President-elect Joe Biden is preparing to sign a blizzard of executive orders as soon as he is inaugurated Wednesday that will lay out his coronavirus, immigration and climate policies — launching a 10-day cascade of administrative actions aimed at reversing the policies of his Republican predecessor.
The most pressing of his priorities will be measures to combat the ongoing deadly coronavirus pandemic. Once he is sworn in at noon, Biden plans to sign executive actions that will require masks on all federal grounds and ask agencies to extend moratoriums on evictions and on federal student loan payments.
He will urge Americans to don face coverings for 100 days while reviving a global health unit in the National Security Council — allowed to go dormant during the Trump administration — to oversee pandemic preparedness and response. Biden will also begin to reverse steps taken by President Trump to withdraw from the World Health Organization by dispatching Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease official, to speak at the international group’s executive board meeting on Thursday.
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For months, the Trump administration promised to deliver as much as 100 million coronavirus vaccine doses by the new year. It delivered a fraction of that. (The Washington Post)
“As you’ve heard the president-elect say, the pandemic will continue to get worse before it gets better,” Jeff Zients, the incoming White House coronavirus czar, told reporters on a call previewing the administration’s actions. “This is clearly a national emergency and we will treat it as such.”
Biden to overturn Trump’s climate legacy on dozens of fronts
Most of the 17 directives that Biden plans to sign from the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon have been signaled previously by Biden or staff members. Taken together with the two legislative plans he has sent to Congress — coronavirus relief and an immigration overhaul — the orders highlight Biden’s immediate priorities, while sending a message that his administration plans to reengage on the global stage.
Biden, who enters the White House during a time of historic crisis, has said he wants to move quickly to address the country’s big, urgent problems with a spirit of unity and national purpose. The pandemic has killed 400,000 Americans, the economy has shed millions of jobs and just two weeks ago, thousands of rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overthrow his election, which he won by more than 7 million votes.
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“President-elect Biden is taking historic action on Day One to advance his agenda — including signing 15 executive actions and asking agencies to take steps in an additional two areas,” incoming White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “This compares to two Day One executive actions from Biden’s four predecessors in the White House combined.”
The fine print of each directive will not be released until Biden signs them later Wednesday.
On economic relief stemming from the pandemic, Biden plans to ask the Education Department to consider extending a freeze on both interest and principal payments for federal student loans until Sept. 30, while requesting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extend a moratorium on evictions that expires after this month to at least through March.
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He will also ask three key agencies — the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development — to extend foreclosure moratoriums for federally backed mortgages under their purview through at least the end of March.
Incoming White House officials emphasized the need for Congress to approve his larger relief package, which would extend unemployment benefits; dole out an additional $1,400 in stimulus payments for millions of Americans; and devote tens of billions of dollars to economic needs such as rental, housing and food assistance, among other measures.
“These are emergency measures that will help to make sure that no American is put in the place of having to make the decision to pay their student loan payment or put food on the table in the short term and will help to provide some near-term relief,” said Brian Deese, the incoming director of the White House National Economic Council.
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Biden’s relief plan is already facing stiff challenges in Congress, as Democrats hold only narrow majorities in both chambers and Republican support is still needed to pass most bills in the Senate.
On immigration, Biden will sign an order repealing the ban on travel from several majority-Muslim nations, while nullifying the Trump administration’s directive that attempted to exclude the counting of noncitizens from the U.S. census.
Biden instructs Education Department to extend pause on federal student loan payments through September
Another action will call on the Department of Homeland Security to continue an Obama-era initiative protecting “dreamers” from deportation and issuing them work permits as long as they qualified under the requirements laid out when the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, began in 2012. Biden will also end the national emergency over the border that Trump declared as a way to circumvent Congress when lawmakers would not grant him funding for his wall.
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On climate change, Biden plans to sign an order revoking the permit, issued by the Trump administration, that allowed for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and to rejoin the Paris climate accord. The United States will officially be part of the 189-country climate agreement in 30 days.
On racial equity issues, Biden plans to rescind the “1776 Commission” established by the Trump administration, which the outgoing president framed last year as a “pro-American curriculum that celebrates the truth” about U.S. history but that the incoming administration says tries to erase the racial scars of America’s past.
Biden plans to continue rolling out executive orders in coming days. According to guidance shared with Capitol Hill, he plans to issue administrative actions relating to the coronavirus on Thursday and economic relief on Friday. A “Buy American” action will come Monday, and an order addressing racial equity issues will follow Tuesday.
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He will announce actions on climate change on Jan. 27, health care on Jan. 28, immigration on Jan. 29, and international affairs and national security on Feb. 1.
Executive actions to be issued in coming days include revoking the ban on transgender people from serving in the military, as well as reversing the so-called global gag rule that blocks U.S. aid to organizations abroad that perform abortions or offer counseling on the procedure, Psaki said.
The most pressing of his priorities will be measures to combat the ongoing deadly coronavirus pandemic. Once he is sworn in at noon, Biden plans to sign executive actions that will require masks on all federal grounds and ask agencies to extend moratoriums on evictions and on federal student loan payments.
He will urge Americans to don face coverings for 100 days while reviving a global health unit in the National Security Council — allowed to go dormant during the Trump administration — to oversee pandemic preparedness and response. Biden will also begin to reverse steps taken by President Trump to withdraw from the World Health Organization by dispatching Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease official, to speak at the international group’s executive board meeting on Thursday.
AD
For months, the Trump administration promised to deliver as much as 100 million coronavirus vaccine doses by the new year. It delivered a fraction of that. (The Washington Post)
“As you’ve heard the president-elect say, the pandemic will continue to get worse before it gets better,” Jeff Zients, the incoming White House coronavirus czar, told reporters on a call previewing the administration’s actions. “This is clearly a national emergency and we will treat it as such.”
Biden to overturn Trump’s climate legacy on dozens of fronts
Most of the 17 directives that Biden plans to sign from the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon have been signaled previously by Biden or staff members. Taken together with the two legislative plans he has sent to Congress — coronavirus relief and an immigration overhaul — the orders highlight Biden’s immediate priorities, while sending a message that his administration plans to reengage on the global stage.
Biden, who enters the White House during a time of historic crisis, has said he wants to move quickly to address the country’s big, urgent problems with a spirit of unity and national purpose. The pandemic has killed 400,000 Americans, the economy has shed millions of jobs and just two weeks ago, thousands of rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overthrow his election, which he won by more than 7 million votes.
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“President-elect Biden is taking historic action on Day One to advance his agenda — including signing 15 executive actions and asking agencies to take steps in an additional two areas,” incoming White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “This compares to two Day One executive actions from Biden’s four predecessors in the White House combined.”
The fine print of each directive will not be released until Biden signs them later Wednesday.
On economic relief stemming from the pandemic, Biden plans to ask the Education Department to consider extending a freeze on both interest and principal payments for federal student loans until Sept. 30, while requesting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extend a moratorium on evictions that expires after this month to at least through March.
AD
He will also ask three key agencies — the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development — to extend foreclosure moratoriums for federally backed mortgages under their purview through at least the end of March.
Incoming White House officials emphasized the need for Congress to approve his larger relief package, which would extend unemployment benefits; dole out an additional $1,400 in stimulus payments for millions of Americans; and devote tens of billions of dollars to economic needs such as rental, housing and food assistance, among other measures.
“These are emergency measures that will help to make sure that no American is put in the place of having to make the decision to pay their student loan payment or put food on the table in the short term and will help to provide some near-term relief,” said Brian Deese, the incoming director of the White House National Economic Council.
AD
Biden’s relief plan is already facing stiff challenges in Congress, as Democrats hold only narrow majorities in both chambers and Republican support is still needed to pass most bills in the Senate.
On immigration, Biden will sign an order repealing the ban on travel from several majority-Muslim nations, while nullifying the Trump administration’s directive that attempted to exclude the counting of noncitizens from the U.S. census.
Biden instructs Education Department to extend pause on federal student loan payments through September
Another action will call on the Department of Homeland Security to continue an Obama-era initiative protecting “dreamers” from deportation and issuing them work permits as long as they qualified under the requirements laid out when the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, began in 2012. Biden will also end the national emergency over the border that Trump declared as a way to circumvent Congress when lawmakers would not grant him funding for his wall.
AD
On climate change, Biden plans to sign an order revoking the permit, issued by the Trump administration, that allowed for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and to rejoin the Paris climate accord. The United States will officially be part of the 189-country climate agreement in 30 days.
On racial equity issues, Biden plans to rescind the “1776 Commission” established by the Trump administration, which the outgoing president framed last year as a “pro-American curriculum that celebrates the truth” about U.S. history but that the incoming administration says tries to erase the racial scars of America’s past.
Biden plans to continue rolling out executive orders in coming days. According to guidance shared with Capitol Hill, he plans to issue administrative actions relating to the coronavirus on Thursday and economic relief on Friday. A “Buy American” action will come Monday, and an order addressing racial equity issues will follow Tuesday.
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He will announce actions on climate change on Jan. 27, health care on Jan. 28, immigration on Jan. 29, and international affairs and national security on Feb. 1.
Executive actions to be issued in coming days include revoking the ban on transgender people from serving in the military, as well as reversing the so-called global gag rule that blocks U.S. aid to organizations abroad that perform abortions or offer counseling on the procedure, Psaki said.
