President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn into office on Jan. 20, and they’re planning on getting to work right away with 17 executive actions.
Most of the actions will reverse previous Trump policies, but others will be focused on the coronavirus pandemic, the economic fallout, racial equity, and the environment. According to CNBC, Biden will issue the orders immediately after the inauguration ceremony
The most notable of action is Biden’s “100 Days Masking Challenge.” The order will enforce the use of masks and social distancing in all federal buildings and by federal workers and contractors. Another health-related order by Biden will make the U.S. part of the World Health Organization again.
Actions related to the pandemic includes structuring the federal government to develop a coordinated pandemic response. Also an extension of the freeze of student loan payments and of the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums.
Biden’s actions will also eliminate the Muslim ban, fortify and preserve protections for Dreamers, reverse Trump’s order excluding undocumented immigrants from the Census count, and stop border wall construction. Human and civil rights actions include launching a whole-of-government initiative to advance racial equity. Additionally preventing and combating discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation and an Executive Branch Personnel Ethics Executive Order.
The former vice president will rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and will roll back most, if not all, of Trump’s environmental actions, including the Keystone XL Pipeline, and revoking all oil and gas development at national wildlife monuments.
“Democracy has prevailed,” Biden said in his speech Wednesday. “Few people in our nation’s history have been more challenged or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we’re in now. To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America, requires so much more than words and requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity.”