JOE SET TO BLAST OUT OF THE GATE
Will start by boosting economy and vax, ending Muslim ban, rejoining Paris accords
He’s not bidin’ his time. President-elect Joe Biden plans to hit the ground running once he is inaugurated Wednesday, with measures to beat back the coronavirus outbreak and undo some of President Trump’s legacy.
Shortly after he takes the oath of office in a fortresslike capital, Biden will make a series of executive orders to rev up his administration, according to incoming chief of staff Ron Klain.
The roughly dozen actions include ending Trump’s immigration restrictions on people from some Muslim-majority countries, rejoining the Paris climate accord and mandating mask wearing on federal property and while traveling between states.
The moves amount to a striking repudiation of the Trump administration, which began with a harsh crackdown on immigration and withdrawal from the Paris treaty, in which about 200 countries pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“These executive actions will deliver relief to the millions of Americans that are struggling in the face of these crises,” Klain stated in a weekend memo to senior staff. “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.”
Biden will also extend a moratorium on payment of federal student loans and take steps to prevent foreclosures and evictions, according to Klain.
As the 46th president takes office during an astonishing confluence of crises — from the deadly pandemic and its economic fallout to demands for racial justice — he’ll work to do everything he can without waiting for help from Congress, Klain indicated.
That includes an ambitious plan to get 100 million Americans vaccinated against coronavirus during the first 100 days of his administration.
The president-elect promised Friday to boost vaccine production and distribution as the U.S. death toll from coronavirus nears 400,000.
There’s also a jaw-dropping $1.9 trillion economic relief package in the pipeline. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who’s set to become majority leader of his chamber this week, has promised to see the legislation through after weeks of deadlock in Washington.
Next week, Biden plans to take additional steps relating to criminal justice reform, climate change and immigration, according to Klain.
The measures include a directive to expedite the reuniting of families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border under Trump.
The Biden agenda is a nightmare to some Republicans.
“We are going to have in the first 100 days by the Biden administration the most aggressive
socialized policy effort in the history of the country,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Still, about two-thirds of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of the presidential transition in the face of Trump’s failed effort to overturn the November election and the shocking Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters.
According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday, 67% of Americans say Biden’s been doing a good job so far. Americans were split nearly 50-50 on the question of whether he’ll make the right decisions once he’s in office, the survey found.
The president-elect will seek to strike a note of unity in his inauguration speech, according to Klain.
“I think you can expect that this will be a moment where President-elect Biden will really work to try to turn the page on the divisiveness and the hatred over the last four years and really lay out a positive, optimistic vision for the country, and lay out a way — lay out a path forward that really calls on all of us to work together,” incoming White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said on “Fox News Sunday.”
That could be a tall order as the Senate readies for Trump’s impeachment trial.
The process will move “as quickly as possible,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said Sunday, insisting that the Senate will be able to confirm Biden’s appointees at the same time.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was set to resign from her Senate seat Monday.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom will appoint fellow Democrat Alex Padilla to Harris’ seat for the last two years of her term. Padilla is currently California’s secretary of state.
Once Sens.-elect Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia are confirmed, the Senate will be divided 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, with Harris the tie-breaking vote for Democratic control.