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President Biden plans to speak to the American people this week, before the Christmas holiday and the new year, about what he sees as his major accomplishments since taking office, according to White House officials.
The president is expected to emphasize unity and the bipartisan nature of key legislation he’s signed, officials said, and express hope for more cooperation between the two parties in the next Congress where Republicans will control the House.
Biden also is expected to outline specific ways in the new year that Americans will feel the benefits of his record so far — from projects funded by the bipartisan infrastructure law to a provision in Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act that caps insulin at $35 a month for Medicare recipients starting January.
Officials declined to say specifically what type of form the president’s message will take, saying only that the American people will hear from him before the end of the year.
One official describes the tone of the message as about unity and the holiday spirit. It’s not a planned victory lap, the official said, but rather a “celebration.”
Another said Biden plans to seize the opportunity to showcase that he, in the White House’s view, has gotten more done in two years than any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
That message is a sharp contrast to the end of his first year in office when comparisons between Biden and FDR that were made early in his presidency had faded as Democrats were publicly infighting, gas prices and inflation were soaring. At the time, the White House’s agenda appeared all but dead.
The planned event also comes as Biden is gearing up for a likely re-election campaign — which could be announced as early as February according to people familiar with the matter — and could offer a preview of his 2024 message.
One White House official said the president plans to outline his legislative priorities for the next Congress in January as his aides prepare for him to deliver a State of the Union address early next year.