What AEI Scholars Are Looking for in the State of the Union 2024

Foreign policy and the economy:

Danielle Pletka:

“Last year, the President waited until his second hour to devote a brief sentence to Ukraine. China was an afterthought, and Iran didn’t make the speech at all. This is the President’s chance to rally the American people and their representatives on critical national security priorities—support for Ukraine to defeat Russia; support for Israel to defeat Hamas; and a dire need for renewed attention to Iran’s nuclear weapons program and support for Middle East terrorism. He needs to play POTUS, not Democratic Party chair, and rally all Americans without trying to score points.” 

Michael R. Strain:

“The President should address the role American global leadership plays in advancing the prosperity of the American people. The Western alliance has been a bedrock of our prosperity for seven decades. What happens to American workers and households if the US succumbs to isolationism and that bedrock weakens?”

Matthew Continetti:

“In January, President Biden paused new permits for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) export terminals. His decision to restrain this critical industry has no rational basis. America is the world’s top exporter of LNG, and restraining LNG export growth is bad for the economy, for national security, and for the environment. Biden should address this policy—and reverse it.”

Dalibor Rohac:

“The President must articulate just how dangerous the present moment, both for the world and for the United States. If US leadership fails in Ukraine, it won’t be just NATO and its Eastern flank that will be in danger but all of our commitments and alliances.”

Mackenzie Eaglen:

“The ink was barely dry on the Pentagon’s strategy to become a one war-capable force before two violent conflicts were raging in Europe and the Middle East. With America’s armed forces spread thin and commanders rationing assets to address rising global threats, Washington operates without enough urgency, including by not passing budgets on time for those in uniform. The US military—and the defense industrial base that supports it with equipment and technology—needs to be repaired and refreshed. Washington must not lose its resolve to restore peace across three regions because the cost of not doing so are exponentially higher.”

Domestic policy:

Frederick M. Hess:

“Higher ed is rife with opportunities for Biden to demonstrate his vaunted moderation and common sense. He should note that Washington pumps hundreds of billions in grants, research funding, aid, and loans into colleges, and then insist that the institutions benefiting from these funds need to rein in costs, hold the line on tuition, produce graduates who get jobs, and commit to free inquiry and civil discourse. If they can’t or won’t do it alone, he should call for assembling existing Democratic and Republican bills into bipartisan legislation that addresses these challenges.”

Kevin Kosar:

“President Biden’s speech should address a big elephant in the room: how can the President and a divided Congress can enact fiscally responsible budgets? We have trillion dollar deficits and more than $34 trillion in debt, which imperils the nation’s prosperity and the global economy.”

Ruy Teixeira:

 “Here’s what I’ll be looking for:

• How Biden talks about the economy—the balance of bragging on the good stuff vs. dealing with voters’ underlying pessimism and discontent about the economy, especially the cost of living issue. And to the extent he addresses the latter, how he does it.
• How Biden does (or does not) move to the center on sociocultural issues. Immigration is the most obvious issue here but there are others.
• How much of the speech is red meat aimed at the base–abortion rights, “democracy is on the ballot” and so on. And whether and to what extent he attacks Trump by name (as apparently he wishes to do).
• Whether he seems aware of or in denial that he is actually behind at this point.”

Brad Wilcox in Fox News:

“In other words, one of the biggest reasons—if not the biggest reason—the State of Our Union is not strong is that too many Americans are failing to get and stay married, and both they and their kids are paying a heavy price. But policymakers—including the president—pay too little attention to marriage, and its importance to the underlying social fabric of our country.”