid he will provide to Ukraine.

Biden will deliver his next State of the Union address on February 7.