Biden touts administration's infrastructure progress during Portland visit

White House shifts focus to listing accomplishments rather than focusing on stalled legislation

US President Joe Biden speaks on the infrastructure investments made at Portland International Airport in Oregon. AFP

President Joe Biden on Thursday touted progress he has made on his agenda, particularly on infrastructure, while making his first trip to the Pacific Northwest since taking office ahead of the November midterm elections.

Mr Biden's visits to the cities of Portland and Seattle — part of a growing travel schedule ahead of the elections — will also see him participate in a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee.

Mr Biden spoke about new spending made possible by the passage of the $1 trillion infrastructure law that includes investments in highways and broadband, as well as about the jobs that it will create. The bill allocates $1.2 billion for Oregon and $8.6bn for Washington state.

He visited Portland's airport on Thursday to talk about investing in a runway that can withstand earthquakes and will spend Thursday night and Friday in Seattle, where he will observe Earth Day and talk about his administration's plans to tame inflation.

"We're here today to talk about investments we're making to modernize this airport," Mr Biden said in his address. "So through the bipartisan infrastructure law, we're investing $25 billion to upgrade and modernize American airports."

White House officials have said in recent weeks that they hope to shift their outreach strategy to voters by visiting more states to talk about the administration's accomplishments rather than describing the need for legislation that remains stalled.

Mr Biden last visited Seattle in November 2019 while campaigning in the Democratic presidential primaries.