Washington
CNN
—

President Joe Biden concluded a meeting with his Cabinet on Friday, his first high-level gathering of advisers in a year as he tries to set his legacy after his presidency.

Ahead of the meeting, a White House official said Biden would instruct Cabinet members to “sprint to the finish” as he sought to polish up existing legacy issues while ensuring that as many of his goals as possible were implemented before a possible second Trump presidency.

“He will instruct his cabinet to get as much work done as possible – be it allocating funds, announcing new programs or policies, or implementing programs and policies already announced,” the official said.

Nearly a year after his last Cabinet meeting and exactly four months before the next president’s inauguration, Biden’s position at Friday’s meeting was starkly different from his last conversation with his top officials.

No longer a presidential candidate, he now faces his final months in office. His unexpected withdrawal from the race over the summer prompted White House officials to hastily assemble his agenda for the final months, which had not been considered before his decision.

Biden wants to make sure Americans know what he has accomplished, while also making as much of his record as possible irreversible should former President Donald Trump return to the Oval Office.

“He will make it clear that we are showing the American people what the Biden-Harris administration has done for them. And he will tell his Cabinet to communicate directly to him any hurdles and obstacles they face in getting the job done,” the official said before the meeting.

The official pointed to significant progress in the past few weeks alone, including economic milestones such as a cut in interest rates and the “largest and most complicated prisoner exchange in American history.”

Still, key items on Biden’s to-do list remain unresolved, most notably a ceasefire and a hostage agreement in the Middle East. Administration officials have serious doubts that an agreement can be reached before Biden leaves office, and tensions in the region are only escalating.

Ahead of the meeting, Biden urged Congress to pass short-term funding legislation before the government runs out of money next week, saying the “only way forward” is through “bipartisan cooperation.”

“Before I begin this Cabinet meeting, I want to say very briefly that Congress must pass a continuation resolution,” the president said. “This is critically important.”

He pointed out that Congress had only ten days left to pass a short-term bill “that would give them more time to deliver what we have already approved for our national defense, for veterans and for hard-working families.”

Noting that he still has four months left in his term, the president said he will “keep going because the vice president and I are committed to continuing to ensure that democracy delivers what the American people demand.”

“We must continue to implement the historic laws we passed,” Biden said. “They have enabled us to invest in America, rebuild our infrastructure and implement our historic laws.”

The President also had to answer questions about current events, such as Israel’s recent attacks on Lebanon.

When asked what the Israeli attacks mean for the Middle East peace process, Biden did not answer directly. He simply said that the administration’s goal was to get people back home safely and expressed optimism that a ceasefire and hostage agreement could be reached.

The president said the government wants to “ensure that people in both northern Israel and southern Lebanon can return to their homes safely.”

“The Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, our whole team is working – and the intelligence community is trying to get this done,” Biden said. “We’re going to keep at it until we get it done.”

When asked if that was realistic, Biden replied, “If I ever said it wasn’t realistic, we might as well leave.”

“Many things don’t look realistic until we get them done,” he added. “We have to keep at it.”

At Friday’s meeting, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden provided an update on a White House research initiative on women’s health. It was the first time she attended such a meeting. Previous first ladies have attended their husbands’ Cabinet meetings.

“The President will direct his Cabinet to get to work and make the next four months as productive as any other term of our administration,” the official said. “Much of the Cabinet has been with President Biden since day one, and this meeting will be an opportunity for all to assess the tremendous progress they have made together and consider how they will continue to make history in the remaining months of the Biden-Harris administration.”

This story has been updated with further developments.