Written by Rachele Terranova, Graphics by Nadia Nugent
President Joe Biden has officially been in office for a full month. He has had some polarizing issues to address right off the bat and began to address them starting immediately after inauguration. There is a lot in the balance with the replacement of former president Donald Trump — many people’s lives are relying on Biden to keep his word while many others are equally upset that he has taken office.
Biden’s Promises
First Day
On his first day, Joe Biden signed 17 executive orders. This is outstanding considering his predecessors’ records. Though it’s not uncommon to sign executive orders on your first day in office, when we compare Biden’s first day to the first days of Trump, Obama, Bush and Clinton who signed four executive orders combined, Biden is pretty exceptional. Many of the 17 measures were directly aimed at damage control to begin dismantling Trump’s mark on America. The full list of his first day executive orders courtesy of NBC.
Memorandum freezing approval of rules passed in final days of Trump presidency
Executive order rejoining the Paris Agreement on climate change
Fulfilling one of his top campaign promises, Biden committed to putting the U.S. back in the Paris Agreement on climate change — an international pact aimed at curbing emissions that cause global warming. Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2017, citing costs to American taxpayers.
Executive order to promote racial equity
Biden ordered his government to conduct equity assessments of its agencies and reallocate resources to “advanc[e] equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.”
Proclamation ending ban on U.S. entry from majority-Muslim countries
Biden’s proclamation reversed Trump’s policy that barred entry to the U.S. for refugees and residents from seven predominantly Muslim countries and orders plans within 45 days for resuming visa processing.
Executive order requiring mask-wearing on federal property
Executive order coordinating a government-wide COVID-19 response
Executive order revising immigration enforcement policies
Executive order undoing regulatory restrictions on federal agencies
Executive order incorporating undocumented immigrants into census
Undocumented immigrants will be counted in the national decennial population count, according to Biden’s order, which overturned Trump’s attempt to exclude them during the 2020 census.
Executive order refocusing on the climate crisis and canceling the Keystone XL permit
Executive order banning discrimination on the basis of gender, identity or sexual orientation
Memorandum revamping regulatory review
Executive order mandating ethics pledge for government appointees
Proclamation pulling funds from border wall
Biden terminated the construction and funding of the wall at the U.S. southern border — a key promise of the Trump administration that has drawn backlash for its environmental impacts and is being litigated at the Supreme Court for the allegedly improper use of funds.
Executive order pausing federal student loan payments
Memorandum reinstating deferred enforced departure for Liberians
Biden’s memorandum blocked the deportation of Liberian refugees living in the U.S. reinstating the deferment of their enforced departure granted by the Bush and Obama administrations.
Memorandum strengthening Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
Biden reaffirmed DACA, an Obama-era program that Trump had long sought to dismantle that shielded undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children from deportation.
First 100 Days
Measures regarding climate change, police reform, racial equity and political divides loom ahead of Biden as he pushed through his first 100 days. The biggest goal though is to get the spread of COVID-19 under control and vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible. By the 100th day in office, Apr. 30, Biden and his administration hope to have vaccinated one-hundred million Americans while also safely reopening many currently closed schools.
It is believed that once the most prominent threat of the pandemic is in the past the economy will follow suit in recovery. This won’t likely happen until late summer going into fall but the relief package in the works is aiming to soothe further damages.
The climate has been a pillar of Biden’s campaign as well as at the top of the list of Democrats demands. First and foremost Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement which takes 30 days to go into effect. This is crucial as there are 189 countries included in vowing to curb global emissions. It is especially crucial for the U.S as we are responsible for 14% of global emissions as of 2019. On his first day, he also repealed the Keystone Pipeline permit. This came along with reinstating regulations on emissions as a result of oil and gas fracking that were rolled back by Trump. The Biden transition team was said to issue a memorandum in order to pause any unfinalized Trump administration orders that were not in effect by Inauguration Day.
As soon as his inauguration speech ended, Biden condemned white supremacy — something the former president couldn’t do. He will be held to a high standard to uphold this notion in all that he does for the next four years and progressive Democrats have been vocal about making sure he knows this. Domestic Policy Council head Susan Rice will be overseeing movements for racial equity which will help the Administration better understand how to provide resources for minority communities as well as making sure it is better representing the diversity of America’s communities within itself. In his stimulus proposal there is mention of aid for minority communities and communities of color that are disproportionately affected in general by economic downturns but even more so with events such as the pandemic. There will also be prioritized assistance for minority owned small businesses.
Sources and Resources
https://qz.com/1960296/what-executive-orders-did-joe-biden-sign-on-his-first-day/
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/here-s-full-list-biden-s-executive-actions-so-far-n
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/biden-s-first-days-office-were-way-better-i-expected-n1256362
https://time.com/5931852/joe-biden-100-days/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/03/climate/carbon-dioxide-emissions.html
