Biden orders halt to border wall; former presidents meet.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is moving swiftly to dismantle Donald Trump’s legacy on his first day in office, signing a series of executive actions that reverse course on immigration, climate change, racial equity and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The new president signed the orders just hours after taking the oath of office at the Capitol, pivoting quickly from his pared-down inauguration ceremony to enacting his agenda. With the stroke of a pen, Biden ordered a halt to the construction of Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall, ended the ban on travel from some Muslim-majority countries, declared his intent to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization and revoked the approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, aides said.
The 15 executive actions, and two directives, amount to an attempt to rewind the last four years of federal policies with striking speed. Only two recent presidents signed executive actions on their first day in office — and each signed just one.
“There’s no time to start like today,” Biden said in his first comments to reporters as president.
Biden’s most ambitious proposal, unveiled Wednesday, is an immigration bill that would give legal status and a path to citizenship to anyone in the United States before Jan. 1 — an estimated 11 million people.
Biden wore a mask as he signed the orders in the Oval Office.
Senate confirms intel director
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Avril Haines as director of national intelligence, giving Biden the first member of his Cabinet and placing the first woman in charge of the agency. The vote came after three new Democratic senators were sworn in: Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia, and Vice President Kamala Harris’ California successor, Alex Padilla.
Clinton appreciates scene
Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton told The Associated Press that she was “relieved and grateful” to see Biden sworn in where, “just a few weeks ago, marauders and terrorists had been attempting to stop democracy.”
Clyburn dubbed ‘savior’ by Bush
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., the highestranking Black member of Congress, said former President George W. Bush lauded his role as a “savior” in helping get President Biden elected. Clyburn told reporters Wednesday that Bush told him if he had not given Biden the boost he did ahead of South Carolina’s primary, “we would not be having this transfer of power today.” Clyburn said Bush went on to say that Biden was “the only one who could have defeated the incumbent president,” Donald Trump. Trump and the Bush family didn’t get along.
Gaga, J. Lo, Brooks perform
Lady Gaga belted out the national anthem at the inauguration, wearing a huge doveshaped brooch and a billowing red sculpted skirt as she sang into a golden microphone. She was followed by Jennifer Lopez, dressed all in white Chanel, who threw a line of Spanish into her medley of “This Land is Your Land” and “America the Beautiful.” Country star Garth Brooks sang a gospel-tinged, soulful a capella rendition of “Amazing Grace.” Gaga went on Twitter to explain that the giant brooch on her Schiaparelli haute couture outfit was “a dove carrying an olive branch. May we all make peace with each other.”