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Newsweek
4 days ago
- Business
- Newsweek
Biden's Legacy: What Remains After Trump Dismantled Build Back Better?
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Presidents are often remembered for the policies they champion and the battles they fight—both militarily abroad and culturally at home. Yet, as the Oval Office swings from party to party, the core pieces of one administration's legacy often become the first targets of the next, dismantled or remade in favor of a new mandate. Former President Joe Biden's time in office was a rare chapter in modern American politics, serving one term sandwiched between two led by President Donald Trump. Republican strategist John Feehery, partner at EFB Advocacy, described Biden to Newsweek as a "transitional figure" between two Trump presidencies. Where some presidents build and refine what came before, others work to tear down and reassemble the frameworks of their predecessors, often reshaping the nation's priorities in the process. The passage of Trump's sweeping domestic policy package, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), incorporates numerous provisions that undo Biden's Build Back Better Act agenda and presidential platform. As Trump's vision takes shape, Newsweek spoke with several politicos and professors about what this means for Biden's legacy and how it may impact the policy landscape both leaders have fought to define. Newsweek on Friday filled out an online contact form in seeking comment from Biden. Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty/Canva Biden's Build Back Better Act Legacy Biden, who pledged to "rebuild the backbone of the country," which he identified as the middle class, crafted a centerpiece bill focused on social spending and climate programs, which totaled around $1.75 trillion. The Democrat-led House passed the bill in 2021, but it was not voted upon in the Senate. However, portions of it were enacted piecemeal through other individual legislations and were a part of his larger political platform. At the time, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected the Build Back Better Act would increase the deficit by $367 billion over a decade. However, based on the CBO data, the passage of the legislation would create an increase in tax revenue of $127 billion. The majority of the new revenue was due to taxes on the extremely wealthy due to tightening IRS restrictions. The bill allocated $555 billion toward clean energy and green initiatives, including funding wind and solar energy projects, as well as providing electric vehicle tax credits, among others. Fiscally, the bill aimed to provide 39 million households tax cuts up to $3,600 by expanding the Child Tax Credit. It also dedicated $400 billion to addressing child care costs and prekindergarten. The bill pushed to expand health care access, reducing premiums and closing the Medicaid Coverage Gap, supporting around 4 million uninsured people to obtain coverage even if living in states that did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Beyond his legislative ambitions, Biden presided over a nation grappling with the aftermath of a pandemic and the eruption of geopolitical crises. COVID-19 continued to shape American life and economic recovery efforts during his initial months as president, while across the world, Russia invaded Ukraine and Israel and Hamas broke out into war. Both mass conflicts have carried into the current administration. Feehery emphasized this, telling Newsweek that Biden "will be seen as presiding over some of the worst public policy positions in our nation's history, namely the Covid nightmare and the Russian invasion of Ukraine." However, George C. Edwards III, professor of political science at Texas A&M, views Biden's legacy through a different lens, telling Newsweek, "When the dust has settled, Joe Biden will be remembered for leading the U.S. out of the Covid-19 epidemic and helping the U.S. economy achieve a soft landing as the envy of the world." Edwards continued, "He also made historic strides in building the infrastructure of the country, advancing environmental protection, fighting climate change, developing renewable energy, and investing in digital technology." Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law in November 2021. He also championed the CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed into law in August 2022 and allocates $52.7 billion for semiconductor research, manufacturing and workforce development in the U.S. The act may mark one of the rare instances of Trump actually reinforcing a Biden-era policy, through the president's push to increase domestic manufacturing and levy steep tariffs. Barbara Perry, presidential studies professor at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, told Newsweek: "In the short run, President Biden's legacy seems upended by the OBBB and other reversals by the second Trump administration. In the long lens of history, however, he will be remembered for righting the ship of state, listing badly after January 6, 2021's attack on the Capitol, and saving Americans and the US economy from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic." She added that "Unfortunately for the near-term, because of his advanced age and health status, he will not be given the decades that Presidents Carter, Bush I, and Bush II had to boost their approval ratings in active post-presidencies." Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Impact On Independence Day, Trump signed into law his "big, beautiful bill," likely to be considered the legislative legacy of his second term. The massive spending bill includes several provisions that essentially reverse large portions of Biden's policy initiatives, including massive cuts to Medicaid, elimination of electric vehicle and clean energy tax credits, tax cuts for high-income earners and corporations, and increased border security spending, education policy rollbacks, among others. Medicaid provides health coverage to tens of millions of low-income Americans, with around 71 million currently enrolled in the program. The CBO estimates that more than 10 million Americans could lose their health coverage under the law, and also anticipates the bill to slash the program by about $790 billion over the next decade to help offset roughly $4.5 trillion in tax breaks. "The effects of Trump's bill are so far-reaching that it's not just Biden's legacy that's at stake but FDR's, Truman's, Eisenhower's, JFK's, and, maybe above all, LBJ's," Sean Wilentz, professor of American history at Princeton University, told Newsweek in an email, pointing to the "effective destruction" of federal medical programs. Edwards said that while "Donald Trump is trying to reverse Biden's policies regarding climate change and renewable energy," it will be trying, as "the foundations have been laid." Conversely, Republican strategist Matt Klink told Newsweek that "Donald Trump is effectively erasing many of the Biden administration's most notable and public achievements," through the passage of his sweeping spending bill. He argues the bill has three central premises: "First, it reinforces long-time Republican priorities about the social safety net being there for people when needed, not a permanent government handout." "Second, for Donald Trump's [Make America Great Again] MAGA supporters, it provides funding to deliver on the president's campaign promises such as the border wall, more aggressive immigration enforcement, and a defense build-up." And lastly, according to Klink, "it negatively impacts the Biden-Harris legacy and has thrown national Democrats for a loop." He concluded, "President Biden, previously viewed as a moderate, was either misled or wasn't capable of stopping a radical leftward plunge by national Democrats. The center-right American electorate reacted negatively toward Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Congressional Democrats." As Republicans and Democrats gear up for the pivotal 2026 midterms—a referendum on Trump's tenure as much as a battle for Congress—the Democratic Party is taking a hard look at Biden's legacy and the fallout from the 2024 election. With control of the House and Senate at stake, they're racing to rebrand, regroup and mobilize their bases for the fight ahead. For Trump, his "big, beautiful bill" may soon stand as the cornerstone of his legacy, as its sweeping provisions take effect, dismantling significant portions of Biden's policy achievements and reshaping the nation's economic and social landscape.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Shootings dropped in Lansing, but untangling why is complicated
Police ballistic markers stand besides a child's chair and bicycle at a crime scene in Brooklyn where a one year old child was shot and killed on July 13, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by) This story was published in partnership with The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom covering gun violence. As gun violence surged in cities across the country after the start of the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd, shootings rose even more steeply in Lansing, Michigan. The worst period came in 2021, when the rate of fatal shootings reached 20 per 100,000 residents, two points higher than the national rate. 'That wave was so devastating,' said Marlon Beard, a community activist in Lansing whose 17-year-old son, Marshawn, was shot and killed in 2021. 'We all kind of asked ourselves what we can do about it.' In response, city officials and community groups raised enough money from federal grants and the city to establish a local Advance Peace program, a national violence intervention method that identifies known shooters, with support from the police, and enrolls them in an 18-month fellowship. By late 2022, violence interrupters hit the ground in southwest Lansing, mentoring, conducting skills training, and providing job opportunities to 15 participants. Within months, police data showed a decline in shootings. To better understand the program's efficacy, Advance Peace leaders commissioned a study by the Michigan Public Health Institute and Michigan State University. The study, published in March, found a 19 percent decrease in all shooting incidents from October 2022 to September 2024. More specifically, it found a 52 percent decline in fatal shootings and a 10 percent decline in nonfatal shootings. A program that works directly with shooters in Lansing is finding success — and police support But the overall drop also coincided with a national decrease in gun violence as the pandemic receded. Determining how much of the decline was due to intervention and how much it reflected national trends remains a key part of the puzzle in understanding gun violence trends in Lansing and similar cities. The end of the pandemic also heralded the federal Build Back Better Act, which included $5 billion for community violence intervention work, along with less direct funding that strengthened the social safety net that is crucial in many communities with disproportionate rates of gun deaths. That widespread funding anchored programs like this one. The first 18-month Advance Peace fellowship started in late 2022 with 15 fellows on the southwest side, where shootings were most prevalent. Fatal shootings and nonfatal shootings fell by 38 percent and 32 percent, respectively, in that area. But the drop in fatal shootings was greater in the three sections of the city where Advance Peace didn't have an initial presence, raising questions about the program's influence. The southwest did, however, have the largest reduction in nonfatal shootings compared to the other areas. According to the Lansing study, Advance Peace effectively engaged with the people most likely to pick up a gun, who were identified through family members, friends, other activists, law enforcement, and people recently released from jails and prisons. More than 90 percent of participants no longer use guns to go on the offensive, said Paul Elam, the chief strategy officer at the Michigan Public Health Institute and a key member of the team that implemented the program in Lansing. Elam later took a step back from street-level engagement to join the research team. 'We have evidence that this works,' he said. 'We have the evidence to prove that a public health approach works.' Joseph Richardson, a gun violence researcher and professor at the University of Maryland, said the Advance Peace model can be successful, but more data is needed to show that the program was driving the drop in shootings. 'There were significant reductions in fatal shootings where they weren't doing their work,' Richardson said, but added that continued research of community violence intervention programs is crucial to better understanding 'the role a CVI group plays locally. That's how we learn what steps need to be taken to implement the work properly.' The second fellowship, which covers the entire city, started in July 2024 and will continue working with 55 fellows until December, when the Trump administration's termination of $169 million in grants for violence intervention and community safety programs leaves cities like Lansing to scramble for alternatives. Half of Advance Peace Lansing's funding comes from federal grants, and its leaders are now strategizing about how to raise enough money to sustain the organization's 22-person staff and $3.5 million annual budget. 'If you remove that intervention piece, gun violence will go up again,' said Michael McKissic, who runs Mikey23, a nonprofit gun violence prevention program that trains young people in trades like construction, plumbing, and electrical work. 'We need that intervention. Our organization can't do that, other organizations can't do it. You need those individuals who are going to go in and show them the error of their ways.' The study showed that fatal shootings decreased by 19 percent more in Lansing from 2022 to 2024 than they did nationally — when gun violence was already dropping across the country post-pandemic. But the city's rate of nonfatal shootings fluctuated, ending with a 15 percent decline in 2024. Richardson said this is the kind of discrepancy that requires more analysis, but that continued research will be more difficult after the cuts from the federal government. Elam and the other authors of the study said gun violence prevention has always been an uphill battle, and hope the promising declines don't cause leaders to disengage with gun violence prevention. They also emphasized the positive feedback they've gotten from residents who say their boots-on-the-ground work has built trust, as well as city leaders, police, and the fellows themselves, most of whom are under 18 years old. 'We can talk to them,' one of the 16-year-old fellows told The Trace, referring to Advance Peace's credible messengers. 'They care about us, they're there for us.'
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Squad members claim Democrats wanted $10 trillion Build Back Better bill
Ex-Squad Reps. Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman claimed that Democrats had originally wanted to pass $10 trillion in spending as part of former President Joe Biden's doomed Build Back Better (BBB) Act. "We were at ten [trillion] and then it went down to six and down to three and down to 1.7, I believe," Bush said on the "Bowman and Bush" podcast on Mar. 14. The two were reflecting on the collapse of Biden's ambitious Build Back Better Act, which called for hundreds of billions of dollars of investments in "social infrastructure" programs such as universal childcare, an expansion of the child tax credit, climate change initiatives, and low-cost housing. "We wanted to make sure that the climate investment was there because many of the groups were saying this isn't enough on climate… so I was getting attacked for not asking for more," Bush said. The former members of Congress each lost Democratic primaries to more moderate opponents prior to the 2024 general election. They said they held out on voting for Biden's infrastructure bill for "months" in order to couple it with Build Back Better so that one couldn't pass without the other. But according to the two ex-reps, the federal investments in the BBB Act kept going "down, down, down." The progressives' efforts ultimately failed, in their telling, with the Democrat-controlled House voting to pass the infrastructure bill separately from Build Back Better, and no vote scheduled for the latter bill. The House passed Biden's infrastructure bill in November 2021. Read On The Fox News App Bush recounted a tense meeting of the House Progressive Caucus in which Biden called in to plead with the lefty reps to pass his infrastructure bill despite their demands for a vote on BBB not being met. Musk Threatens To Sue After Democrat Ex-rep Jamaal Bowman Calls Him A 'Nazi' And 'Thief' During Tv Appearance "Mr. President, I'm a no. I'm not going to vote for this if we don't have the infrastructure bill, if we don't have Build Back Better being voted on at the same time," Bush allegedly told Biden. When Biden implored her to "trust your president" that the Build Back Better Act would one day be passed, Bush claimed she gave the president a flat "no." BBB, which was valued at nearly $2 trillion, ultimately failed to pass due to objections from centrists such as then-Sen. Joe Manchin, Bowman, who lost his primary to Rep. George Latimer, D-N.Y., faced controversy in his district, which encompasses parts of Westchester, for numerous anti-Israel statements which critics alleged crossed the line into antisemitism. Biden's 'Build Back Better' Is The Very Definition Of Cradle-to-grave, Big-government Dependency Bowman at one point said there was "no evidence" Hamas raped Israeli women during their barbaric Oct. 7 attacks (he later reversed course on that claim), and has frequently referred to Israel's war against the terrorist group as a "genocide." He was also censured by the House for pulling the fire alarm during a 2023 spending vote. Bush, whose husband was recently charged with defrauding the government to the tune of $20,000 in fraudulent PPP loans, blamed the American-Israeli activist group AIPAC for her congressional loss and lashed out at pro-Israel groups during her concession speech, saying they "radicalized" her and vowing to take revenge. "As much as I love my job, all they did was radicalize me — and so now they need to be afraid," Bush article source: Former Squad members claim Democrats wanted $10 trillion Build Back Better bill
