On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed several executive actions, some of which reverse the decisions made by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.
Executive actions will change the US response to COVID-19 and try to ease some of the financial pressure on Americans resulting from the pandemic. But other executive actions directly target and undo Mr. Trump’s actions in the environment, immigration, the US census and regulatory changes.
Mr. Biden signed three executive orders in the presence of reporters – implementing a masked mandate on federal property, increasing support for needy communities and returning to the Paris climate agreement.
“I thought there was no time to wait. Get to work immediately,” he told reporters.
Evan Vucci / AP
Biden called the letter that Trump left him very “generous”, but said he would not divulge the content because they are “private”.
Incoming Biden White House principal advisers outlined and described the actions in a conference call Tuesday night. Biden’s advisers also promised that there would be more to come.
“In the coming days and weeks, we will announce additional executive actions to address these challenges and fulfill the President-elect’s promises to the American people, including the lifting of the ban on military service to American transgender people and the reversal of Mexico City policy.” The new secretary White House press officer Jen Psaki said in a statement.
Below is the CBS News breakdown of Biden’s first 15 executive orders and the two executive actions he was due to sign on Wednesday:
Reply COVID-19
Start a “100 Day Masking Challenge”, asking for a face mask across the country and a mandate for social distance in federal buildings, on federal land and by federal and contracted officials.
Restructure the federal government’s coordination for the COVID-19 pandemic. The Biden White House is bringing back an Obama-era position called the “Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense”, which was organized with additional staff within the National Security Council following the 2014 Ebola epidemic. the board was deployed in other roles during the Trump administration, but Biden and his campaign advisers argued that the change had lessened the federal government’s preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Biden will also formally implement a “response coordinator” who will report to the president on vaccines, testing and production, supply and distribution of personal protective equipment. Mr. Biden appointed Jeff Zients, who oversaw Mr. Biden’s COVID-19 team for the presidential transition.
Rejoin the World Health Organization (WHO), that the Trump administration was in the process of leaving. Mr. Biden is also looking to re-establish the United States as an active leader in WHO.
Financial relief for Americans
Extend eviction and foreclosure moratoria. To do this, Biden will call on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reimplement and extend the now defunct moratorium until at least March 31. The new president will also appeal to the Departments of Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs to extend foreclosure moratoriums on their federally supported mortgages. “These emergency measures are important,” said Biden’s chief economic adviser, Brian Deese, in a conference call with reporters, “there are more than 11 million mortgages guaranteed by the VA, Department of Agriculture and HUD that would be extended.”
Continue to “pause” student loan payments until September 30. Biden’s advisers continue to claim that Biden still supports his campaign promise to cancel $ 10,000 of student loans, but this will take time, as it has to pass through Congress.
Environment
Rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. The Paris climate negotiations took place under the Obama administration and were led by climate change secretary John Kerry, when he was secretary of state. This will take 30 days to take effect.
End of the Keystone XL pipeline and revoke the development of oil and gas in national wildlife monuments. To do this, Biden’s climate advisor, Gina McCarthy, explained that the Biden government will discard or redo more than 100 “harmful” presidential proclamations, memoranda or permits signed by the Trump administration that the new government considers harmful to the environment.
Revoking licenses will effectively block the Keystone pipeline. Mr. Biden will also reverse the Trump administration’s 2020 decision to allow land development at Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments and at Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine national monuments in New England, which were reserved for the wildlife protection by former President Obama in 2016. Other changes include directing agencies to “consider reviewing vehicle fuel economy and emissions standards” and placing federal working groups to deal with greenhouse gases, according to with an outline of executive orders.
Human rights
Actions to promote racial equity through the federal government. The new domestic policy adviser, Susan Rice, explained that President Biden wants each federal agency to analyze equity in its programs and actions. For example, with this executive action, the Office of Administration and Budget will analyze whether federal money is distributed equitably in communities of color and other underserved locations, said the draft of the executive action. Rice also said that Trump’s “damaging” 1776 Commission, the 18-member council he formulated in September, will be discontinued. The commission’s goal was to study the president’s concern that the American educational system was taking too liberal a approach to American history.
Count non-citizens again in the US census. This reverses President Trump’s order in July 2020 not to count undocumented Americans, which would affect federal money allocation and federal representation. In Wednesday’s press call, Rice said Trump’s approach was “an approach that violates the Constitution and the Census Law and is inconsistent with our nation’s history and our commitment to representative democracy.” The draft executive order for the Biden team said that Biden “will ensure that the Census Bureau has time to complete an accurate count of the population of each state” and that “he will then present Congress with a fair and accurate distribution so that federal resources are efficiently and well distributed over the next decade. ”
Strengthen protections against discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity. At the agencies, this extends federal protections against sex discrimination to include LGBTQ Americans.
Immigration
Advocate the “Dreamers” program for undocumented young Americans. Biden, in this executive order, asks Congress to grant permanent status and a path to citizenship for the Dreamers – nearly a million undocumented youth who were brought into the country as children and protected from deportation by President Obama. The Trump administration defied the law, but the Supreme Court upheld it.
End the so-called “travel ban on Muslims” which in 2017 restricted travel and immigration to the US from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, before adding Eritrea, Nigeria, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and Tanzania in 2020. The State Department is also instructed to restart visa applications for these countries.
Change Trump’s prison priorities for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ) This executive order will revoke the changes that Trump made in the first week of his presidency in 2017 to make inspection of inland immigration much stricter. Few details were listed in the executive order draft, but Biden’s new team at the White House stated that the Department of Homeland Security, in partnership with other agencies, “will establish civilian immigration policies that best protect the American people and are in line with our values and priorities. ”
Stop the construction of the border wall. Biden will end the national emergency declaration cited by the Trump administration to divert money to build the south wall.
Maintain protections for a group of Liberians in the country. Liberians who have been in the United States for many years will be able to stay longer. His “deferred application exit” will be extended for another year, until June 30, 2022. President Trump briefly considered ending this postponement before extending the program.
Regulations
Freezing last-minute regulatory actions by the Trump administration. Technically, the White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, will be tasked with doing this, and a presidential memo will formally declare the regulations to be frozen.
ethic
Formulate the ethical doctrine of the Executive Branch. Mr. Biden wants each nominee from the executive branch to sign an ethical pledge. The pledge also requires federal officials to pledge “to defend the independence of the Justice Department,” says the draft executive order.