One accomplishment Biden is sure to bring up tonight is the level of job gains under his presidency. Since he took office the unemployment rate went from 6.3% to 3.4%, per the latest jobs data.
Despite recession fears and massive tech layoffs, U.S. employers added 517,000 new jobs last month, well exceeding economists’ expectations of around 180,000 new jobs.
The blowout jobs report paved the way for the Federal Reserve to pass more rate hikes aimed at lowering inflation, Fed Chairman Powell said in remarks he delivered earlier today. But the rate hikes could push the economy closer to a recession, which the central bank has avoided so far.
– Elisabeth Buchwald
Biden has yet to fulfill his campaign promise of canceling at least $10,000 in student loan debt. Last year he unveiled a plan to make good on his promise.
However the plan is being stalled by legal challenges. Six states – Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina – formed a coalition to fight the proposal. They argue that canceling student loan debt extends beyond the administration’s legal authority.
The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments for the case later this month. The Biden administration claims it is well within their legal realm to proceed with its plan. It cannot do so unless the Court rules in its favor, however.
– Elisabeth Buchwald
Since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 10%. Last year the index fell into a bear market, meaning it dropped 20% below a market peak set last January.
During former President Donald Trump’s time in office, the Dow gained 56%. That represents an annualized gain of close to 12%, one of the best stock market performances under a Republican president according to data from LPL Financial.
– Elisabeth Buchwald
The State of the Union address, delivered to a joint session of Congress and a crowd that includes all nine Supreme Court justices, poses a unique scenario in which every key member of the nation’s leadership is in one room.
That makes it both a momentous affair, and a significant national security risk. For this reason, each year one member of the president’s Cabinet dubbed the “designated survivor” hangs back.
The practice dates back to the Cold War, during which fears of a Soviet Nuclear attack abounded and a fresh urgency surrounded protocols for the order of presidential succession. The designated survivor for 2023 has not yet been announced, but heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Energy have most frequently been chosen.
– Anna Kaufman
The State of the Union address isn’t just a tradition in the nation’s capital. It’s rooted in the Constitution.
Article II of the Constitution says the president shall “from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union.”
That doesn’t mean the president has to give a speech – as they often do today.
“From that very general mandate in the Constitution has evolved into what we recognize today as a yearly event, with lots of pomp and circumstance,” Claire Jerry, a curator of political history at the National Museum of American History, told USA TODAY.
– Marina Pitofsky
Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution states that the president will “give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”
This language birthed the practice, allowing the executive to deliver to a joint session of Congress and the American people.
In the modern era, the speech has become a vehicle for administrations to roll out their policy priorities for the coming year and spotlight key agenda issues.
– Anna Kaufman
