Now the real work can begin
New leader faces Covid crisis...and Trump impeachment
AMERICA’S new President has finally been sworn in, but now the hard work begins.
Here’s what is likely to happen during Joe Biden’s crucial first days in office.
FIRST DAY
Immediately after his inauguration at noon yesterday, Joe Biden was handed the so-called “nuclear football” – a hardened briefcase always at a president’s side.
The case, carried by a military aide, contains nuclear attack plans and the mechanism for authorising the launch codes. Back at the Oval Office, the President will sign 17 executive orders and actions with the aim of quickly undoing the past four Trump years.
His four predecessors signed only four executive actions in their first days in office.
Measures include a nationwide mask-wearing rule in federal buildings, halting construction of the Mexico border wall, rejoining the Paris climate accord, scrapping Donald Trump’s planned departure from theWorld Health Organisation and ending his controversial socalled Muslim ban.
Mr Biden’s first 24 hours in office are also expected to include a flurry of phone calls to world leaders as the new President reassures allies about the US role on the global stage.
Yesterday the President and First Lady Jill Biden spent their first night in theWhite House.
Two and a half miles away from her boss’s seat of power, VicePresident Kamala Harris and her husband, America’s first “second gentleman” Douglas Emhoff, moved into their official residence at the United States Naval Observatory.
FIRST WEEK
Mr Biden’s Cabinet choices are likely to be confirmed by the Senate. Meanwhile more executive actions are planned.
They include reversing the so-called Mexico City policy – a decades-old ruling barring US foreign aid to any organisation providing abortions – and revoking Mr Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the US military.
Mr Biden has said tackling the pandemic that has killed more than 400,000 Americans is top of his priority list.
He will meet his recentlyunveiled Coronavirus Task Force and try to convince Congress to pass a £1.4trillion economic relief package, which includes a bonus stimulus payment of £1,026 for every American.
Meanwhile a Senate impeachment trial of Mr Trump is expected to begin in the early days of the presidency. Ms Harris will have an important role in getting bills passed by the Senate. With the chamber split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, she will have the tie-breaking vote.
FIRST 100 DAYS
The fight against Covid will dominate Mr Biden’s first 100 days, a period often seen as an indicator of how a new president will fare.
Mr Biden has already said he will ask Americans to wear masks for 100 days after he takes office and has recently promised to carry out 100 million Covid vaccinations in that time.
But he has also talked about how the period will also focus on three other areas – reforming immigration policy, rebuilding alliances overseas and jump-starting efforts to tackle climate change.
They include plans for an immigration bill that will provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented migrants and a “climate world summit”, specifically addressing global shipping and aviation emissions.
Vice-President Harris has also said she will give Congress 100 days “to get their act together and have the courage to pass reasonable gun safety laws”, vowing to take “executive action” if they do not.