Newly inaugurated United States (US) President Joseph R. Biden Jr. wasted no time in getting to work on Wednesday, as he signed 17 executive orders on his first day in office, reversing harmful Trump-era policies regarding immigration, COVID-19, climate change, and more.
On the COVID-19 Pandemic:
- The president signed an executive order mandating the use of masks and social distancing on federal property.
- Biden also launched a “100 Days Masking Challenge,” urging all Americans to join him to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
- Biden signed a measure reversing the US’ withdrawal from the World Health Organisation (WHO), and his chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci told the WHO board on Thursday that the country would join the global COVAX initiative that aims to deliver vaccines to poor and developing countries. Dr. Fauci has been tapped to lead the US delegation at the UN health institute.
- The president also created an office to coordinate a national response to the virus, appointing former National Economic Council head Jeffrey D. Zients as COVID-19 response coordinator. He also restored the White House’s National Security Council directorate for global health security and defence, a group previously disbanded by his predecessor.
- To ease the burden on families struggling with the economic fallout of the pandemic, an executive order was signed to extend eviction and foreclosure moratoriums. The moratorium for evictions will be extended until at least March 31.
- Another order extended the pause on student loan payments and interest for Americans with federal student loans until at least September 30.
On Climate Change and the Environment:
- Fulfilling a major campaign promise, President Biden signed an instrument that will allow the US to re-join the Paris Climate Accords within the next 30 days. The Trump administration announced its decision to pull out of the multi-national treaty in 2019, and formally completed its withdrawal from the agreement on November 4.
- Biden also reversed a string of Trump’s environmental policies, including:
- revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline,
- reversing rollbacks on vehicle emission standards,
- cutting decisions to reduce sizes of national monuments,
- halting oil and natural gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and
- re-establishing a working group on the social costs of greenhouse gasses.
On Immigration:
- Biden signed an executive order reversing an order that excluded undocumented immigrants from the Census. The order now requires non-citizens to be included in the Census and the apportionment of congressional representatives.
- The president also issued a memorandum directing officials to “preserve and fortify” the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which protects more than 700,000 young people who were brought to the US illegally as children by allowing them to stay on and work in the country without being deported on a two-year renewable term.
- Biden also repealed the so-called “Muslim travel ban,” and directed the US Department of State to resume processing visas for individuals from the affected countries (Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, and Tanzania). He also asked the agency to develop ways to address the harm caused to those who were prevented from coming to the US because of the ban.
- Another order overturned a Trump executive action aggressively pushing for the capture and deportation of unauthorized immigrants. Yet another one blocks the deportation of Liberians living in the US.
- Biden also halted the construction of the border wall with Mexico and terminated the national emergency declaration that allowed the Trump administration to redirect billions of dollars to the wall.
On Racial and Gender Equality, and Government Accountability:
- The president signed an executive order directing the government to interpret the Civil Rights Act as prohibiting workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, in addition to race, colour, religion, sex and national origin.
- Another executive order was signed with the aim of “rooting out systemic racism” and other barriers to opportunity from federal programs and institutions.” Under this action, the president will also disband the Trump administration’s 1776 Commission, which released a report on Monday that historians said distorted the role of slavery in the US.
- Biden also established ethics rules for his administration, “to restore and maintain trust in the government.” All of his appointees in the executive branch will be required to sign an ethics pledge.
- The president also froze all new regulations put in motion by his predecessor, to provide his administration some time to evaluate which ones might be suitable to move forward.