President Biden has signed more than three dozen executive orders, actions and directives since he took office just 9 days ago – with Biden officials telling Fox News that the measures are “prior” to the agenda items that the president will push on Congress while Republicans protest the flood of record-breaking orders.
Within hours of taking the oath last Wednesday, Biden immediately took 17 executive actions – ranging from reversing former President Trump’s policies to restoring Obama-era programs, the coronavirus pandemic and more.
Since then, Biden has taken nearly two dozen additional actions – focused on environmental regulations, the climate crisis, immigration policies, racial justice, health and more.
GOP EXTENDS BIDEN’S CLIMATE GAME: ‘IT’S A TOTAL STRIKE IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY’
Biden, at the end of his ninth day at the White House, signed 40 executive orders, shares and presidential memorandum – a record.
Biden was criticized for his initial reliance on executive action, with Republicans saying it betrayed his promise to work with Congress to build consensus on the issues.
Executive orders and Biden’s actions
“Recently, in October, now President Biden said ‘you can’t [legislate] for executive action, unless you are a dictator, “” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told the Senate floor on Thursday. “In one week, he signed more than 30 unilateral actions. And American workers are receiving little attention. “
But a Biden ally in the White House told Fox News that the president’s actions are just a taste of what’s to come.
“The executive’s actions are prior and happen in parallel with what he is pushing in Congress,” the source told Fox News. “These are the things he can do instantly, but they show what he is going to get and, in some cases, he is already looking for, in Congress.”
And despite the president’s “aggressive” actions in his first nine days in office, several Biden government officials maintained that these executive orders and actions “are not a substitute” for legislative action and urged Congress to move forward with the action. President’s proposed accounts, including the $ 1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
Meanwhile, a White House official told Fox News that the president’s actions are in line with the “priorities” he established throughout the campaign, saying that the White House’s activities in the first weeks of his administration are aimed at ” deliver on “these campaign promises and” turn the page “over the past four years of the Trump administration.
A White House official told Fox News that the president is “firing a series of cylinders to accomplish this”.
But Biden is not working on these executive actions alone.
PSAKI PERFORMS WHITE HOUSE BRIEFING WITH JOHN KERRY, GINA MCCARTHY ON BIDEN’S CLIMATE ORDERS
A White House official told Fox News that the president has pledged to surround himself with experts and individuals with extensive knowledge in the areas in which he focuses. The official told Fox News that the White House has put these people at the forefront of implementing these new policies and guidelines.
For example, the official noted that White House internal policy consultant Susan Rice was involved in formulating and introducing executive actions that would promote “racial justice and equity”, informing White House reporters and explaining that building a policy “more fair “economy is” essential “for economic growth.
And the official told Fox News that John Kerry, the special presidential climate envoy, and the White House national climate adviser, Gina McCarthy, were involved in formulating executive climate and energy orders and actions, which focused on jobs. , “equitable” clean energy and “restoring” scientific integrity across the federal government.
The official also pointed out that Dr. Anthony Fauci also had the ability to “speak his mind” about the coronavirus pandemic – signaling a contrast to his work in the Trump administration.
Biden’s moves reversed a number of Trump policies.
Biden’s orders halted construction of the wall along the US-Mexico border; reversed the ban on transgender individuals serving in the US armed forces; reversed Trump’s travel ban in mainly Muslim countries; returned to the World Health Organization after Trump withdrew last year amid the pandemic; rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, after Trump’s withdrawal; fully restored the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which Trump sought to get rid of; reversed Trump’s environmental policies, like canceling the Keystone XL pipeline contract and more.
The president’s orders also focused on the coronavirus pandemic and its effect on the United States economy. Biden extended the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums for those made until March 31, and extended the pause in interest and principal payments on federal loans to students until September 30.
Biden also signed an executive order giving workers “a federally guaranteed right to refuse jobs that could harm their health,” and says that any worker who refuses this job offer will still be entitled to unemployment insurance.
WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER BRIAN DEESE TELLS US ‘AT THE TIME IT REQUIRES DECISIVE ACTION’ AT COVID-19
Biden also signed an order launching a “100-day masking challenge” and an order requiring masks and physical distance in all federal buildings, on all federal lands and by federal and contracted officials. Biden also ordered the use of a mask on public transport, including airports, airplanes, trains and buses.
Biden also signed an order to direct the health secretary to support research on treatments for coronavirus and expand access to those treatments. He also signed orders to establish a COVID-19 test board and a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force.
Biden also reinstated COVID-19 travel restrictions for non-US citizens traveling from Brazil and much of Europe – a reversal of Trump’s move just days before leaving office. The ban also blocks most non-American travelers from entering the United States if they travel from South Africa, due to the new variant COVID-19 discovered there.
The president also signed a memorandum instructing federal agencies to support the position of his National Guard governors in their work to prevent the spread of the coronavirus – an effort that would be funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
As for the environment, Biden signed an order instructing federal agencies to “eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels in accordance with applicable legislation and identify new opportunities to stimulate innovation, commercialization and deployment of clean energy technologies and infrastructure”.
IDB SIGNS CLIMATE CHANGE ORDERS AMONG WORK CONCERNS: ‘IT’S TIME TO ACT’
The orders direct federal agencies to purchase carbon-free electricity and clean, zero-emission vehicles to create well-paid union jobs and “stimulate clean energy industries”, “requires these purchases to be made in America”, although “strictly” “apply wage and benefit guidelines and” catalyze job creation in construction, manufacturing, engineering and specialized trade, directing measures to ensure that all federal infrastructure investment reduces climate pollution and measures are taken to accelerate transmission projects and clean energy under federal implantation and licensing processes in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Meanwhile, on equity and justice, Biden also signed orders to “define equity as the consistent, systemic, fair, just and impartial treatment of all individuals” and directed agencies to “allocate federal resources equitably to train and invest in communities of color and underserved communities “, while prohibiting discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Biden signed a presidential memorandum to instruct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to take steps to correct the racially discriminatory federal housing policies that, according to the manageable, have contributed to wealth inequality for generations.
SUSAN RICE SAYS BIDEN WILL ‘ADVANCE RACIAL JUSTICE AND EQUITY,’ CALLING THIS ‘ESSENTIAL’ FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH
The memo recognized the “central role” that the federal government played in the implementation of housing policies in the United States, from the red line to discrimination in mortgages and the destructive construction of federal highways – all of which, the government says, had “racially discriminatory impacts. “.
The president also signed an executive order to end the Department of Justice’s use of private prisons. The order will instruct the attorney general not to renew DOJ contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities.
Biden also reaffirmed the Federal Government’s Commitment to Tribal Sovereignty and Consultation, in an effort to re-establish “federal respect” for Tribal sovereignty and strengthen the “nation-to-nation relationship” between the federal government and Native American and Alaskan Indians Tribes. Biden’s move also aims to strengthen self-determination and promote racial justice for indigenous communities.
Biden also signed a presidential memorandum to combat xenophobia against Asian Americans and the Pacific Islands, and a memo extending the Deferred Forced Departure designation to Liberians who have been in the United States for many years until June 30, 2022. The memo also extended the Liberians’ work permit.
As for immigration, in addition to reaffirming DACA, Biden has imposed a 100-day ‘pause’ on the deportations of illegal immigrants.
And for health, Biden signed executive orders expanding access to the Affordable Care Act during the coronavirus pandemic. The order creates a special HealthCare.gov enrollment period, making it easier for uninsured people to obtain health coverage through ObamaCare during the pandemic. The Department of Health and Human Services will open a three-month registration period, from February 15 to May 15.
BIDEN SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDERS EXPANDING THE REGISTRATION OF THE ACCESSIBLE CARE ACT
Biden also signed an order that immediately terminated the so-called Mexico City Policy, often referred to by critics as the global gag rule. The policy, reinstated by the Trump administration in 2017, prohibits international non-governmental organizations that offer abortion counseling or referrals from receiving U.S. funding. Biden called the rule an “attack on access to women’s health” on Thursday.
Biden also signed an order to “restore and maintain public trust in the government” and ordered all those nominated in the executive branch to sign an “ethical pledge” to ensure that employees act in the interests of the American people and not for personal gain.