Last month, President Joe Biden's State of the Union address was marked with frequent outbursts from lawmakers as he urged Congress to approve higher taxes on wealthy taxpayers and big corporations. While Biden relishes the give-and-take, getting the members of Congress to agree that they will not cut Social Security or Medicare benefits has proven difficult after some Republicans challenged his claims. Instead, he's calling on Congress to expand health care coverage and lower insulin costs for all Americans after last year's Inflation Reduction Act capped insulin costs at $35 for seniors on Medicare. He also touted the tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act that he said would save families more than $1,000 per year on purchases of electric vehicles and energy-efficient appliances.

In Biden's State of the Union address, he insisted that no one earning less than $400,000 a year would pay another penny in taxes under his plan. Biden also called for higher taxes on petroleum companies and other large corporations, expanding the 1% tax on corporate buybacks included in the Inflation Reduction Act. He defended the Inflation Reduction Act's $80 billion in funding over ten years for the Internal Revenue Service, much of which will go toward hiring more employees to help with taxpayer service, technology, and tax audits.

He also defended his administration's deficit reduction efforts as he faces a fight with Republicans over raising the debt ceiling. That dispute was in evidence during the speech when some GOP members loudly challenged him on his claims.

There was also an outcry in the chamber when he claimed Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, but Biden responded by getting the lawmakers to all agree they don't plan any such cuts. He said he would offer his fiscal plan this month, claiming it would lower the deficit by $2 trillion, and invited Republicans to submit theirs as well.

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