President Joe Biden formally revoked a series of presidential orders and memorandum on Wednesday signed by Donald Trump, including one that sought to cut funds from various cities that the 45th president considered “anarchist” havens and another that determined that federal buildings should be designed in a classic aesthetic.
Since taking office last month, Biden has revoked dozens of Trump orders and issued dozens more while seeking to focus on key aspects of Trump’s legacy and promote aspects of his own agenda without going through Congress.
The latest revocation list targeted a collection of issues, including some that Trump signed in his last months in office.
Trump published a memo in September that sought to identify municipal governments that allow “anarchy, violence and destruction in American cities”. The memo came after riots during anti-police and anti-racism protests over the death of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police. The Justice Department identified New York, Portland, Oregon and Seattle as three cities that could have reduced federal funding.
These cities, in turn, filed a lawsuit to invalidate the designation and fighting the Trump administration’s efforts to retain federal dollars.
Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes welcomed Biden’s repeal, saying he was “happy to have that nonsense erased from the deck.”
Trump in his “Promoting Federal Civic Architecture” intoned that America’s ancestors “wanted public buildings to inspire the American people and encourage civic virtue.” The memo added that architects should look to America’s “beloved historic buildings” for inspiration, such as the White House, the United States Capitol, the Supreme Court, the Treasury Department and the Lincoln Memorial.
Another suspended order was one that Trump issued in the last days of his presidency dubbed “Ensuring democratic accountability in regulating agencies”. It is necessary to limit the ability of federal agency employees to make regulatory decisions.
Biden also revoked a 2018 order that required agency heads across the government to review welfare programs – such as food stamps, Medicaid and housing allowances – and to reinforce work requirements for certain beneficiaries.
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Associated Press writer Gene Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report.