WASHINGTON (AP) – In his early hours as president, Joe Biden plans to take executive action to reverse some of his predecessor’s most controversial decisions and to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, his new chief of staff said on Saturday.
The opening salvo would announce a 10-day executive action blitz, while Biden seeks to act quickly to redirect the country after Donald Trump’s presidency, without waiting for Congress.
On Wednesday, after his inauguration, Biden will end Trump’s restriction on immigration to the United States from some Muslim-majority countries, move to return to the Paris climate agreement and force the use of masks on federal properties and during interstate travel. Those are about a dozen actions that Biden will take on his first day at the White House, his new chief of staff, Ron Klain, said in a memo to the senior team.
Other actions include extending the pause in student loan payments and actions designed to prevent evictions and foreclosures for those struggling during the pandemic.
“These executive actions will provide relief to the millions of Americans who are struggling with these crises,” said Klain in the memo. “President-elect Biden will act – not only to reverse the most serious damage from the Trump administration – but also to start moving our country forward.”
The “full realization” of Biden’s goals will require Congress to act, Klain said, including the $ 1.9 trillion virus relief bill he outlined on Thursday. Klain said Biden will also propose a comprehensive immigration reform bill to lawmakers on his first day in office.
The next day, Thursday, Klain said Biden would sign orders related to the COVID-19 outbreak with the aim of reopening schools and businesses and expanding virus testing. The next day, Friday, there will be action to provide economic relief to those who suffer the economic costs of the pandemic.
In the following week, Klain said, Biden will take additional measures related to criminal justice reform, climate change and immigration – including a directive to accelerate the reunification of separated families on the U.S.-Mexico border under Trump’s policies.
More actions will be added, Klain said, once the legal review is released.
Incoming presidents traditionally act quickly to sign a series of executive actions when they take office. Trump did the same, but found many of his orders contested and even rejected by the courts.
Klain maintained that Biden should not suffer similar problems, saying that “the legal theory behind them is well-founded and represents a restoration of an appropriate constitutional role for the president”.