Biden's 2021: early wins eclipsed by pandemic, policy setbacks and party ruptures

Cascading setbacks point to a difficult 2022 for US president and his domestic agenda

President-elect Joe Biden as he is sworn in as the 46th president of the US. EPA

President Biden receives his coronavirus booster vaccination in Washington on September 27. Reuters

President Biden gives remarks on the worsening crisis in Afghanistan from the East Room of the White House on August 16. Getty Images

Desperate Afghans struggle to get into the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in August to escape the Taliban. EPA

President Biden delivers remarks on the bipartisan infrastructure law during a visit to Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minnesota. Reuters

For months, the fate of Mr Biden's presidency seemed to be in the hands of Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat who rebuffed pleas for support a key spending bill. AP

At his January 20 inauguration speech, President Joe Biden promised to heal a divided, pandemic-stricken America and to lead the world “not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example".

Nearly a year later, Mr Biden's political agenda is stalled, Covid-19 is surging, inflation is spiking and the “uncivil war” that he warned was pitting Americans against each other shows no signs of easing. And that is only on the domestic front.

It all amounts to a dizzying set of challenges for Mr Biden as he looks ahead to 2022, when November's midterm elections may well undo his congressional majority as voters punish his Democratic Party for failing to enact key legislation.

A poll conducted by FiveThirtyEight shows the president's approval ratings have slumped from an early high of about 55 per cent to less than 44 per cent currently. Of recent presidents, only his predecessor Donald Trump has fared worse during his first year.

Mr Trump's term was marked by scandals, divisive rhetoric and contempt for America's allies. His final year was defined by a disjointed government response to the Covid-19 pandemic and a lack of empathy for the 400,000 lives lost to the virus while he was in power.

He finished his term by spreading misinformation and claims of widespread election fraud that fuelled the deadly January 6 attack on the US Capitol, where pro-Trump loyalists attempted to overturn Mr Biden's win.

An explosion caused by a police munition is seen while supporters of former president Donald Trump gather in front of the US Capitol Building in Washington, US, January 6, 2021. Reuters

A supporter of US President Donald J. Trump sits on the desk of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, after supporters of US President Donald J. Trump breached the US Capitol security in Washington. EPA

Police detain a person as supporters of US President Donald Trump protest outside the US Capitol. AFP

Protesters enter the US Capitol Building. AFP

A protester holds a Trump flag inside the US Capitol Building near the Senate Chamber. AFP

US Capitol police officers point their guns at a door that was vandalized in the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress. AFP

Members of congress run for cover as protesters try to enter the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress. AFP

Congress staffers barricade themselves after Trump supporters stormed inside the US Capitol. AFP

Congress staffers barricade themselves after Trump supporters stormed inside the US Capitol. AFP

Congress staffers hold up their hands while Capitol Police Swat teams check everyone in the room as they secure the floor of Trump supporters. AFP

US Capitol Police stand detain protesters outside of the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress. AFP

A supporter of US President Donald Trump sits at a desk after invading the Capitol Building. AFP

A protester sits in the Senate Chamber. AFP

Pro-Trump protesters tear down a barricade as they clash with Capitol police during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 US presidential election results by the US Congress. Reuters

Police hold back supporters of US President Donald Trump as they gather outside the US Capitol's Rotunda. AFP

Supporters of US President Donald Trump enter the US Capitol's Rotunda. AFP

A protester is seen hanging from the balcony in the Senate Chamber. AFP

Riot police prepare to move demonstrators away from the US Capitol. AFP

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol. AFP

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces, as they storm the US Capitol. AFP

A supporter of US President Donald Trump wears a gas mask as he protests after storming the US Capitol. AFP

Pro-Trump supporters storm the US Capitol following a rally. AFP

Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest inside the US Capitol. AFP

US President Donald Trump is seen on TV from a video message released on Twitter addressing rioters at the US Capitol, in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC. AFP

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol in Washington, DC. AFP

Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest in the US Capitol Rotunda. AFP

Paramedics perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a patient. AFP

A wounded protester is carried on barricade as demonstrators breach the US Capital building grounds. Bloomberg

US Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi preside over a joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 Electoral College results after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol earlier in the day on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. EPA

Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., cleans up debris and personal belongings strewn across the floor of the Rotunda in the early morning hours of the morning, after protesters stormed the Capitol in Washington. AP

After all the chaos, Mr Biden promised a different vision for the presidency.

“This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward,” he said during his inauguration.

“We have never, ever, ever failed in America when we have acted together. And so today, at this time and in this place, let us start afresh.”

A new beginning

2021 started well enough for Mr Biden and his Democratic Party, with many Americans breathing a collective sigh of relief at Mr Trump's departure.

He quickly mandated mask wearing in federal buildings including airports and promised to steer America through the pandemic, saying: “We will get through this together.”

On March 11, Mr Biden signed a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill called the American Rescue Plan, aimed at hastening the US recovery from the pandemic.

The economy rebounded, unemployment dropped and millions of Americans found a lifeline in the form of direct payments, tax credits, expanded unemployment benefits and grants to schools and small businesses.

A razor-thin majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives meant the Democrats were able to pass the legislation with zero Republican support.

That same month, Mr Biden announced his administration had surpassed its goal of having 100 million Americans vaccinated within his first 100 days in office. Instead, it had taken only 58 days. The president's polling remained favourable and the roll-out of the vaccine won plaudits.

Darkening skies

Celebratory gunfire light up part of the night sky after the last US aircraft took off from the airport in Kabul early on August 31, 2021. AFP

Planes are seen on the tarmac at the airport in Kabul late on August 30, 2021, hours ahead of a US deadline to complete its frenzied withdrawal from Afghanistan. AFP

Planes are seen on the tarmac at the airport in Kabul late on August 30, 2021, hours ahead of a US deadline to complete its frenzied withdrawal from Afghanistan. AFP

Celebratory gunfire light up part of the night sky after the last US aircraft took off from the airport in Kabul early on August 31, 2021. AFP

Celebratory gunfire light up part of the night sky after the last US aircraft took off from the airport in Kabul early on August 31, 2021. AFP

US soldiers arrive board an US Air Force aircraft at the airport in Kabul on August 30, 2021. AFP

US soldiers arrive to board an US Air Force aircraft at the airport in Kabul on August 30, 2021. AFP

An US Air Force aircraft takes off from the airport in Kabul on August 30, 2021. AFP

An US Air Force aircraft takes off from the airport in Kabul on August 30, 2021. AFP

But as 2021 ends, those early days seem like a high-water mark against what came next.

Mr Biden's credibility at home and in the eyes of allies unravelled overnight as he oversaw a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan that stranded thousands of Afghan allies who had helped the US over two decades of war.

He was following a deal put in place under Mr Trump, but Mr Biden would be blamed for the ignominious end to America's longest war, which after trillions of dollars spent and the deaths of tens of thousands of people, returned Afghanistan to Taliban rule.

Mr Biden's handling of the fiasco was condemned by politicians from both parties. He has struggled to regain an image of competent authority ever since.

The old-school politician who insisted he could get deals done by negotiating with Republicans saw some success in November when he signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. The bipartisan act frees up $1tn to address America's crumbling infrastructure.

But that win was overshadowed by eight bitter months of Democratic infighting over a larger and arguably more consequential spending plan called Build Back Better.

Joe Manchin, a conservative Democratic senator from West Virginia, along with Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, had held up passage of the $1.75tn bill over cost concerns and funding “gimmicks".

Despite intense personal lobbying from Mr Biden himself, Mr Manchin on Sunday announced he could not support the legislation, in what well may be the bill's fatal blow.

Democrats have also failed to pass legislation that would protect Americans from “voting integrity” laws being ushered in by Republican-led states across the country.

Introduced following Mr Trump’s debunked claims of election fraud, these measures place restrictions on voting by mail, mandate new voter identity requirements and change voting hours.

“I've never seen anything like the unrelenting assault on the right to vote,” Mr Biden told a graduation ceremony at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg.

Other Democrat priorities have fallen flat on their face in Congress, unable to overcome the filibuster.

An attempt to reform police practices, introduced after the police murder of George Floyd, is stalled with no obvious path to becoming law.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said the Senate would consider voting rights legislation in January and would look at changing procedural rules if Republicans “continue to abuse the filibuster” to block the bill.

But Mr Manchin and Ms Sinema have already said they will not tinker with the filibuster, making federal voting rights protections unlikely to happen before the midterms.

The Biden administration has also been unable to quell inflation, which is now at 40-year highs, and has led to increases at the supermarket on any number of basic goods.

Add to this the surging number of Covid-19 cases, with deaths from the virus likely to surpass one million in the US by about March, and 2022 looks ominous for Mr Biden.

Nicholas Creel, a political scientist and assistant professor of business law at Georgia College and State University, said it was a bit soon to write Mr Biden and the Democrats off.

“That said, Democrats do face significant headwinds in that the party in power tends to suffer losses in midterm elections,” he told The National, and added that any degree of loss would effectively seal Mr Biden's fate as a lame-duck president.