Biden’s first week
As soon as he entered the White House last week, Joe Biden set about dismantling his predecessor’s legacy. Within three days of taking office, the new president had signed 30 executive orders, many of which reversed policies introduced by Donald Trump: he had the US rejoin the Paris Climate Accord; he made the wearing of masks mandatory on federal property, and on planes, trains and some buses; he revoked the ban on nationals from seven mainly Muslim countries entering the US; and he put an end to the ban on transgender people serving in the military.
But Biden’s call for bipartisan cooperation suffered its first setback when Republicans in Congress made it clear that they will oppose his proposed $1.9trn coronavirus stimulus package. It will be further tested by the article of impeachment the Democrats delivered to the Senate, charging Trump with “incitement to insurrection” ( see page 8).
Biden isn’t wasting any time, said the San Francisco Chronicle. In just a few days, he has made real progress in reversing Trump’s agenda. He has ordered construction of the border wall to stop. And he has unveiled a series of measures aimed at tackling climate change and addressing discrimination. Most importantly, he has set about tackling a pandemic which has killed 436,000 Americans, not least by starting to fix the “chaotic” vaccine roll-out. But the real hard work is only just beginning, said The Guardian: forcing an ambitious legislative agenda through a Senate that is split 50/50 will be a real challenge; as will “binding up the nation’s wounds” after four years of Trump.
Biden seems determined not to “let a crisis go to waste”, said the New York Post. His plans for a sweeping coronavirus stimulus package may be popular among left-wingers, but moderate members of Congress aren’t sold on it: they recognise that it could cripple, rather than bolster, the economy. If Biden is serious about working with Republicans, now would be a good time for him to show it.