Political positions of Joe Biden

This article is part of a series about Joe Biden
Political positions Electoral history Early life and career Eponyms Family Honors Public image U.S. Senator from Delaware Judiciary Committee Bork hearings Thomas hearings 1994 Crime Bill Violence Against Women Act Foreign Relations Committee Elections: 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 47th Vice President of the United States Transition Tenure Obama administration first inauguration second inauguration Economic policy Great Recession response 2010 Tax Relief Act 2011 debt-ceiling crisis fiscal cliff Foreign policy Task forces Gun Violence Protect Students from Sexual Assault 46th President of the United States Incumbent Presidency first 100 days timeline Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board Inauguration Efforts to impeach inquiry Tenure Executive actions proclamations Trips foreign '21 '22 '23 '24 Geneva summit COVID-19 pandemic Afghanistan withdrawal Classified documents incident 2023 debt-ceiling crisis Policies COVID-19 WH Response Team Economy ARP IIJA IRA Electoral/ethics Environment Foreign policy AUKUS Camp David Principles IPEF War in Ukraine War in Israel Immigration border crisis standoff at Eagle Pass Social issues guns cannabis marriage Appointments Cabinet Ambassadors Judges Supreme Court candidates Jackson Executive Office U.S. attorneys Presidential campaigns 1988 primaries 2008 primaries 2020 primaries sexual assault allegation Ukraine conspiracy theory convention debates election endorsements VP selection 2024 primaries election endorsements Vice presidential campaigns 2008 selection convention election 2012 convention election Published works Promises to Keep Promise Me, Dad
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Joe Biden, President of the United States, served as Vice President from 2009 to 2017 and in the United States Senate from 1973 until 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, he made his second presidential run in 2008, later being announced as Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's running mate in 2008. He was elected vice president in 2008 and re-elected in 2012. In April 2019, Biden announced his 2020 presidential campaign.^[1] He became the presumptive Democratic nominee in April 2020,^[2] was formally nominated by the Democratic Party in August 2020,^[3] and defeated Republican incumbent Donald Trump in the November 2020 election.^[4]

Over his career, Biden has generally been regarded as belonging to the mainstream of the Democratic Party.^[5][6] Biden has been described as center^[7][8][9] to center-left^[10] and has described himself as the latter.^[11] Figures farther to the left such as Bernie Sanders have criticized Biden for not embracing Medicare for All or the Green New Deal. Biden's policies emphasize the needs of middle-class and working-class Americans^[12] and have drawn political support from those groups.^[13] Biden has supported campaign finance reform including the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act and overturning Citizens United;^[14][15] the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act;^[16] the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009;^[17][18] student tax credits;^[19] carbon emissions cap and trade;^[20] the increased infrastructure spending proposed by the Obama administration;^[18] mass transit;^[21] renewable energy subsidies;^[20] student loan forgiveness;^[22] and reversals of Republican tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.^[23][12][24] He supports building upon the Affordable Care Act through a public health insurance option instead of a single-payer system.^[25][26] He supports decriminalizing cannabis at the federal level and the right for states to legalize it.^[27] Biden has been publicly in favor of same-sex marriage since 2012 when he became the highest-ranking U.S. official to voice support for same-sex marriage, preempting Obama on the subject.^[28] He also supports the Roe v. Wade decision and since 2019 has been in favor of repealing the Hyde Amendment.^[29][30]