SOTU 2024: What 5 congressional Dems thought of Biden’s big speech
The president earned high marks overall but frustrated allies with an immigration gaffe and his Israel policy. Plus, the 26 notable policy proposals that anchor Biden’s vision for the future.
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! Welcome back to Once Upon a Hill. I’m Michael Jones. Thanks for spending part of your evening with me.
It’s Friday, March 8. In tonight’s edition, I take you inside my reporter’s notebook full of analysis from President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address and post-speech conversations with top Democratic lawmakers in Statuary Hall, the room to which reporters and camera crews descended for instant reactions from members as they left the House chamber to spin the president’s performance in their party’s favor.
I published an in-depth preview of the speech ahead of the event. If you missed it the first time around, give it a read.
Before we continue, I also want to remind you that I’ll be joining esteemed astrologer Wade Caves at the end of the month for a virtual exploration of the US legislative scene. Caves will contribute the astrological story to the discussion—it’ll be a treat you won’t want to miss. The event is part of the World Astrology Summit and I’ll be in the great company of several other smart presenters who are experts in their domains. I hope you buy a ticket. (BTW, when you register for the event, you’ll be asked how you heard about the event. Put my name in the field if you’d be so kind.)
One more thing: I love hearing from readers. Send me a direct message below or email me with tips, questions, or to say hi.
Thank you for being you,
Michael
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If you caught the speech in real-time, keep scrolling. But if not, here’s a recap.
Biden opened with the issues on which he differs most from former President and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump: the war in Ukraine, the January 6th insurrection and abortion rights.
“The former Republican president tells [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, quote, ‘Do whatever the hell you want,’” Biden said of Trump as a bill approving billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine stalls in the House. “A former president actually down to the Russian leader I think it’s outrageous, it’s dangerous and it’s unacceptable.”
On the insurrection, Biden told his Republican antagonists who characterized the Capitol attack as a peaceful protest: “You can’t love your country only when you win.”
He then called on Congress to guarantee the right to in vitro fertilization nationwide in the wake of the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos created through in vitro fertilization are considered children
The president went on to describe the economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic as the “greatest comeback story never told” before listing off all the ways Americans are better off now than before he took office, from the record number of jobs created under his administration to 50-year-low unemployment rates to the small business boom and the narrowing of the racial wealth gap.
He touted the American manufacturing renaissance and billions of dollars in private-sector investments to produce semiconductor chips in the US instead of purchasing them overseas.
Biden ribbed the Republicans who voted against his massive infrastructure law in 2021 while promoting the investments in their states and districts now. He reminded Americans of his pro-union bonafides, including his position as the first president to stand on the picket line six months ago with the United Auto Workers, who were on strike against the Big Three automakers.
For these reasons, Biden declared, “The state of our union is strong—and getting stronger.”
Biden was sharp in tone and forceful in his advocacy of the policy proposals he promised to advance in the next year and beyond if reelected. I detail the highlights in the next section.
He reveled in the back-and-forth with Republicans who heckled him earlier this week despite Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). 's requests for decorum.
He had energy and took enormous strides to lessen the concerns about his mental acuity that come with being the oldest president in US history at 81 years old.
And he closed the speech with a powerful passage that took those age concerns head-on.
“When you get to be my age, certain things become clearer than ever. My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy, a future based on core values that have defined America—honesty, decency, dignity, and equality, to respect everyone, to give everyone a fair shot, to give hate no safe harbor,” Biden said before jabbing his 77-year-old opponent. “Now, other people my age see it differently. The American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That’s not me.”
But this is Joe Biden we’re talking about. So, of course, he went off script and made a terrible gaffe during an exchange with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who co-opted the Say Her Name social movement that seeks to raise awareness for Black women victims of police brutality and anti-Black violence in the US to bring attention to Laken Riley—an Augusta University nursing student whose body was found in a wooded area near the University of Georgia late last month. (The man charged with the crime is a Venezuelan immigrant who was previously charged in connection with a shoplifting case in Georgia.)
Biden would call the suspect an “illegal,” parroting Greene’s rhetoric and immediately warning sharp disapproval from his party. You’ll find quotes from a couple of House progressives of color on the moment later on.
The president once again called out congressional Republicans for tanking a border security bill they demanded after Trump told them to so the issue would remain viable for his election.
Another persistent sore spot for the president is the war in Gaza.
Biden reaffirmed his pursuit of an immediate six-week ceasefire to facilitate the release of the remaining hostages and the influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
He also announced an emergency mission to set up a temporary pier in the Mediterranean off Gaza's coast that can receive large shipments of food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters.
This drastic action is only necessary because of the humanitarian disaster the Israeli government has exacerbated by withholding aid to the Palestinian people in harm’s way as Israel wages war against Hamas for the Oct. 7th attack.
Ahead of the speech, Biden received many pep talks from his Democratic allies as he shook hands and made small talk on his way to the podium.
“This is about you,” Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford (Nev.) told the president.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.): “You’re the best ever.”
Those who weren’t hyping the commander-in-chief up were snapping selfies with him, including Reps. Terri Sewell (Ala.), Joyce Beatty (Ohio), Gillibrand and Biden’s close friend Sen. Chris Coons (Del.).
And for posterity, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona was the designated survivor—the cabinet member who skips the speech to serve as acting president in case of a mass casualty event.
The speech was President Biden’s third State of the Union with three Speakers of the House: Nancy Pelosi in 2022, Kevin McCarthy in 2023 and Mike Johnson last night. Due to this, Vice President Kamala Harris has been seated next to a different speaker for each State of the Union she’s presided over as president of the Senate.
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Before we get to the reactions to the speech, below are a few notable policy proposals the president introduced:
A $35 insulin cap for every American (the Inflation Reduction Act capped the cost of the drug at $35 for Medicare beneficiaries)
The power for Medicare to negotiate 500 drugs over the next decade (The IRA empowered the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to negotiate 10 drugs with pharmaceutical companies)
Making the expiring subsidies under the Affordable Care Act permanent
Establishing a White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research led by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden
A two-year $400-per-month tax credit for first-home purchases or a trade-up to a bigger home
Eliminating title insurance fees on federally backed mortgages
Simplifying the process for builders to secure federal financing to build and renovate two million affordable homes
Free pre-school for three- and four-year-olds
Expanding high-quality tutoring so every child learns to read by third grade
Increased Pell Grants and investments at HBCUs and minority-serving institutions
Raises for public school teachers
Making the expanded Child Tax Credit permanent
Raising the corporate minimum tax to at least 21 percent
A 25 percent billionaire tax (Biden said the average billionaire pays an average of 8.2 percent in federal taxes)
Legislation to prevent “shrinkflation”
Passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act
Passage of the Equality Act to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
Passage of the PRO Act, which would expand workers’ collective bargaining protections and strengthen the Nation Labor Relations Board’s enforcement powers
Passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act to restore the federal right to abortion care
Tripling the number of Climate Corps workers to 60,000 over the next decade
Reviewing the federal classification of marijuana and deleting thousands of convictions for possession
Ramping up enforcement of the Violence Against Women Act
Banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines
Strengthen penalties for fentanyl trafficking
Passing bipartisan legislation to protect kids online and ban AI voice impersonations
President Biden described this agenda as the “future of possibilities where the days of trickle-down economics are over and the wealthy and the biggest corporations no longer get all the tax breaks.”
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Following the speech, I ran into Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), who told me her phone started blowing up with messages after Biden’s “illegals” gaffe.
“People [are] saying, ‘You can’t keep telling me the Democrats are so different’ when we’re using the same terrible right-wing rhetoric.”
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) had a similar perspective.
“I know we need to get something done at the border,” he told me. “I understand that. We have to do it from a humanitarian perspective and we need to make sure we are bringing dignity and honor to the migrants who are coming here searching for a better life.”
Despite the gaffe, Bowman appreciated Biden for delivering an “aspirational” speech and consistently attacking Trump.
He and Ramirez felt he didn’t go far enough on the war in Gaza though.
Bowman, a former middle school principal, said he planned to send President Biden a note encouraging him to advocate for free early education before age three.
“We have to do more with early Head Start programs, early childhood Programs, support families and children at birth,” he said. “Because even by three, the brain develops so rapidly between prenatal and three, that three is sometimes late for many kids.”
As for his thoughts on Marjorie Taylor Greene, with whom he has a rocky history: “[She] always makes an ass out of herself. That’s what she's here to do—a spectacle, she's a caricature. And that’s what she wants to do and others screaming out ‘lie’ and all of that, it’s disrespectful.”
Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, the number-three Senate Democrat, was effusive in her praise for Biden’s performance.
“I thought it was fantastic. I think his strength, his humor, his focus on the future, his hope, his optimism, his vision,” she told me. “Most importantly, he’s changed this country from a country focused only on the top and the wealthiest to one that's growing the middle class for everybody.”
On a personal note, Thursday’s State of the Union was Stabenow’s last as a US senator. She’s set to retire next January.
“There’s some nostalgia there, yeah,” she said when I asked her to reflect on the moment.
I also caught up with Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn.), the chief Democratic architect of the border deal Republicans blocked.
“He came out very strong and called on Republicans to do the right thing and back the bipartisan compromise,” he said. “Republicans don’t want to fix the border. They want it to be open for political purposes and it’s really important for the country to know.”
Maxine Waters (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, told reporters ahead of the speech that she received a commitment that Biden would address the affordable housing crisis as she works to advance a package of housing bills to end homelessness.
“We got it in,” she said with a victorious fist pump. “We got it in. [Biden] did a great job. He was convincing. He hit all of the right issues. And he closed like a Baptist preacher.”
Ramirez added: “It was really good to hear him actually call out all of these hedge fund leaders that are taking over all the rental properties.”
With Black voters serving as the backbone of the Biden coalition, CBC Chair Horsford spent the lead-up to the State of the Union lobbying President Biden to uplift the issues that matter to the community.
How did he do in Horsford’s eyes?
"I thought he was upbeat, energetic, and that he articulated all of the major issues that the Congressional Black Caucus wanted. He talked about women's freedom, our rights, economic opportunities, but he also underscored the importance that we still have a lot more work to do,” he told me. “There's a choice between those of us who want to move the country forward or those who want to take it back. Those of us who want to build up our communities versus those who want to tear it down. Those of us who want to bring people together versus those who wants to divide us those. That's the choice. He laid it out very clearly.“