2022 could be a make-or-break year for American President Joe Biden. He’s facing tests on multiple fronts, from criticism over his handling of the pandemic to struggling to get his legislative agenda approved.
And it will all culminate in the midterm elections in November when Republicans are strongly expected to take back Congress from Biden’s Democrats.
Joe Biden starts the new year with an approval rating of just 43% – a number that’s fallen 14% in less than a year since he took office.
The surging Omicron variant has presented new challenges for the Biden administration.
The President promised before Christmas half a billion at-home test kits for Americans, only for it to become clear those kits hadn’t been ordered and wouldn’t be available until January.
The President’s climate change and social program proposal, the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better bill is still stalled in Congress.
Senators within the president’s own party are putting up resistance to the enormous price tag.
Foreign policy
On a foreign policy front, tensions remain high with China, with the US trying to counter Beijing’s economic competition and maritime aggression in the South China Sea.
And relations remain rocky with Russia; a bilateral summit is planned for the coming weeks to discuss Moscow’s troop build-up on the border of Ukraine.
Then there’s the chaotic and rushed withdrawal from Afghanistan in August, which saw tens of thousands of Afghan allies left behind. It still hangs like a cloud over America’s global reputation.
Economics
Economically, Wall Street continued to break records in 2021. But the country’s complete economic bounce back may still be a little way off.
The Federal Reserve has predicted the economy will grow by 4% next year and aims to fight rising inflation with several rounds of interest rate rises.
But some economists see GDP dipping in the first quarter to just over 2% pointing to continued disruption and softer spending due to COVID-19 on everything from travel, to sporting events and eating out.
Mid-term elections
All these issues will be used by Republicans in the coming months to paint the President in a negative light, to try and win over voters ahead of the midterm elections.
A red wave is the Democratic Party’s biggest fear, with Republicans already looking in a strong position to retake both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
If that happens it would make it all but impossible for the President to pass any legislation in the final two years of his presidential term.
