BIDEN’S BLITZ!
Sleepy Joe? President to pack his first 100 days – after axing Trump laws
DONALD Trump labelled his White House successor ‘Sleepy Joe’ – but there’s nothing sluggish about his schedule as he inherits an unprecedented string of crises.
Yesterday, the new President was ploughing through as many as 17 executive orders to undo the Trump legacy and fulfil promises on coronavirus, climate change and immigration.
But what of later, during his first hectic 100 days in power?
CORONAVIRUS
His immediate mask rule makes wearing masks and social distancing compulsory in all federal buildings and on federal land, as well as for all federal employees and contractors.
Ever the optimist, Mr Biden is challenging all Americans to wear a mask for the first 100 days of his administration – a period in which his administration is attempting to carry out 100 million Covid-19 vaccinations. The new President has already named his own taskforce to tackle a pandemic which has claimed 400,000 American lives. The US will rejoin the World Health Organization and Mr Biden has picked Dr Anthony Fauci, who famously fell out with Trump over the virus, to lead his delegation.
ECONOMY
Biden’s $1.9trillion [£1.5trillion] relief plan includes $400billion [€330billion] for arresting the spread of Covid and strengthening the vaccination programme and more than $1trillion [€830billion] to assist struggling families. His ‘Build Back Better’ economic recovery not only calls for spending trillions on USmade products, health services and infrastructure projects but includes a strong emphasis on racial equity and investment in clean energy and artificial intelligence.
His tax plans have upset some after it emerged that top earners in New York and California could pay as much as 62%. However those earning less than $400,000 (€330,000) can expect their tax bill to go down under his scheme to help the middle class.
IMMIGRATION
As well as ending the Trump ‘travel ban’ on seven mainly Muslim countries, Mr Biden will also end the policy of separating undocumented parents from their children at borders.
He intends to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programe, which currently shields 700,000 people who came to the US as young children from being deported.
Also on his list yesterday was immediately ending further construction work on his predecessor’s infamous Mexican border wall. Little of it has been built so far and a Trump promise that the Mexicans would pay came to nothing.
ENVIRONMENT
He’s called for a plan to achieve a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions by 2050. The US will sign up to the Paris international global warming agreement, which Trump abandoned, and ask member countries to crack down on China’s use of coal. While his energy plan will encourage investment in electric vehicles, renewable energy, more efficient buildings and conservation, he’s not expected to end oil and gas fracking.
FOREIGN POLICY
Restoring good relations with allies will be a priority – he has complained that Mr Trump ‘poked his finger in the eye of all our friends and allies, and he’s embraced every autocrat in the world... we have lost all our friends’. His aides say he may reverse Trump’s decision to slash the number of US troops in Germany.
He will also rejoin the Iran nuclear deal as long as the rogue state starts complying. He wants to work with allies to toughen resistance to Chinese tech companies such as Huawei, China’s theft of intellectual property and its empirebuilding in the South China Sea.
Mr Biden is intent on extending the New START treaty with Russia, the world’s sole remaining nuclear proliferation pact when it expires in February. He has pledged to crack down on Moscow’s foreign aggression and its tireless efforts to spread online disinformation.
GUNS AND EQUALITY
He supports banning the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and requiring more background checks.
He has promised in his first 100 days to establish a new police oversight body to address institutional racism. A Biden executive order will repeal a Trump ban on transgender troops in the military. He also wants to restore the Obama administration’s protection of transgender students in schools, safeguarding their access to locker rooms ‘in accordance with their gender identity’.