Joe Biden's first 100 days in office: what he vowed to do
Shocking news: Before President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office, the first 100 days of the new White House administration were not newsworthy. Until the 32nd President took his seat in the Oval Office in 1933, those 100 days were just "days." Roosevelt passed 76 laws in his first few months (opens in new tab), while simultaneously addressing the nation's financial woes (and holding his famous fireside chats), and people began to realize that a lot could be accomplished if the right candidate got serious. Now that Joe Biden is president-elect (opens in new tab), you may wonder: what does he have planned for the first 100 days?
So, we've organized all the promises former Delaware Senator Biden made when he took office, according to his campaign "vision" (opens in new tab) and his post-election press conference. From rolling back Trump's immigration laws to rejoining the Paris Accord, here's what we can expect from Biden in his first three months in office.
Biden and his choice for Vice President, Kamala Harris, have talked regularly both before and after the election about the need to implement a more robust plan than the previous administration to deal with the worsening coronavirus pandemic. Their main focus was on expanding access to and confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine, the latter of which they hoped would be boosted by both receiving their first dose of the vaccine (opens in new tab) on national television.
"People are losing faith in the effectiveness of the vaccine," Biden told CNN in September (opens in new tab).
"What the president and the vice president do matters.
Less than a week before taking office, Biden announced the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 bailout, the American Rescue Plan. The program aims to vaccinate 100 million people within the first 100 days of his administration. Dr. Anthony Fauci (opens in new tab) said the goal is "absolutely doable." Biden's team will achieve this goal by spurring vaccine production, establishing new federal vaccination hubs across the country, making vaccines more readily available at local pharmacies, hiring frontline healthcare workers, and allocating federal funds to the National Guard and FEMA to support vaccine distribution. accomplish these goals.
In addition, on his first day in office, Biden will sign an executive order requiring the wearing of masks on federal property and during interstate travel, and will begin the process to rejoin the World Health Organization, which Trump withdrew from in July 2020.
The Biden-Harris campaign initially presented the following agenda as part of their plan to address climate change (open in new tab):
Since their election, their administration has further refined these goals: according to Biden's chief of staff, Ron Crain, Paris Agreement According to Biden's chief of staff, Ron Crane, rejoining the Paris Agreement will be one of the presidential decrees (open in new tab) that Biden will sign on his first day in office. In his first few days as president, Biden is also expected (opens in new tab) to rescind the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, long criticized as a major contributor to climate change.
In addition to his campaign plan to create a cabinet-level working group to promote union organizing and collective bargaining in the public and private sectors, Biden also plans to spend his first 100 days enacting policies to return the US economy to pre-COVID levels.
The "American Rescue Plan" allocates $1 trillion in COVID-related economic assistance. This includes $1,400 in stimulus (in addition to the $600 checks that began being distributed in early January, bringing the total proposed by congressional Democrats to $2,000), an additional $400 per week for unemployment benefit recipients, plus billions more for small business relief, state-level assistance, federal nutrition programs, and support for childcare providers. The bill includes billions of dollars for small business relief, state-level assistance, federal nutrition programs, and support for child care providers. In addition, the bailout plan proposes to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, more than double the current $7.25 per hour.
Besides the COVID bailout program, Biden's first day of executive action reportedly includes a request to the Department of Education to extend the moratorium on student loan payments and interest.
Another important executive order Biden will implement within hours of taking office is the repeal of President Trump's Muslim ban, which restricted travel from Muslim-majority countries. Biden is also expected to end Trump's declaration of a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border in the days that follow, which allowed millions of dollars to go directly into border wall construction without requiring congressional approval.
After taking such immediate action, Biden also stated that he would introduce an immigration bill to Congress on his first day in office. The bill (opens in new tab) would include an eight-year path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and would reportedly include a "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" (opens in new tab), or expedited process for "Dreamers" who are currently protected by the DACA program. The process reportedly includes.
Other parts of the Biden-Harris campaign's immigration policy plan included the following commitments:
As ardent supporters of sensible gun control legislation, Biden and his administration have repeatedly stated their goal of introducing such legislation as soon as possible after taking office. They will first ask the FBI to identify loopholes in current background check rules, then ask Congress to close those loopholes, roll back legal protections for firearms manufacturers, and reorganize the government agencies currently overseeing gun-related legislation.
During the campaign, Biden and Harris also outlined further key points of their gun control plan, including reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (open in new tab). They will also fund federal programs that support survivors of gun violence and domestic abuse and provide trauma-informed, culturally responsive care.
Biden outlined plans to increase government awareness and support for the LGBTQ+ community. One of these is to focus on transgender women of color and to leverage federal resources to prevent violence against transgender women. He has also announced his intention to pass the Equality Act (open in new tab), which would prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. If passed, he will urge his cabinet (opens in new tab) to enforce this law in all federal departments and agencies.
In addition, another of Biden's first day's executive orders is to repeal the Trump administration's ban on transgender military service.
On his first day in office, Biden will direct Marcia Fudge, his nominee for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, to lead a task force that will ask mayors and other elected officials to detail what they think they can do to make housing available to everyone in their communities The plan is to do so. The report will be due within 100 days. On the same day, the President will also take executive action to extend the nationwide ban on evictions and foreclosures.
In addition, if confirmed as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Fudge would be asked to review current federal housing policy to see if it fits within Biden's "housing first" approach. This document will also examine homeless assistance grants and the outcomes they can provide to communities.
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