Which Biden campaign promises have not been passed by Congress or remain unfulfilled as of 2024?

1. How watchdogs measure promises: the baseline

PolitiFact’s promise tracker follows 99 major promises and concluded that by early 2024 the majority—about 63%—were either “Stalled” or “In the Works,” with 27% rated Kept, 6% Compromise and 2% Broken, framing the factual baseline that many pledges have not been fully realized through congressional action ^{[1] [2]}.

2. The big legislative package that never passed: Build Back Better and social spending

Biden’s central social‑infrastructure agenda — commonly known as Build Back Better — failed to win Congressional approval, a collapse widely attributed to defections by key Democratic senators, leaving major campaign promises on paid family leave, expanded child care subsidies, universal pre‑K and broad climate and social spending unpassed by Congress ^[3].

3. Economic promises that Congress curtailed: $15 minimum wage and tax pledges

A universal $15 federal minimum wage, a prominent campaign promise, was dropped from early pandemic relief legislation as it could not survive Senate rules and negotiation, leaving the pledge unfulfilled legislatively even as other measures advanced in scaled‑back form ^[5]. Tax promises also became contested terrain, with critics pointing to compromises and claims that some proposed tax changes were softened in practice ^{[6] [4]}.

4. Health‑care and drug pricing: partial wins and disputed claims

The administration scored legislative wins on capping insulin costs and limiting some out‑of‑pocket drug spending for Medicare recipients, but watchdog FactCheck.org notes administration claims about long‑term Medicare savings from those provisions were inaccurate and some promised broader drug‑price reforms remain incomplete or contested ^[7].

5. Ethics, transparency and accountability promises left undone

Advocacy groups and legal monitors document that several ethics and lobbying‑reform promises were not fully implemented: Campaign Legal Center reported unfulfilled ethics reforms and called out the administration’s uneven follow‑through on measures such as a chief accountability officer and stronger lobbying transparency legislation, indicating these efforts stalled short of Congress‑passed law ^[8].

6. Immigration and border pledges: promises versus practice

Immigration promises—ending family separations, terminating programs like 287(g), and more humane asylum and detention policies—saw significant friction; advocates report that some practices have continued, and the administration both extended protections in some cases and resumed deportations or border barrier construction in others, leaving key campaign assurances unfulfilled in practice or reversed administratively rather than resolved by statute ^{[9] [10] [11]}.

7. Why many promises ran aground: political and practical constraints

Two systemic causes account for much of what wasn’t passed: narrow Senate arithmetic and high intra‑party hurdles (notably Senators whose opposition sank Build Back Better), and unified Republican opposition on many priorities, both of which prevented Congress from enacting several centerpiece pledges despite executive actions and partial administrative steps ^{[3] [4]}.

8. Final assessment: partial delivery, significant gaps, and competing narratives

By 2024 the record is mixed: some campaign items were enacted or advanced administratively, some were achieved only in part or with contested claims of success, and a significant set of pledges—especially large social‑policy and structural reforms—were never passed by Congress, a fact tracked and summarized by independent fact‑checkers and advocacy groups that frame the Biden presidency as having notable accomplishments but also noteworthy unfulfilled promises ^{[1] [7] [8]}.