Joe Biden

Policy #1: Southern Border Crossings: Catch-and-Release, Asylum Expansion, and Record Encounters Harmful

Partial shift For: Proclamation restricting asylum at high encounter levels. White House asylum proclamation June 2024. whitehouse.gov

Listed in the research as: Pres. Biden (June 2024)

Verdict: The 2021-24 border surge was a policy choice with foreseeable pull effects, not a force of nature. Catch-and-release into multi-year court backlogs, ending MPP, and delayed Title 42 exit timing produced record crossings, city fiscal crises, and documented failures to track released children.

Policy #2: Inflation Spike 2021-2023: American Rescue Plan and Policy Drivers Harmful

For ARP: Passed and signed H.R.1319. Congress.gov H.R.1319 ARP. congress.gov

Listed in the research as: Pres. Biden / Sen. Schumer / Speaker Pelosi

Verdict: ARP was oversized relative to the remaining hole and hit an economy with broken supply chains. It was not the only cause (energy shock after Ukraine invasion, housing, supply), but denying its demand role is ideology.

Policy #3: Afghanistan Withdrawal 2021: Evacuation Failure and Equipment Left Behind Mixed

For rapid exit: Apr 14, 2021 withdrawal speech; held to Aug 31 deadline. Biden withdrawal remarks Apr 2021. whitehouse.gov

Listed in the research as: Pres. Biden

Verdict: Ending the war was a legitimate strategic choice. Executing the exit by abandoning Bagram, compressing the embassy collapse into chaos, and leaving unverified mountains of gear was a governance failure.

Policy #7: COVID Vaccine Mandates: Federal, Employer, Military, and School Harmful

For: Sept 9, 2021 path-out-of-pandemic speech announcing mandates. Biden mandate announcement Sept 2021. whitehouse.gov

Listed in the research as: Pres. Biden

Verdict: Coercive mandates for a rapidly developed product, especially after infection-acquired immunity and waning transmission benefits were clear, traded short-term compliance for long-term institutional trust. Narrow high-risk clinical recommendations differ from fire-your-neighbor politics.

Policy #10: Infrastructure Spending: IIJA Delivery Gaps (Roads, Broadband, EV Chargers) Mixed

For: Signed IIJA Nov 15, 2021; branded as signature win. White House IIJA signing. whitehouse.gov

Listed in the research as: Pres. Biden

Verdict: Passing a giant bill is not building anything. IIJA's brand oversold shovel-ready speed.

Policy #12: Two-Tier Justice: Allies vs Opponents in Federal Charging Mixed

Denied two-tier; then pardoned son: Dec 1, 2024 pardon + statement calling prosecution unfair. Biden pardon proclamation (Dec 2024). whitehouse.gov

Listed in the research as: Pres. Biden

Verdict: Two-tier patterns are partially substantiated: preferential plea architecture for Hunter pre-collapse, a parental pardon attacking DOJ, and asymmetric prosecutorial energy between Jan. 6 and 2020 unrest.

Policy #18: Maui Wildfire Aid: Federal Response Scale and Speed After Lahaina Mixed

Defended response; visited; raised cost-share: WH statements; Sept 2023 cost-share increase. ABC: Oversight probe coverage. abcnews.com

Listed in the research as: Pres. Biden

Verdict: Not "zero aid", dollars flowed. Still a legitimacy failure if Americans who lost everything wait over a year for stable housing while Washington spends at wartime speed elsewhere.

Policy #31: Energy Policy: Leasing, Pipelines, and Domestic Production Mandates Mixed

For climate restrictions + IRA green credits: EO Jan 20, 2021; IRA 2022. Reuters: drilling pause. reuters.com

Listed in the research as: Pres. Biden

Verdict: Mixed facts, bad politics of scarcity. Production rose despite, not because of, federal hostility, thanks largely to private land.

Policy #35: Biden Pardons: Family Preemptive Clemency and Related Grants Harmful

For: Signed warrants; public statements. Hunter pardon statement (GovInfo). govinfo.gov

Listed in the research as: Pres. Biden

Verdict: Legal under the Constitution; rotten for equal justice. A president pardoning his convicted son and preemptively shielding relatives is the textbook conflict the Framers left to voters' judgment, vote accordingly.

Policy #38: Chinese Spy Balloon: Transit Before Shootdown Mixed

For water shootdown plan: DoD statements Feb 4. DoD shootdown news. war.gov

Listed in the research as: Pres. Biden / SecDef Austin

Verdict: Operational caution on debris was real; strategic optics were weak. Letting a known surveillance balloon leisurely cross the continent looked like hesitation.

Policy #39: 51 Intelligence Officials Letter: Laptop as Russian Disinformation Harmful

Cited letter: Oct 22, 2020 debate. CBS on House findings. cbsnews.com

Listed in the research as: Joe Biden (debate)

Verdict: Bad. National-security credentials were weaponized for a campaign.

Policy #40: Gaza Hostages: US Policy After October 7 Mixed

For mediated deals: Nov 21, 2023 hostage release statement. Biden hostage release statement. archives.gov

Listed in the research as: Pres. Biden

Verdict: Mixed. Getting some Americans out was real statecraft; leaving families in limbo for months/years is a failure metric.

Policy #51: Defund the Police Harmful

Against: 2022 State of the Union: "The answer is not to defund the police. It's to fund the police.". Biden 2022 State of the Union (as delivered) (bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov)

Listed in the research as: President Joe Biden (D)

Verdict: Bad as executed. Cuts plus demoralization shrank departments just as violence spiked, and the people hurt most were the residents of high-crime neighborhoods the movement meant to protect.

Policy #59: Federal Deficit Spending Harmful

Mixed: Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (H.R. 3746) passed House 314-117 and Senate 63-36; 71 R and 46 D voted no in the House. Congress.gov: H.R. 3746 Fiscal Responsibility Act (congress.gov)

Listed in the research as: Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R) & President Biden (D)

For: American Rescue Plan (H.R. 1319, 2021), $1.9T, passed with no Republican votes. Congress.gov: H.R. 1319 American Rescue Plan (congress.gov)

Listed in the research as: Democrats; President Biden

Verdict: Bad. Deficits during emergencies like 2020 can be justified, though the 2021 ARP was oversized for a recovering economy.