Recap: State of the Union Address 2023

By Chip Genung ’25

On Feb. 7, President Joe Biden gave the president’s annual State of the Union address. Since the presidency of Washington, the State of the Union has been an address to both houses of Congress, during which they talk about their past year as leader of the country and their plans for the future. This is President Biden’s second State of the Union, and since his last one, his administration has been through a lot.

Biden started by talking substantially about his infrastructure bill and how he believes it benefits the United States. He then talked about how these extensive infrastructure investments will create jobs, claiming the average income of these new jobs will be over $100,000 a year. Building upon his discussion of employment, Biden spoke about how he believes the United States is lagging behind in semiconductor production and what he wants to do to fix it. He continued with his worries about American production lagging behind, this is why he said, “tonight I am announcing all construction materials for federal infrastructure projects will be made in America!”. He also announced that if any bill gets passed raising the cost of prescription drugs, he will veto it. On top of this, he added a plea to congress asking them to expand Medicaid. He also asked congress to quadruple the tax on corporate stock buy-backs, in an attempt to “close the loopholes” that he believes are keeping large corporations from paying the taxes they owe.
 
Then an unprecedented interaction happened between the Republican side of congress and President Biden. He claimed that certain parts of the Republican Party are eager to cut social security and Medicaid. In response, many of the Republicans started loudly disagreeing with Biden, claiming they do not want to cut those programs. In response, Biden amended his speech on the spot saying “If anyone tries to cut social security, which apparently no one is going to do, and if anyone tries to cut Medicaid, I will stop them,” leading to applause from both sides of the aisle. He continued on many topics including his prioritizing of education, which was met with bipartisan applause, and an increase in gun control, which was not met with bipartisan applause. He talked about police violence, and the role it played in the murder of Tyre Nichols. He finished with his thoughts on America’s position in the world stating “We are the United States of America, and there is nothing beyond our power if we do it together!”