We’re going to begin with the year one of the B administration and the challenges that lie ahead for year two. From rising inflation and congressional gridlock, to a still surging pandemic and the Russia Ukraine crisis. Well, despite some early legislative wins such as passage of the bipartisan infrastructure package and record job creation, the president has recently come up short on several his biggest priorities. Last night, the president suffered his latest legislative defeat with the voting rights bill after Senate Democrats failed to make changes to the filibuster rule. Meanwhile, members of the administration spent most of today trying to explain comments President B made about Russian towards Ukraine during yesterday’s marathon news conference. The president heads into year two with a majority of the country thinking the nation is headed to the wrong direction.

Poll numbers like those have prompted something of a rethink here at the White House should approach year two, it could involve scaling back some of his goals and spending more times reassuring Americans about challenges like Covid, inflation and Russian aggression. President B started his second year in office today with a clarification after suggesting yesterday that he might let a small attack on Ukraine slide. On this one-year anniversary, the White House is touting unemployment rate has plummeted to 3.9%. Vaccination rate has risen to sixty-three percent. And yet the president’s huge social spending bill is stalled in the Senate. And his Voting Rights Bill defeated last night. At his press conference yesterday, Mr. B made waves when he appeared to question the integrity of the upcoming mid-term elections.

:::tip filibuster

• : the use of extreme dilatory (see DILATORY sense 1) tactics (as by making long speeches) in an attempt to delay or prevent action especially in a legislative assembly. 用冗长的发言拖延立法进程

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