2022 in the United States


The following is a list of events from the year 2022 in the United States.
Politically, the United States continued to be dominated by a culture war, with the issue of abortion gaining special attention amidst the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade with its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, sparking protests across the country. America also saw labor unions gain increased traction, with Apple, Starbucks and Amazon among the most notable targets. In conjunction, increased attention to critical race theory, the instruction of gender identity in schools, and the ongoing investigations into both former president Donald Trump and the January 6th attack gained political attention. Mass shootings also became an increasingly common phenomenon, with 641 occurring in 2022 as of December 28, varying from those targeting schools to bias-motivated incidents which have targeted racial and sexual minorities.
In the economy, the United States remained heavily impacted by the global inflation surge, a simultaneous stock market decline and a heavy increase in gasoline prices, all partly due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. America's largest tech companies were hit especially hard by the economy, with Meta Platforms in particular losing nearly $700 billion in valuation. The Federal Reserve gained increased attention with a series of its first aggressive interest rate hikes in years, a trend which continued in 2023, with the federal funds rate by year's end reaching 4.4%. 2022 also marked a period of acquisitions within the tech industry as well, notably Elon Musk's [Acquisition of Twitter, Inc.|Twitter by Elon Musk|acquisition] of Twitter and Microsoft's ongoing buyout of Activision Blizzard. Later in the year, the US saw the first major challenges to its gratuity culture; tipflation, as it has since become known, has caused Americans to lower their tips.

Incumbents

Federal government

Elections

Midterm elections

The midterm elections were held on November 8, and all 435 voting seats of the House of Representatives, 35 seats in the Senate, 39 state and territorial gubernatorial elections, and numerous state and local elections were decided. [2022 United States United States Senate|Senate election in Georgia|Georgia's Senate election] went to a runoff between Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker a month later, which Warnock ultimately won.

Electoral milestones

Special elections and recalls

Ongoing events

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Other events during COVID-19 endemic phase

  • April 30 - COVID-19 pandemic: Most Broadway theaters in New York City will drop all vaccine mandates.
  • June 8 - COVID-19 pandemic in Florida: Florida reports the first cases of Omicron BA.4 variant at the Premier Medical Laboratory Services in three patients in Miami-Dade County.
  • June 9 - COVID-19 pandemic: In Maryland, Governor Larry Hogan outlines a long-term preparedness plan on how the state will deal with COVID-19 including a focus on treatments that would keep people out of hospitals how the state would respond to future variants including Deltacron and Omicron variants.
  • June 18 - The CDC unanimously approves COVID-19 vaccines for children under five, including infants and toddlers.
  • July 1 - Broadway will lifted all mask mandates up in New York City.
  • July 19 - The CDC's independent advisory panel unanimously recommends the use of the Novavax-developed COVID-19 vaccine. CDC director Rochelle Walensky later endorses the new vaccine.
  • August 11 - The CDC loosens its guidelines for COVID-19, commenting that coronavirus is no longer in a state where it "severely disrupts our daily lives".
  • September 2 - The Biden administration pauses the distribution of COVID tests due to a lack of funding.
  • September 18 - COVID-19 pandemic in the United States: Biden administration declared that COVID-19 pandemic is over in the U.S.