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Home / Reports / 2023 State of the Union / Federal Government Actions

The federal government's executive, legislative, and judicial branches act together to shape policy and its implementation. For a glimpse into what the federal government does, this section summarizes some of the work the executive and legislative branches completed in 2022. These are bills that became public law, executive orders and presidential memoranda, and rulemaking by executive agencies that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs classified as significant.

The federal executive and legislative branches took 549 policy actions in 2022, spanning issues such as the economy, health, and the environment. Almost half of these actions were bills passed by Congress.

Congress passed 249 bills in 2022.

Federal Government Actions

While budget bills were a relatively small share of the laws Congress passed, the Inflation Reduction Act used tax and spending policy to address a variety of topics.

President Biden signed 75 executive orders or presidential memoranda in 2022.

Federal Government Actions

The economy and health were the second-and third- most frequently addressed topics in Biden’s executive orders or presidential memoranda.

Of the eight presidential actions on the economy, two took steps to implement the Chips and Science Act (passed by Congress in 2022, that act aims to increase American competitiveness in semiconductor production). Health-related actions included abortion protections and instructions to the Department of Health and Human Services to test new payment models that could lower drug prices.

Executive agencies made 225 rule changes in 2022.

Federal Government Actions

Nearly one-fifth of rules were on the economy.

These rules addressed business support programs, general financial and business regulations, and consumer protections.

To learn more, look at the full list of actions categorized in this section, including descriptions, dates, source links, and the names and political parties of bill sponsors, by downloading below.

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