President Joe Biden is hoping to launch his 2024 reelection campaign by highlighting his role in negotiating the debt limit deal. However, despite the agreement mitigating proposed Republican cuts to anti-poverty benefits, reducing government spending far less than the GOP demanded, and maintaining Biden's previous legislative victories, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, the bipartisan infrastructure plan, and the Chips Act, polls show that Americans have mostly remained unimpressed with his performance in office.
During a public address from the Oval Office on Friday evening, Biden listed the debt ceiling deal alongside his previous accomplishments, doubling it as a campaign speech. Additionally, he revisited themes from his 2020 presidential campaign of American unity, bipartisanship, and championing democracy. Biden also ticked off several of his campaign promises, such as closing special interest loopholes for the wealthy, the oil industry, and cryptocurrency investors.
The agreement would apply work requirements for those receiving welfare benefits up to the age of 54 instead of 49, as under current law. The Congressional Budget Office though projected that 78,000 more people, including veterans and the homeless, would now be eligible. Nevertheless, more than 30 members of the House Progressive Caucus, including Representative Pramila Jayapal, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ro Khanna, a member of Biden's reelection advisory board, voted against the bill.
The NAACP, a civil rights group, also issued a statement on Friday, saying that the bill "misses the mark for Black America." NAACP President Derrick Johnson called for those responsible for increasing the debt ceiling to ensure that the burden is not placed solely on African Americans and middle-class individuals. In a recent poll, Trump emerged as the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, a fact that may worry Democrats.
Despite these criticisms, some Democratic figures have expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the debt deal. Representative Jim Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat and longtime Biden ally, said in an interview that he was very pleased with the final product. Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher, who worked on both Barack Obama campaigns, stated that the budget outcomes would only become a problem for Democrats if their opponents put “real dollars behind making it an issue.” Ultimately, Belcher believes that it is unlikely that progressives will move away from Biden and hand the country back to Trump in the upcoming election.