President Joe Biden delivered his third State of the Union address to a split Congress on Thursday, March 7, with Republicans controlling the House and Democrats controlling the Senate.
Biden touched on the Israel-Hamas war, the nation’s economy and healthcare, among other issues.
Following Biden’s address, Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, the youngest Republican woman elected to the Senate, delivered a response for the GOP.
The VERIFY team fact-checked claims from Biden’s address and the GOP response.
THE CLAIM
President Biden: “Inflation has dropped from 9% to 3%, the lowest in the world.”
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
It’s true that inflation rates have dropped from 9.1% to 3.1% in the United States, which is among the lowest in the world. But several countries have lower rates.
WHAT WE FOUND
In June 2022, the annual inflation rate in the United States was 9.1%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The most recent inflation number, from January 2024, shows that annual rate has fallen to 3.1%.
Data from multiple sources show that number is lower than in much of the world, including some other major powers. The United Kingdom, for instance, reported a 4.2% inflation rate in January 2024.
However, several countries – including major powers – reported lower inflation rates. Canada, for instance, reported 2.9% inflation in January.
THE CLAIM
President Biden: “Former President [Trump] told Putin, ‘Do whatever you want.’”
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Trump said at a February rally that he would encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” when discussing NATO countries that don’t pay enough for defense.
WHAT WE FOUND
Former President Donald Trump said during a rally in Conway, South Carolina, on Feb. 10 that, while he was president, he warned NATO allies that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent.”
Trump told a story at the rally about an unidentified leader of a NATO country who asked him whether the U.S. would defend member countries against Russia if they don’t pay enough for defense.
“One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, ‘Well, sir, if we don’t pay and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?’ I said, ‘You didn’t pay, you’re delinquent.’ He said, ‘Yes, let’s say that happened.’ No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.”
THE CLAIM
Biden: “The Alabama Supreme Court shut down IVF treatments across the state.”
THE SOURCES
- Alabama Supreme Court ruling in Le Page v. Center for Reproductive Medicine
- Jill Lens, professor of law at the University of Arkansas and a reproductive rights expert
- Katie O’Connor, director of federal abortion policy at the National Women’s Law Center
THE ANSWER
No, Alabama did not shut down IVF treatments across the state.
WHAT WE FOUND
On Feb. 16, the Alabama Supreme Court decided that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law. The ruling did not make IVF treatments illegal in the state, University of Arkansas law professor and reproductive rights expert Jill Lens and Katie O’Connor, director of federal abortion policy at the National Women’s Law Center told VERIFY.
While the ruling did not ban IVF treatments, it could have made them difficult to access.
Facing pressure to get IVF services restarted in the state, on March 6 Alabama’s governor signed legislation into law shielding doctors from potential legal liability raised by the court ruling.
THE CLAIM
President Biden: “Americans pay more for prescription drugs than anywhere in the world.”
THE SOURCES
- 2024 study published by Rand Corp., a nonpartisan research organization
- Government Accountability Office (GAO) study published in 2021
- Andrew Mulcahy, senior health economist at Rand Corp.
THE ANSWER
The U.S. does pay more for prescription drugs than other countries, according to several studies.
WHAT WE FOUND
Multiple studies have found the U.S. pays more for prescription drugs than other countries, as Biden claimed.
A 2024 Rand Corp. study that used 2022 data found prescription drug prices in the U.S. were 2.78 times higher than those in 33 OECD nations combined.
The gap was largest for brand-name drugs, with U.S. prices averaging 4.22 times more than those in all other comparison nations.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) came to a similar conclusion in 2021. The office published an analysis of 20 brand-name drug prices in the U.S., Australia, Canada and France in 2020. It found that retail prices were more than two to four times higher in the U.S. compared to those in the other countries.
There is one exception to America’s high drug prices. The Rand study found that the U.S. had lower prices for unbranded generic drugs than most other countries.
Most U.S. prescription fills are with a generic, rather than a brand-name, drug, Andrew Mulcahy, a senior health economist at Rand who led the 2024 study, told VERIFY.
“But, because US prices and spending for brand-name drugs are so high, across all drugs, brand and generics together, we land U.S. prices being roughly two times those in other countries,” he said.
THE CLAIM
President Biden: “The Child Tax Credit I passed during the pandemic cut taxes for millions of working families and cut child poverty in half.”
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Yes, the Child Tax Credit cut child poverty in half during the pandemic.
WHAT WE FOUND
In 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan, which included an expansion for the Child Tax Credit. The update temporarily increased the maximum benefit to “$3,000 per child for children ages 6–17 and $3,600 for children under age 6.” The maximum was previously $2000 per child, or $1,500 per child if a family had no income tax liability. Biden also changed the credit to be fully refundable.
An analysis of United States Census Bureau data by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows that the child poverty rate was 13.7% in 2018, 12.6% in 2019 and 9.7% in 2020. After Biden’s expansion of the Child Tax Credit, the child poverty rate dropped to 5.2% in 2021. The Bureau notes this is “the lowest SPM child poverty rate on record.” But in 2022, after Biden’s Child Tax Credit expansion expired, this rate doubled to 12.4%.
An analysis conducted by the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities attributes the child poverty rate changes to Biden’s expansion and estimates that “the child poverty rate would have been about 8.4 percent rather than 12.4 percent” in 2022 had the expansion continued.
THE CLAIM
President Biden: During his time at office, unemployment has been at “50 year lows."
THE SOURCES
ANSWER
Yes, unemployment has hit “50 year lows” during Biden’s time in office.
WHAT WE FOUND
In 2023, the unemployment rate hit 3.1 %, marking a record low for the Biden presidency.
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the last time the statistic was lower was in May 1969, more than 55 years ago.
Biden made a similar claim in last year’s State of the Union speech.
THE CLAIM
Alabama Sen. Katie Britt: “We have the worst inflation in 40 years and the highest credit card debt in our nation's history.”
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Britt’s claim about inflation is missing context, but her claim about credit card debt is accurate.
WHAT WE FOUND
Inflation did hit a 40-year high in June 2022, when it was 9.1% year-over-year, but it has since fallen in recent months. As of January 2024, inflation was sitting at 3.1% year-over-year.
U.S. credit card debt did reach a record high of $1.13 trillion at the end of 2023, data published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York show.
THE CLAIM
“Minutes after taking office, [President Biden] suspended all deportations.”
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
On the day Biden took office, his administration issued a memo ordering a 100-day pause on most deportations. But there were exceptions, such as for national security.
WHAT WE FOUND
On Jan. 20, 2021 – the day he was inaugurated – President Biden issued an Executive Order that broadly outlined his administration’s approach to immigration policy.
“The policy of my administration is to protect national and border security, address the humanitarian challenges at the southern border, and ensure public health and safety,” it read. “We must also adhere to due process of law as we safeguard the dignity and well-being of all families and communities.”
On the same day, the acting Secretary of Homeland Security issued a memo to order a wide-scale review of immigration enforcement procedures, which included a “100-day pause on certain removals to enable focusing the department’s resources where they are most needed.”
But the memo did not call for the suspension of all deportations. It made four major exceptions: threats to national security, people who had entered the country within the previous three months, those who had voluntarily waived any right to stay in the country, and people who the Director of ICE singled out as needing to be deported for legal reasons.
The changes were soon blocked by a district court judge in Texas, and a few weeks later replaced with a new memo that more broadly ordered immigration enforcement be focused on threats to safety and security. This memo did not explicitly call for suspensions to deportations, instead saying that the department simply didn’t have the resources to remove everyone and so would need to prioritize certain cases.
Those changes were also challenged in court, but ultimately allowed in an 8-1 ruling by the Supreme Court.
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