Candidate Joe Biden made a slate of “Day One” promises to voters, and after his swearing-in at noon Wednesday, President Biden can begin taking executive action.
Incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain provided a rough outline for Biden’s first 10 days of executive orders, presidential memoranda, and Cabinet agency directives once he takes his oath.
“President-elect Biden will take action — not just to reverse the gravest damages of the Trump administration — but also to start moving our country forward,” Klain wrote in a memo circulated over the weekend.
But on Wednesday morning Biden’s transition team released more details regarding the executive action he’s scheduled to take Wednesday evening. Here’s a brief rundown of some action items Biden will cross off his to-do list:
Launch a “100 Days Masking Challenge”
Biden will launch his “100 Days Masking Challenge,” a program he previewed last month. After legal consternation since last summer over whether he could issue a national mask mandate, Biden’s team settled on an executive order making face coverings and social distancing compulsory on federal properties and for federal employees. He’ll sign that order Wednesday.
Re-engage with the World Health Organization
Biden will reverse President Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization. Biden’s chief medical officer, Dr. Anthony Fauci, will speak at WHO’s Executive Board meeting on Thursday.
Restructure the federal coronavirus response
Biden will overhaul Trump’s COVID-19 task force and Operation Warp Speed, including ditching its name. He’ll also restore the National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense to focus on domestic and global biological threats.
Extend federal eviction and foreclosure moratoriums, and the student loan pause
Biden will ask the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to consider continuing the federal eviction moratorium and a similar policy in place under the Federal Housing Finance Agency until at least March 31. He’s requesting the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to do the same for federally-guaranteed mortgages.
Biden will also ask the Department of Education to consider keeping the pause on federal student loan interest and principal payments until at least September 30.
Rejoin the Paris Agreement and counter Trump’s environmental deregulation
Biden will sign a legal instrument to reinstate the U.S. in the Paris Agreement on climate change, which will be sent to the United Nations on Wednesday.
Biden will also ask all federal departments and agencies to review and ameliorate any action taken during the Trump administration that was “harmful to public health, damaging to the environment, unsupported by the best available science.” That review will include revising standards for vehicle fuel economy, methane emissions, and appliance and building efficiency.
He’ll also revoke the presidential permit granted to the Keystone XL pipeline.
Preserve and fortify Dreamer protections, include illegal immigrants in the census count, and cease Trump’s “extreme” immigration enforcement
Biden will sign a memorandum directing his Homeland Security Secretary-designate Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General-designate Merrick Garland “to take all appropriate actions under the law” to “preserve and fortify” former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA covers select illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
He’ll also sign an order setting aside Trump’s effort to exclude noncitizens from the census and congressional redistricting. He’ll sign a separate order stopping Trump’s “harsh and extreme immigration enforcement.”
Reverse the Trump “Muslim Ban”
Biden will sign an action ending Trump’s so-called Muslim Ban, his transition describing it as rooted in “religious animus and xenophobia.” Biden’s administration will work with foreign governments and partners to share more information about travelers while revisiting Trump’s “extreme vetting” measures.
