ICYMI: Washington Post, NPR, and Financial Times Detail President Biden's Efforts to Deliver for the American People

President Biden is focused on ensuring the remainder of his term is as productive as any other period in the last four years. The next couple of months is a sprint to build on the historic progress we've made under his presidency. The President plans to continue to aggressively implement his Investing in America agenda, work with Congress to confirm his well-qualified judicial nominees, and continue to strengthen our Alliances and partnerships. The Washington Post, NPR, and the Financial Times reported on the Biden-Harris Administration's efforts to get as much done as possible for the American people.

Washington Post: Biden's team pushes to get money out the door in final weeks

In the president's first two years in office, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package; the Inflation Reduction Act, a sprawling bill to lower prescription drug costs and address global warming; the Chips and Science Act, which provides $52 billion to boost the U.S. semiconductor industry; and a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law to improve the nation's roads, bridges and broadband.

…White House officials say the administration has announced awardees for about 98 percent of the funding provided by the four bills through fiscal 2024, and they plan to use the time they have left to distribute what remains and finalize a series of contracts. The administration has about $46 billion worth of funds remaining that became available in fiscal 2025. "We have already announced investments for 74,000 infrastructure and clean energy projects, catalyzed nearly $1 trillion in private sector investment, lowered prescription drug prices, and created 1.6 million construction and manufacturing jobs," deputy White House chief of staff Natalie Quillian said in a statement. "Over the coming months, we will continue to run through the tape and ensure Americans benefit from President Biden's agenda for years to come."

…More broadly, much of Biden's agenda has at least some Republican support, and many of its programs benefit red states as much as blue states, if not more….The Chips Act and the infrastructure law in particular have attracted significant bipartisan support.

NPR: Biden "trying to get as much done and locked in as possible"

In short, he's trying to get as much done and locked in as possible before his time is up. Biden and his chief of staff, Jeff Zients, held a call last week with about 2,000 political appointees throughout the administration. And a White House official tells me that Biden acknowledged the emotion they might be feeling after the election, but said he needed them to bring the same purpose they had throughout their time in the administration and to harness it to get as much done as they can in the closing days. Zients then brought his business world jargon, asking them to focus on execution, execution, execution, adding, let's finish strong.

…In some ways, it's a lot of what the administration has been doing for the past two years. Early in the Biden administration, Congress passed these big pieces of legislation - the Inflation Reduction Act, which makes a lot of clean energy investments; the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law; the CHIPS and Science Act. And the administration has already obligated a lot of that money, awarding grants and signing contracts, and we're going to see more of that happening in the weeks ahead.

…Perhaps the most significant push is in the Senate, where Democrats are trying to confirm as many of President Biden's judicial nominees as possible.

Financial Times: Biden "makes last push on Ukraine and seeks new judicial appointments and manufacturing subsidies"

"The president has been very clear that we need to get as much done as possible, and he wants it to be as productive a period as other periods in his presidency," a White House official said on Friday.

…"The chips team has announced preliminary agreements with two dozen companies for chips awards, and over the next two months, plans to announce preliminary agreements for all $39bn of that funding, and is well on its way towards securing final agreements for many of those entities [where] preliminary awards were announced," another White House official said.

… But the other big domestic priority for Biden is to press the Senate — which will be controlled by Democrats until early January — to confirm as many of his judicial appointments as possible… Now, the president wants to see Chuck Schumer, the Democratic senate majority leader, quickly approve as many Biden appointees as possible. "We've been working with them very, very closely to get as many of the president's nominees confirmed because he believes that he wants to leave a lasting impact on the judiciary," the White House official said.