President

President [/news/joe-biden/index.html Joe Biden] admitted on Friday that his agenda has stalled after his voting rights plan ended in tatters, but insisted he will still get things done as he announced plans to spend $27billion to fix thousands of bridges across the country.
'There's a lot of talk about disappointments and things we haven't gotten done,' he noted.

'We're gonna get a lot of them done, I might add,' the president added. 
He then reiterated that he was elected to 'unite' the country, after taking heat from [/news/republicans/index.html Republicans] who called his Tuesday speech about voting rights in Atlanta divisive. 
The President asked Americans whether they wanted to be on the side of Martin Luther King and John Lewis or Bill Connor, George Wallace and Confederacy president Jefferson Davis. 
His speech came at the end of a week where he saw his approval rating drop to 33 percent in a Quinnipiac poll, his vaccine mandate for private employers shot down in the Supreme Court and his bid to push voting rights bills through Congress scuppered Turkish citizenship by investment Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema refusing to budge on killing filibuster. 
Biden pivoted back to the $1.2trillion infrastructure bill he signed 60 days ago and vowed to kickstart his agenda as he reaches the one-year anniversary of the inauguration.  
'I ran for president to unite the country,' he said.

'This bipartisan infrastructure law I signed a few months ago unites us around things we all depend on.' 
'Whether you're in rural Kentucky or downtown Philadelphia, you should be able to turn on the faucet and drink clean water,' the president continued. 
President Joe Biden admitted his agenda has gotten stuck as he gave an update Friday on the bipartisan infrastructure law. 'There's a lot of talk about disappointments and things we haven't gotten done,' he said. 'We're gonna get a lot of them done, I might add' 
Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (left), who's overseeing the implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, introduced President Joe Biden (right) at an event on the White House's campus Friday 
'This is what a better America is going to look like,' Biden said, referring to his infrastructure bill. 
Biden also touched on efforts to distribute money for communities to improve highways, ports, airports, expand broadband, replace lead pipes and cap abandoned wells.   
'When we invest in infrastructure, we're really investing in opportunity.

These are investments that will build a better America. It sounds like hyperbole, but it's real,' he said.
'So today I want to talk about the progress we've made in two months since I signed the bill into law and to make a big announcement as well.'
He also discussed Pete Buttigieg's trip to the Martin Luther King bridge that is 'no longer safe for vehicles, even though it used to carry 25,000 vehicles a day.'
'As we prepare to celebrate Dr.

King's birthday, we're also reminded that too often bridges and highways were built through the heart of historic communities, particularly Black communities, cutting off families and churches and businesses.
'We're going to use our infrastructure investments to re-connect communities.'
'One thing I'm certain of: Everyone out there knows what I'm talking about.

People have written to me about the bridges they depend on.
'One man told me that the bridge he traveled on every day is 'a tragedy waiting to happen.
'One woman wrote that the bridge near the center of her town had to be closed, and now she drives - and now drivers and tourists bypass downtown, consequently devastating local businesses.
'And one person wrote to me to say, quote, 'This is your chance to show the people [in my area] that they matter' to you.' 
Shortly before the speech, his press secretary Jen Psaki revealed he would holding his first press conference in 79 days on Wednesday. 
'Next Wednesday, the President will hold a formal press conference at 4pm in the afternoon. So we look forward to seeing you there and to the presidents who are speaking directly to the American people,' she said.
As he gave his speech, First Lady Jill Biden was visiting parts of Kentucky that were destroyed by tornadoes last month, while Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was paying a visit to the City of Brotherly Love. 
'Students should be able to get the internet if they needed to do their homework at home instead of having to drive to a fast food parking lot.

People need good jobs,' Biden continued. 
Biden then reiterated that he was elected to 'unite' the country, after taking heat from Republicans who called his Tuesday speech about voting rights in Georgia too divisive
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Biden read off a number of dollar amounts going toward highway modernization, ports, airports, clean water, internet and bridges.
He announced that the federal government would allow 100 per cent of federal funds to be used to rebuild certain 'off-system bridges.' 
Historically, state and local entities would need to chip in matching funds of at least 20 per cent. 
Biden ignored reporters' questions as he wrapped up his speech.  
Biden's pivot to infrastructure came after a frustrating 48 hours for the White House - with moderates Sinema and Manchin refusing to budge on filibuster reform, essentially dooming passage of voting rights bills. 
The Supreme Court also nixed Biden's plan to make businesses with more than 50 employees vaccinate their workers. 
A new poll this week also indicated that Biden's approval rating with Americans had slipped to 33 per cent. 
Inflation also rose to a 40-year high with prices rising by 7 percent in December compared to a year earlier.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill was one of two large legislative accomplishments of the president's first year.
Biden also discussed Pete Buttigieg's trip to the Martin Luther King bridge that is 'no longer safe for vehicles, even though it used to carry 25,000 vehicles a day.'
A shot of the MLK bridge in Philadelphia shows the extent of repairs needed from the new funding program
The Democratic president was able to get the American Rescue Plan - a COVID-19 relief package - passed in March, and then the infrastructure bill done in November.  
Biden hoped that a third package, the Build Back Better act, would also pass by Christmas, but it was derailed by Manchin. 
Since then, Biden and Senate Democrats turned their attention to the voting bills - and while they'll get votes in the Senate next week, are also likely doomed. 
The Biden administration also got caught flat-footed going into the holiday season as the new omicron variant of COVID-19 surged and Americans complained about testing shortages.  
During the 2020 election, Biden pledged to be a uniter. 
He pushed the idea that government can be competent and vowed to get the coronavirus pandemic under control.   
In his fiery speech in Atlanta on Tuesday, Biden said that he is 'tired of being quiet' and it is time to take action on voting rights.
'I have been having these quiet conversations with members of Congress for the last two months,' Biden said of his work on voting rights.

And then he slammed the podium as the crowd cheered, declaring: 'I'm tired of being quiet!'
And he attacked the Senate, an institution he served in for 36 years.
'Sadly, the United States Senate designed to be the world's greatest deliberative body, has been rendered a shell of its former self,' he said.
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news" data-version="2" id="mol-cc5feb10-757e-11ec-8f55-4b44e8c63e60" website admits in the 'disappointment' of his agenda getting stalled