President Biden's State of the Union address

President Biden said in his speech tonight that his administration will “build a national network 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations” on the nation’s roads, using money included in the bipartisan infrastructure law he signed in November.  

Facts First: This needs context. For a few reasons, it’s questionable whether the Biden administration will be able to meet its goal of installing 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations on US roads.  

The $7.5 billion allocated to charging stations in the bipartisan infrastructure law that Biden signed into law last year is just half of the $15 billion that Biden had originally proposed for the charging network. This change from the original proposal could significantly hinder the administration’s ability to meet the goal. 

Second, there’s a wide range in how much different types of chargers cost, and individual states have a lot of leeway deciding what kinds of chargers will go on their roads. DC fast chargers can charge a car to mostly full in 20-30 minutes and are meant to go on major highways and roads. Another kind of charger known as an L2 charger can take hours to charge a car to full. DC fast chargers typically cost around $100,000 compared to around $6,000 for an L2, Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, a senior resident fellow at the think tank Third Way, has told CNN.  

In a recent interview with climate publication Grist, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that ultimately the number of EV chargers on the roads “really depends on how the states decide to mix the fast chargers and different types of technology.” 

President Biden said that his administration has made "hundreds of millions" of free Covid-19 tests available to Americans.

The President said that if you've ordered free tests already, starting next week you can order more through the government's website.

President Biden called on Congress to confirm his Federal Reserve nominees that have been stalled in the Senate after Republicans boycotted votes, ultimately leaving the President’s five picks in limbo as key decisions on raising interest rates near.

“So what are we waiting for? Let’s get this done,” he said moments before.

In February, Senate Republicans boycotted a vote in protest of Biden's nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to be the top banking regulator, halting a slate of pending nominees for the central bank of the United States.

President Biden during his State of the Union remarks announced that his administration plans to start fixing over 65,000 miles of highway and 1,500 bridges this year through funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

Biden touted the bipartisan bill and thanked both parties for their work, tying the law to American competition with China. 

"Look, it's going to transform America and put us on a path to win the economic competition of the 21st century that we face with the rest of the world—particularly with China," Biden said.  

He added, "I’ve told Xi Jinping, it's never been a good bet to bet against the American people."

President Biden addressed the need for life to get back to normal as his administration's Covid-19 efforts have provided the tools to mitigate the pandemic.

"It's time for America to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again with people. People working from home can feel safe and begin to return to their offices. We're doing that here in the federal government. The vast majority of federal workers will once again work in person. Our schools are open. Let's keep it that way," Biden said.

He added, "Most Americans can remove their masks and stay in the classroom and move forward safely. We achieved this because we provided free vaccines, treatments, tests, and masks."

President Biden laid out his plan to tackle rising inflation during his State of the Union remarks, including a proposal to cut the cost of child care.

"Folks, if you live in a major city in America, you pay up to $14,000 a year for child care per child. I was a single dad for five years raising two kids. I had a lot of help, though. I had a mom, a dad, a brother and a sister that really helped. But middle class and working folks shouldn't have to pay more than 7% of their income to care for their young children," Biden said.

President Biden took the opportunity Tuesday to tout his administration’s Covid-relief package, the American Rescue Plan, passed one year ago this week, during his State of the Union remarks.

He boasted that, “Unlike the $2 Trillion tax cut passed in the previous administration that benefitted the top 1% of Americans, the American Rescue Plan — the American Rescue Plan helped working people — and left no one behind.”

Biden’s line, and swipe at his predecessor former President Trump’s tax cuts legislation, prompted the first audible boos of the night, as some lawmakers gathered in the House chamber showed their frustration with the President’s comments.

He then criticized “trickle-down” economics, which he said “led to a weaker economic growth, lower wages, bigger deficits, and widened gap between those at the top and everyone else in nearly a century.”

“Look, Vice President Harris and I ran for office — and I recognize that we have fundamental disagreements on this — with a new economic vision for America,” Biden said, departing from prepared remarks to acknowledge the partisan divide in the chamber, before circling back to his administration’s Infrastructure Bill, passed with a narrow bipartisan majority.

“That’s why it was so important to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and I thank my Republican friends who jointed to invest and rebuild America, the single biggest investment in history,” Biden said. “This was a bipartisan effort, and I want to thank the members of both parties who worked to make it happen.”

President Biden touted record job growth under his administration during his speech tonight.

“Our economy created over 6.5 million new jobs just last year, more jobs in one year than ever before in the history of the United States of America,” Biden said. 

Facts First: This is true. The US added 6.6 million jobs in the first 12 months of Biden’s term, more than the US added in any year going back to 1939, when this data series was first published. However, the Biden-era gains should be viewed with contextual caution. Biden inherited an economy that had been crushed by unprecedented pandemic-related job losses.  

Biden took office less than a year after the economy shed more than 22 million jobs in two months because of the pandemic. Even with the jobs rebound — which began under President Trump in May 2020 — the US was still, as of January 2022, down more than 2 million jobs from when the pandemic hit. In other words, the substantial Biden-era gains are still filling the giant pandemic hole. 

Biden is free, of course, to argue that he is doing a good job filling that hole, and some economists argue that the pandemic stimulus package he signed into law in early 2021 has played a significant role in the subsequent job growth. But the timing of Biden’s inauguration was a key factor too. 

President Biden said that his policies would not raise taxes on anyone "earning less than $400,000 a year."  

The President continued, "I may be wrong, but my guess is if we took a secret ballot on this floor, that we would all agree that the present tax system ain't fair." 

Biden said that the US has to "fix" the tax system.

Watch the moment: