President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed executive orders on housing and ending the Justice Department’s use of private prisons as part of what the White House is calling a “racial equality agenda”.
The big picture: Biden needs Congressional support to promote police reform or new voting rights legislation. Executive orders serve as an input to immediately address systemic racism while it focuses on the pandemic.
Details: Biden will instruct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to examine how previous administrations have undermined fair housing policies and laws, according to senior officials.
- Another executive order instructs the attorney general not to renew the Department of Justice’s contracts with criminal detention facilities run by private individuals. Domestic policy secretary Susan Czar confirmed at a news conference that the order does not apply to private immigration facilities, which are under the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security.
- An executive order calls for “the restoration of federal respect for tribal sovereignty” after years of tension between tribal governments and former President Trump.
- Biden also ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to examine how Trump’s rhetoric about COVID-19 may have led to discrimination against Asian Americans and the Pacific Islands.
The intrigue: The Biden government has signaled that executive decrees are a preview of what’s to come on its racial equity agenda while preparing legislative proposals to combat discrimination and poverty.
The end result: Biden’s early moves on racial equality are a major shift in tone from Trump, who often praised Confederate General Robert E. Lee, denounced research on slavery and racial justice, and ordered agencies to end diversity training.