U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to sign dozens of executive orders and send sweeping bills to Congress in his first days in office, aiming to roll back some of Donald Trump’s signature policies on immigration and climate change while taking action to ramp up the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis.
READ MORE: Biden to unveil sweeping U.S. immigration bill on first day of office, reports say
Here is a list of what to expect, according to interviews with several of Biden’s advisers, a review of campaign promises and a recent memo by the president-elect’s incoming chief of staff Ron Klain.
COVID-19 crisis
- Seek a $1.9 trillion spending proposal aimed at accelerating the distribution of coronavirus vaccines while providing economic relief to millions of Americans hurt by the pandemic.
- Impose a mask-wearing requirement on all federal property, planes and buses.
- Extend relief on federal student loan payments and extend an eviction moratorium.
- Sign an executive order that helps schools and businesses reopen safely, expands coronavirus testing and establishes clearer public health standards.
- Direct federal agencies to take immediate action to deliver economic relief to working families bearing the brunt of the crisis.
- Return the United States to the World Health Organization. Trump withdrew from the agency, saying it failed to properly oversee the COVID-19 pandemic.
Climate
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- Bring the United States back into the Paris Climate Agreement, the global pact forged five years ago among nearly 200 nations to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Trump vowed in 2016 to pull the United States out of the agreement, making good on that promise in November 2020.
- Reimpose methane pollution limits for new and existing oil and gas operations repealed by Trump.
- Using the federal government procurement system – which spends $500 billion every year – to make facilities more reliant on clean energy and purchase zero-emissions vehicles.
- Ban new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
- Cancel the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to the United States.
Immigration
- Repeal the ban on almost all travel from some Muslim-majority countries.
- Send to Congress a sweeping immigration bill that could legalize millions of immigrants living in the United States without legal permission.
- Reinstate the program allowing “Dreamers,” people who were brought to the United States illegally as children, to remain in the country.
- Reverse Trump’s policy that separated immigrant parents from their children at the border, including ending the prosecution of parents for minor immigration violations, and prioritize the reunification of any children still separated from their families.
- Reverse Trump’s more restrictive asylum policies, such as imposing additional restrictions on anyone traveling through Mexico or Guatemala and attempting to prevent victims of gang and domestic violence from receiving asylum.
- End Trump’s National Emergency declaration that allowed him to shift federal funds from the Department of Defense to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
- Order an immediate review of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for vulnerable populations who cannot find safety in their countries ripped apart by violence or disaster.
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