6 Biden Administration Actions You Forgot About

It's been two long years under the Biden Administration, here are 6 stories you may have forgotten about.

President Biden signs an executive order ending DOJ Private Prison contracts in January, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/Getty Images)

Two years ago, President Biden became the 46th President of the United States. His first two years in office haven’t exactly been perfect. He successfully urged Congress to “bust” a rail union and has coddled Saudi Arabia, but he also withdrew troops from Afghanistan and has extended the federal student loan payment pause. These are all Biden Administration moments you probably remember. To “celebrate” two years of the Biden Presidency, I decided to explore some of the consequential Biden Administration moments that you probably don’t remember.

Defending Excluding Puerto Ricans From Disability Payments (June 2021)

In June of 2021, the Biden Administration announced that the Department of Justice would continue to defend a law that excludes Puerto Ricans from the Supplemental Security Income, though they did call on Congress to extend eligibility to the U.S. territory’s residents. The Biden Admin argued that it was just adhering to the DOJ’s long-standing practice of defending the constitutionality of federal law in legal challenges. However, going against this practice does have precedent. Former President Obama’s Justice Department opted not to defend the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which barred the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. The Trump administration chose not to put up a court fight against challenges to the Affordable Care Act. The law barring Puerto Ricans from SSI payments went to the Supreme Court, where the Department of Justice, with the support of the conservative justices, won.

Issuing a Policy that Sharply Limits the Immigrants Whom ICE Officers can Arrest at Courthouses (April 2021)

In April of 2021, the Biden Administration issued a new policy that sharply limited who ICE and CPB officers could arrest at courthouses. Under the Trump Administration, migrants who were at Courthouses, even for reasons unrelated to their immigration status, like testifying as a witness, could be arrested. Under the Biden Administration, arrests can only be made at Courthouses when it involves a national security matter, a risk of imminent death or harm to anyone, or a hot pursuit involving a public safety threat.

Biden Administration Proposes Trump Era Asylum “Transit Ban” (January 2023)

In January of 2023, the Biden Administration proposed a new Asylum rule similar to the Trump-era Asylum “Transit Ban.” The new rule would make Asylum ineligible to migrants who didn’t first apply for Asylum in countries they passed through, though this would be subject to exceptions. The Trump Admin version of this policy also made people ineligible for asylum if they entered between ports of entry. Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights First have called out the Biden Administration for the proposal. The ACLU successfully sued the Trump Admin to stop their version of the policy in 2021.

Failing to meet the administration’s commitment of donating 1.2 billion vaccine doses in 2022.

In September of 2021, the Biden Administration promised to donate more than a billion COVID vaccines with the world by September 2022. Thus far he has failed to live up to that goal. According to data from KFF, the Biden Administration has only shipped 664 million doses. A far cry from the more than $1 billion promised.

Ending DOJ Private Prison Contracts (January 2021)

In January of 2021, the Biden Administration signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to decline to renew contracts with privately-operated, for-profit prisons, an effort that began under the Obama administration. The order does not apply to similar contracts with other agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Continuing U.S. Military Efforts in Somalia

Under the Biden Administration, the United States has continued to drop air strikes and have troops in Somalia. In fact, in May of 2021, the Biden Administration sent troops back into Somalia that President Trump, as a lame duck, had ordered out. Activists have pointed out that the United States Congress has not approved this military action in Somalia.