President Joe Biden challenged his Republican successor this week to undo his key clean-energy law that’s brought manufacturing projects to both Democratic and Republican areas.
“Will the next president stop a new electric battery factory in Liberty, North Carolina, that will create thousands of jobs?” Biden asked during a speech at the Brookings Institution on Tuesday. “Will he shut down a new solar factory being built in Cartersville, Georgia?”
As Biden prepares to leave office, he’s focused on solidifying his economic recovery efforts post-COVID. A major part of this is the Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022, which offers billions in incentives to build clean-energy factories. Biden is daring Republican lawmakers, who opposed his agenda, to leave the law in place because of how much it benefits their own districts.
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to undo several of Biden’s achievements when he takes office with a Republican-controlled Congress. But Biden is betting the popularity of the jobs and projects created by the law will make it hard for Trump and the GOP to scrap it.
Behind the scenes, the Biden administration is working quickly to protect his accomplishments before Republicans take over. This includes spending as much as possible from four major laws Biden passed: the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Biden also plans to showcase a new Medicare rule next month, which caps out-of-pocket costs for some beneficiaries at $2,000. Meanwhile, federal agencies are rushing to finalize new rules on issues like overdraft fees and hidden “junk fees” charged by businesses.
Biden’s chief of staff, Jeff Zients, called the final weeks of the administration a “sprint to the finish line” to get as much done as possible before leaving office.
