Tracking accomplishments made in 2024 by President Joe Biden.
Student Loan Relief Accomplishments
Biden Announced $7 Billion In Student Loan Relief For 277,000 People. “President Joe Biden announced Friday that his administration is canceling $7.4 billion in student loans for 277,000 borrowers. The White House said the latest round of relief helps borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan as well as those in Income-Driven Repayment or Public Service Loan Forgiveness plans.” [MSNBC]
Public Safety Accomplishments
Biden Administration Expanded Gun Background Checks. “On Thursday, the Justice Department will submit a new 466-page regulation to the Federal Register outlining that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will require anyone “engaged in the business” of selling guns at a profit to register as a federally licensed firearms dealer and run background criminal and mental health checks on buyers. A senior administration official said the new rule updates the definition of “engaged in the business” as a firearms dealer laid out by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and provides clarity on who must obtain a license.” [MSNBC]
Economic Accomplishments
Biden Signed A Deal With Chipmaker TSMC To Build A Factory In Arizona. “President Biden has signed a preliminary deal with TSMC, the world’s largest chip manufacturer, to hand the Taiwanese company billions of dollars of CHIPS funding. In return, TSMC will commit to building high-performance computer chips on US soil, including a brand new third fab facility expected to use the latest lithographic technologies for the most performant processors.” [PC Gamer]
Samsung Said They Would Build Semiconductor Facilities In Texas With CHIP Act Funds. “The Biden administration just announced a preliminary agreement to award Samsung up to $6.4 billion in grants as part of CHIPS Act funding. This money will complement the $44 billion in private investment that the company has promised to spend in the state to build a “semiconductor ecosystem.”” [Engadget]
Infrastructure Accomplishments
$237 Million In Water Infrastructure Upgrades Sent To Missouri. “The Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds use a revolving loan structure to provide low-cost financing for projects across the country. Missouri is receiving $237 million of those revolving funds to treat emerging contaminants like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS.” [KBIA]
Environmental Accomplishments
Biden Protected Millions Of Acres In Alaska From Drilling. “The Biden administration expanded federal protections across millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness on Friday, blocking oil, gas and mining operations in some of the most unspoiled land in the country. The Interior Department said it would deny a permit for an industrial road that the state of Alaska had wanted to build through the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in order to reach a large copper deposit with an estimated value of $7.5 billion. It also announced it would ban drilling in more than half of the 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, an ecologically sensitive expanse north of the Arctic Circle.” [NY Times]
Biden Increased The Cost To Drill On Federal Land, Getting Funds For Taxpayers From Big Oil. “Oil and gas companies face at least a tenfold increase in costs to drill on federal lands under a Biden administration rule aimed at generating more money for taxpayers and protecting them from cleanup costs. The rule released Friday represents the first comprehensive update to the federal oil and gas leasing program in more than 30 years.” [Washington Post]
One of the first political bloggers in the world, Oliver Willis has operated OliverWillis.com since 2000. Contributor at Media Matters for America and The American Independent. Follow on Twitter at @owillis. Full bio.