WASHINGTON — A day after Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe in Virginia's high-profile race for governor, President Joe Biden said that Congress should have passed his infrastructure and social safety net agenda before the election.
Speaking from the White House on Wednesday, Biden said voters wanted Washington to "get things done" on a wide range of issues — rising gas prices, lingering impacts of the Covid pandemic and the cost of prescription drugs — that he argued would be addressed by his legislative package.
"I think it should have passed before Election Day, but I am not sure that I would be able to change the number of very conservative folks who turned out in the red districts who were Trump voters. But maybe," he told reporters.
Asked what Democrats can do differently to avoid similar losses in the 2022 midterm elections, Biden said: "I think we should produce for the American people."
"People need a little breathing room, they are overwhelmed," he added. "We just have to produce results for them to change their standard of living."
Biden's economic agenda — a bipartisan infrastructure bill coupled with the Democrats’ larger social safety net bill — has been stalled for months in Congress. Republicans have vowed to oppose the social safety net measure, and Democrats have been unable to reach an agreement within the party on the size and scope of that package.
McAuliffe had encouraged members of Congress to pass Biden’s agenda ahead of Tuesday's election in hopes that it would energize Democratic voters in the state.
Biden won Virginia last year by 10 percentage points, and until Tuesday a Republican hadn’t won a statewide race there since 2009.
Virginia, which holds off-year elections, is often viewed as an early barometer of how a sitting president is doing ahead of their first midterm elections.
Democrats have a narrow majority in the House and will need to defend their seats as congressional districts are redrawn this election cycle following the 2020 Census. If Democrats lose a single seat in the Senate next year, Republicans will take control of the chamber.
