Biden plans quick executive action to redirect US policy
US President-elect Joe Biden will make immediate moves to curb the COVID-19 pandemic and roll back some of President Donald Trump’s policies after he is sworn in on Wednesday, Biden officials said.
It heralds the beginning of a series of policy corrections to redirect the country, according to analysts.
In the first few hours after the inauguration, Biden reportedly plans a series of executive actions, an opening salvo that would herald a 10-day blitz of moves to redirect the United States without waiting for Congress.
Xu Liping, a researcher at the National Institute of International Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that Biden’s executive actions intend to correct some US policies from the past few years that advocate unilateralism and an “America first” doctrine.
“These actions are just a prelude to more corrective actions in the future,” Xu said.
Over the past few years, the US government has enacted some policies without careful consideration, he said, which caused adverse effects to the global community and are also not entirely in the interests of the US. Thus, more corrections to important policies are definitely expected, Xu said.
The US now faces multiple crises, including the pandemic, a ravaged economy, climate change and racial tensions.
Ron Klain, Biden’s choice for chief of staff, outlined the president-elect’s plans on Sunday to CNN, saying that Biden will deliver “a message of moving this country forward” and “a message of unity” in his inaugural speech on Wednesday.
Among a dozen actions that Biden will take on his first day in the White House are rejoining the Paris Agreement on climate change, reversing Trump’s ban on people from certain Muslim majority countries from entering the US and addressing the raging coronavirus pandemic by issuing a mask mandate.
Biden will also ask Congress to act swiftly on a $1.9 trillion virus relief bill to revive the economy. He plans to immediately speed up vaccine rollouts across the US, as the coronavirus has caused some 400,000 deaths and continues to take its toll.
Respect for globalization
Tian Dewen, deputy director of the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Biden’s policies will differ from those of Trump. While Trump advocates unilateralism, Biden’s policies reflect a greater respect for globalization and cooperation.
“After Biden enters the White House, the most important thing domestically should be combating the COVID-19 pandemic, which has severely affected the country,” he said. “Globally, he is likely to mend ties with allies, readjust diplomatic policies toward other countries and rejoin global organizations.”
With extraordinary security concerns enveloping Washington, the city is under the watch of thousands of National Guard troops ahead of Biden’s swearing-in on Wednesday. The aim is to avoid a repeat of what happened when crowds of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on Jan 6, resulting in five deaths.
To secure Biden’s inauguration, the FBI will vet all of the 25,000 National Guard troops entering Washington for the event, fearing that some who are supposed to safeguard the event might become an inside threat to the president-elect and others attending the event.
“We’re continually going through the process, and taking second, third looks at every one of the individuals assigned to this operation,” Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The Associated Press on Sunday, adding that they haven’t seen any evidence of threats yet.
Supporters of Trump have made quiet protests at state capitols across the country, and only small groups of armed demonstrators appearing in states such as Ohio, Texas and Oregon.
Xu said that he is positive that there will be a smooth inauguration in Washington on Wednesday, although small protests are likely to continue in other states.
“The rioters of the Jan 6 event will have to bear legal responsibility, which has a deterrent effect on others,” he said.