Democrats Already Have an Affordability Agenda

Democrats are feeling good about the midterms in November. Oil prices continue to surge as a result of the war in Iran, and President Donald Trump and the GOP were already struggling to show Americans that they care about affordability.

Although he won office in 2024 promising to tame inflation, Trump has failed to bring down the prices straining family budgets. Polls consistently show that most Americans don’t trust him on the economy—and for good reason. Mainstream economists broadly agree that his chaotic, now-unconstitutional tariff program has only made things worse. Rising oil prices are already hitting the gas pump and will ripple through the cost of goods across the board if conditions continue.

Making matters worse, Trump has revealed little interest in actually tackling the issue—besides saying that the entire concern is the newest version of fake news, and that the price hikes caused by his war are temporary.

Critics rightly argue, however, that Democrats have not offered a clear alternative. Voters know what the party is against—but what is it for? Many voters remain uncertain about what Democrats would do if they returned to power.

As Democrats search for answers, they should reclaim key parts of Joe Biden’s record, rather than run from it. Yes, inflation and immigration hurt Biden, the administration did not use the funds that Congress appropriated for his programs fast enough, and he failed to stop Trump—but the last president built a serious federal agenda and made real progress on the pressures crushing U.S. families: jobs, housing, health care, energy, education, and child care.

Perhaps the most important component of Biden’s agenda was to invest in the good jobs of the future rather than offering nostalgic appeals to the past. “If we invest now,” the president said, “boldly, smartly, and with an unwavering focus on American workers and families, we will strengthen our economy, reduce inequity, and put our nation’s long term finances on a more sustainable course.”

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 injected $1.2 trillion dollars to support essential infrastructure critical to growing a robust economy, including broadband expansion, road and bridge repair, and railways—all of which generated jobs along the way. The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 directed over $52 billion into domestic semiconductor manufacturing, accelerating plans by companies such as Intel to open new facilities and job creation. According to Sean Vanatta, a financial historian at the University of Glasgow, the subsidies resulted in $450 billion in private investment commitments by the time Biden left office. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 included $370 billion in investments in green industries, supporting the production of electric vehicles, solar panels, batteries, wind energy, and more.

Addressing housing was another priority. Biden recognized that housing costs were becoming insurmountable for many families, especially in the strained economy that emerged from COVID-19. The Emergency Rental Assistance Program provided billions in aid to renters, targeting those in need by income and supporting Black communities in particular. The American Rescue Plan offered 70,000 emergency housing vouchers, totaling about $5 billion, to people experiencing homelessness. Furthermore, nearly $10 billion was allocated through the Homeowner Assistance Fund to families at risk of losing their homes.

The administration increased funding for new housing construction, and expanded support for the transfer of government land to developers who were committed to building affordable housing. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $225 million in Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement grants to mobile home communities. The Veterans Administration also made historic progress, with the numbers of homeless veterans falling by 7.5% between 2023 and 2024.

Biden also tackled health care costs. The president understood that there was an opportunity to build on the Affordable Care Act, which he had helped move through Congress as vice president under Barack Obama, to improve access to coverage. Enrollment in ACA marketplaces, as a result of administration policies, rose to 24.3 million in 2025. Average monthly premiums declined, while the number of uninsured Americans hovered around 8 percent in 2023, on par with historic lows.

Within the ACA, the administration made important changes as well, such as increasing funding for the navigator program, which helps beneficiaries work through the system. There was also a lengthier enrollment period for low-income Americans. The Inflation Reduction Act empowered Medicare officials to negotiate drug prices for the first time since the program’s creation in 1965.

Medicaid expansion constituted a significant enlargement of the social safety net. Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and North Carolina finally expanded coverage during these years, encouraged by a provision in the American Rescue Plan. Finally, Biden allocated almost $70 million to school-based mental health care programs.

While Trump likes to say that fossil fuels are a cure for everything that ails Americans, the truth is that high energy costs have been devastating to monthly budgets. As other countries, including China, have come to see, cleaning the energy grid is not just good for the environment but also good for the household bottom line. Yale historian Paul Sabin writes that the president delivered $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging stations and $18 billion to reduce emissions from school and public transit buses. Billions more were allocated to increasing access to residential solar power and increase power grid resilience, while over $21 billion was devoted to clean energy demonstration programs. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 created tax credits for solar, wind, and nuclear power, as well as for battery storage and electric vehicles. Federal funds also supported nuclear and hydrogen energy and carbon capture initiatives.

Then there was higher education. Biden targeted student loans, one expense that has become an increasingly heavy burden for many Americans. The SAVE income-driven repayment plan lowered required monthly payments for student loans, accelerated forgiveness timelines, and increased the income exemption threshold. Biden also overhauled the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. In addition, Biden expanded Pell Grant awards and funding for historically Black colleges and universities.

Even child care, an area of federal policy that had been largely ignored since World War II received attention from Biden. The expansion of the child tax credit in 2021 to $3,600 per child under the age of 6 and $3,000 for children ages 6 to 17 proved hugely beneficial for reducing family costs. The American Rescue Plan offered $15 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, which subsidized the cost of care for low-income families. An executive order in 2023 obligated federal agencies to expand child care access.

The cumulative impact of these federal investments was to commit Washington to lowering the financial burdens faced by working- and middle-class Americans. Rather than channeling federal dollars into supply-side tax cuts for wealthy Americans and corporations, as has occurred under Trump, Biden built on the legacy of the New Deal and Great Society, using government as a tool to alleviate the challenges faced by those without substantial wealth in a capitalist society. Like Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson, Biden understood that smart government support has helped Americans become self-sufficient rather than making them dependent on welfare.

Notably, Princeton historian Khalil Gibran Muhammad found, these policies even were able to promote racial equity. The American Rescue Plan helped create 2.6 million jobs for Black American families, while the 2022 anti-inflation bill required that 40 percent of federal spending be directed toward “disadvantaged communities.” In dealing with the COVID pandemic, the federal government made sure that Black churches and civic institutions received funding, while student debt relief helped Black Americans as well. The Department of Housing and Urban Development bolstered fair housing rules and boosted money for areas that had been redlined since the early 20th century. The subsidies for the Affordable Care Act expanded coverage to Black Americans. Black median family net worth rose to $44,900 in 2022—a 60 percent increase from 2019, and higher than the 30 percent increase experienced by white families. During Biden’s presidency, child poverty rates among Black and Latino communities fell to their lowest levels in decades.

No presidential record is without problems. Some funding ran into the implementation delays that Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson documented in Abundance, where well-intentioned rules and regulations became obstacles to progress. Other initiatives, like student loan forgiveness, were struck down by the Supreme Court’s conservative 6-3 majority.

Worse still, Biden’s economic record was unpopular by the time of the 2024 election. Although short-term pressures like gas prices had eased by then, the policies he put in place to address major budget items needed more time to bear fruit, as is true of most landmark programs. Social Security passed Congress in 1935 but did not become politically secure policy until 1950.

But time was a luxury Biden didn’t have. In an era of razor-thin congressional majorities and a Republican Party ever more radical in its willingness to dismantle what he built, much of his agenda may never be realized. Biden’s struggles to communicate in the modern media environment, and the weaknesses caused by aging, undercut his own ability to punch back against his opponents.

Because Biden failed to build a durable political coalition and made the fateful decision to run despite his age, he opened the door to four more years of Trumpism. In 2025, the administration and a compliant Republican Congress moved quickly to dismantle much of what Biden had built, often cutting programs that actually had the potential to alleviate the burdens of affordability in the modern United States.

As the Democrats work to rebuild their brand amid cratering approval ratings, they should take a harder look at Biden’s record. In the coming months, the party must separate Biden the politician from his policies. On affordability especially, his administration was onto something important. That foundation can be built upon and reshaped to resonate with a broader electorate—but it is a solid foundation, and walking away from it would be a historic mistake.