WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden presented an ambitious agenda during his first 100 days in office, promising quick action on everything from climate change to immigration reform and coronavirus pandemic.
He reaches his 50th day in office on Wednesday, when his government faces an important milestone: the final approval of its $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package in Congress. The project includes direct payments to millions of Americans and money to help the White House fulfill several of Biden’s biggest campaign promises, such as the reopening of schools and vaccinating more Americans.
Fifty days later, Biden made great strides in a series of important campaign promises for his early days in office, while others still await action. Where he stands on some of his main promises:
COMPLETED OBJECTIVES
Biden prioritized treatment of the coronavirus pandemic during his first weeks in office, and the focus paid off. He is on track to reach his goal of 100 million doses of vaccine administered in his first 100 days by the end of next week. The daily rate of vaccinations now averages more than 2 million injections, and more than 75 million doses have been administered since Biden took office.
Biden also took several initial steps that kept promises on climate policy. He signed an executive order on the day of the inauguration that revoked the license for the Keystone XL pipeline, halted the development of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and ordered the revision of the Trump era rules on the environment, public health and science. An executive order of 27 January suspended new oil and gas leases on federal land and offshore waters.
Biden also easily fulfilled key campaign promises that involved reversing the Trump administration’s moves on everything from climate change to immigration. Early on, the Biden administration rejoined the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Agreement, halted the construction of the border wall, ended travel restrictions for people from several Muslim-majority countries, and created a force. task to reunite separated families in the United States Border of Mexico.
On immigration, Biden promised to deliver a comprehensive reform bill to Congress in its first 100 days, and was revealed last month, although Biden has already signaled an openness to a piece-by-piece approach, if necessary. Biden also issued an executive order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security to “preserve and strengthen” protections for young immigrants brought to the United States by their parents.
Biden also made some initial moves to fulfill a promise to toughen ethical standards in his administration, including an executive order of 20 January imposing an ethical promise on nominees who govern activities such as lobbying and receiving gifts, which included a ban on interference. policy in the Department of Justice.
IN PROGRESS
Still other promises from Biden remain a work in progress.
Biden’s national strategy COVID-19 promised to establish 100 new vaccination centers with federal support across the country by the end of February. So far, the government is in about 20 mass vaccination sites administered from end to end by the federal government and equipped with active troops deployed by the Pentagon. Overall, the government says, at least 441 vaccination sites are now supported by the federal government. Many of these locations were not new, but almost all expanded their capacity with additional federal resources.
On immigration, Biden promised to reverse the “public charging” rule instituted by the Trump administration to discourage immigrants from using public benefits, to streamline the naturalization process and to reform the U.S. asylum system within its first 100 days. An executive order he signed in early February instructs the relevant agencies to review these policies and recommend changes within 60 days.
The government made some moves to reform the asylum system, including a move by the Department of Homeland Security on Biden’s first day in charge of suspending a Trump-era program that required asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their applications were analyzed. But Biden has yet to come up with a plan to manage asylum flows, and he proposes that billions of dollars be spent to address the root causes in Central America.
The president also maintained powers related to the pandemic, which allow his government to immediately expel people from the border without the opportunity to apply for asylum. Biden’s aides said they had no immediate plans to end the authority, which Trump introduced a year ago using an obscure 1944 public health law.
Biden also promised to end long-term detention of migrant families. Immigration and Customs Enforcement signaled last week that it plans to discontinue the use of one of these facilities, but ICE will continue to maintain families for three days or less at two other facilities in Texas. And the Biden administration is expanding capacity in a series of long-term facilities that hold immigrant children, to deal with the continued increase in unaccompanied minors at the border.
On climate change, Biden pledged to make workable commitments from other nations to reduce emissions from global shipping and aviation and to convene a global climate summit to discuss new and more ambitious promises to deal with climate change in the first 100 days. The US will hold such a summit on April 22, Earth Day.
The reopening of schools in America is one of Biden’s main campaign promises that has proved more difficult to deliver, in part because the decision to return to face-to-face education is left to local authorities and teacher unions. After some comings and goings on the details of his goal, Biden said last month that his 100-day mission was to open most elementary schools five days a week for personal learning.
This month, he instructed states to prioritize teacher vaccinations and announced that he would direct federal funds for teacher vaccinations in March. The Biden government hopes that, with the approval of the coronavirus relief bill and the distribution of millions in aid to schools to improve safety measures, teachers will be more comfortable returning to face-to-face learning.
According to Burbio, who accompanies the plans to reopen schools, about 47% of students from kindergarten to 12th grade have access to in-person school every day of the week.
WAITING FOR ACTION
The Biden government has yet to take significant action on criminal justice reform, in addition to an executive order rescinding private prison contracts. Biden promised to create a police supervisory board in his first 100 days, but there has been no clear move in that direction so far.
Other 100-day promises are also awaiting movement: the creation of a cabinet-level working group focused on promoting union participation and ordering an FBI review of problems with gun purchase history checks.
Some of Biden’s 100-day pledges will require Congressional action, such as his pledge to re-authorize the Violence Against Women Act and raise corporate taxes. Biden also promised to pass the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, a priority in its first 100 days. This bill passed the House, but not the Senate.
And some of his promises are awaiting the secretaries of the Biden Cabinet to be confirmed by the Senate. Regarding gun control, Biden said he would instruct his attorney general to make recommendations to restructure the major Justice Department agencies to more effectively enforce the country’s gun laws. He also promised that his Secretary for Housing and Urban Development would lead a task force to create recommendations to make housing a right for all Americans.
Both your candidate for attorney general, Merrick Garland, and your nominee to lead the Housing Department, MP Marcia Fudge, are due to receive confirmation this week.