Ahead of tonight’s debate, President Joe Biden has released a steady stream of politically useful policy items that he’ll be able to tout live. Billions of dollars in foreign aid to Ukraine. Warnings on social media for kids. Cracking down on the border.
These offer Biden a list of ready-to-use talking points that he can mention during the debate to highlight his administration’s achievements — a stark contrast to former President Donald Trump, who has been out of office for four years.
Here’s a collection of some of the key policy issues Biden has rolled out in the run-up to tonight’s debate.
Foreign policy
Biden has spent the last few months shoring up his foreign policy message ahead of tonight’s debate. A half-year push to get $60 billion in military aid for Ukraine through the Republican-led House passed in April, allowing the U.S. to surge weapons and other materials to help Kyiv repel Russia’s invasion. The time lost allowed Moscow’s forces to advance in parts of Ukraine’s east and north. But that didn’t lead to major strategic gains. And the White House has since used the delay to attack Republicans — namely, former President Donald Trump — for undermining U.S. leadership on the world stage.
Biden has also touted an imminent cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas that would see hostages returned from Gaza. A senior administration official told reporters Wednesday afternoon that only a few outstanding paragraphs were left to negotiate — putting the deal closer than ever. Biden’s political future depends, to a significant degree, on balancing his defense of Israel alongside protests from pro-Palestinian voices who say he bears responsibility for Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.
Trump could still attack Biden for failing to help bring an end to the Ukraine war, risking a larger conflict in that region, or failing to stand more firmly side-by-side with Israel since Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7. But the former president has yet to provide any concrete plan on how he would handle both crises, which could open up avenues for attack for Biden or make tonight’s debate a key opportunity for Trump to flesh out his own foreign policy thinking.
— Alexander Ward
Housing
Key administration officials this week have spent time highlighting what the Biden administration is trying to do to address housing costs that are rising faster than inflation and incomes.
Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday announced new PRO Housing grants designed to fund additional housing units and reduce housing and rental costs. It’s part of a national housing plan to build two million units of affordable housing.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen went to Minnesota on Monday to talk about a new Community Development Financial Institutions Fund that will provide $100 million over three years to support the financing of affordable housing. Yellen says a deep shortage in housing units has prompted the surge in prices.
The administration acknowledges housing costs are too high while touting that more housing units are under construction now than at any time in the last 50 years and that home ownership rates are higher now than pre-pandemic.
— Jennifer Haberkorn
Immigration
Biden rolled out a series of long-anticipated, major immigration executive actions this month, cracking down on the border but also offering protections for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants residing in the U.S. The president’s first move came in early June when he announced he would bar migrants from seeking asylum in between ports of entry when the border becomes overwhelmed — crossings have since fallen by 40 percent. He followed his clampdown with an announcement that he would protect 550,000 undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens from deportation and allow them to work legally in the U.S. He also made it easier for DACA recipients and dreamers to get work visas.
Biden advisers are betting that the moves can give the president the fresh ammo he needs to combat the onslaught of attacks expected from Trump on the debate stage. Biden’s partial border shutdown employs a similar policy from the bipartisan border bill Trump and congressional Republicans killed, which White House officials believe gives the president an opening to say that he took action while they torpedoed it.
But they also note that Americans want a balanced approach to immigration and support efforts to fix the system inside the U.S., too, giving the president an opportunity to tout his affirmative relief measures and maybe even bait Trump into a conversation about his controversial family separation policy.
— Myah Ward
Guns and health
Biden’s surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, debuted two new initiatives in recent weeks focused on addressing major concerns for parents across the political spectrum: social media and gun violence.
Murthy is calling for warning labels on social media platforms that he’s characterized as dangerous to adolescents’ mental health, pointing to research suggesting social media use contributes to depression and anxiety. The labels, he’s said, would be akin to those that appear on alcohol and tobacco products. It’s a push that represents the latest element of a broader administration effort to rein in the tech companies that shape major aspects of everyday life.
The surgeon general this week also declared gun violence a public health crisis, using his perch as the nation’s top doctor to issue such a pronouncement for the first time ever. While the declaration is largely symbolic, it effectively puts guns in the same category as tobacco and car crashes in terms of the danger that they pose to Americans’ health. And the move could allow Biden on Thursday to emphasize the importance he’s placed on addressing guns — even as Republicans in Congress block more transformative proposals.
— Adam Cancryn
Holding Big Ag accountable
The Biden administration revealed a long-anticipated plan this week to make it easier for small and mid-sized farmers and ranchers to sue big food companies for unfair or deceptive business practices. The move, officials say, will make food markets more competitive and by extension, bring down families’ high food costs.
Tackling corporate monopolies across America’s food system is central to Biden’s pitch to voters that he’s bringing down the cost of groceries. Supporters of the push say this week’s regulation, a version of which died amid heavy lobbying and a dearth of congressional support during the Obama administration, is at the heart of that effort.
Biden’s top economic adviser, Lael Brainard, has already touted the rule as key to bringing down high costs. Food prices, which haven’t been as inflated as some basics, such as rent, remain particularly salient for voters who buy groceries at least once a week.
Biden has used his bully pulpit to urge corporations to lower prices and castigated companies for ‘shrinkflation,’ pointing to industry profit margins above pre-pandemic levels. While his antitrust enforcers have challenged mergers in the food industry – which the administration argues will bring down costs — Biden officials ultimately have a limited array of tools for lowering food prices.
— Marcia Brown
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