Patience with Biden wearing thin among Black leaders

Black voters and activists are increasingly frustrated with Democrats and the Biden administration in the wake of the party's latest failure to advance voting rights legislation.

In his first days in office, President Biden signed a flurry of executive orders to advance equity throughout every aspect of the federal government, but his campaign promises were far loftier, and Democrats have struggled to make good on them.

Now, after nine months during which not a single voting rights bill made it to the president’s desk, pressure is mounting on Biden to turn things around as projections for next year's midterms start to look bleak for Democrats.

NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson delivered a stark warning to Biden in a statement released after a failed cloture vote on the Freedom to Vote Act Wednesday afternoon: “Don't forget that Black voters landed a victory for this President and this Congress, so don't fail us again.”

White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre acknowledged Thursday that there have been setbacks with both voting legislation and police reform talks, but she highlighted other ways the administration is advancing policies important to the Black community.

Jean-Pierre specifically mentioned investments in historically Black colleges and universities, housing policy reforms and efforts to make equity central to Biden’s American Rescue Plan and other economic proposals.