On his first day in office, US President Joe Biden is expected to sign 17 executive actions, of which 15 will be executive orders. Some of these will reverse the decisions made by his predecessor, Donald Trump.
Let’s take a look at the issues which these executive orders will have an impact on.
1. Rejoin Paris Climate Agreement
In June 2017, ex-President Trump, despite widespread criticism, announced his intent to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Agreement (a binding international treaty on the climate crisis signed by 189 countries in the world) after being a part of it for a year and a half.
After this declaration he officially retreated from the treaty a year later. Biden’s plan to address the climate crisis was a central part of his presidential campaign, and he plans to rejoin the Paris Agreement immediately.
2. End so-called "Muslim travel ban"
After he took office in January 2017, one of Trump’s first executive actions was to enact a travel ban on 7 Muslim-majority countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen). This action got immediate worldwide outrage and criticism.
Biden plans to end the travel restrictions on Day 1. The President spent much of his campaign reaching out to marginalized communities that were specifically targeted and discriminated against by his predecessor.
3. Immigration reform
Biden plans to propose to Congress an immigration bill that could provide approximately 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status an 8 year path to citizenship. The legislation is a marked shift from the Trump administration's harsh policies and significant number of deportations and apprehensions at the U.S. border during the last four years.
The Obama-Biden administration also faced criticism from immigration reform advocates for a high number of deportations. Obama even earned the nickname “Deporter-in-Chief.” Biden said during the 2020 campaign that their broad deportation policy was “a big mistake.”
4. Coronavirus handling
Biden will launch his 100-Day Masking Challenge by issuing a mask mandate on federal property and inter-state travel. The initiative is a policy as well as a cultural departure from the infamously mask-averse Trump.
Biden has stated that he will push for masks to be worn nationwide, but his legal authority to enforce such a mandate is unclear.
He promises a new public-private partnership called a “Pandemic Testing Board” that would be responsible for boosting production of coronavirus testing kits and lab supplies as well as coordinating access to those services. He also promised to make COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccines free for all Americans.
5. Extend moratorium on evictions and student loan payments
Biden will ask the Department of Education to extend existing suspensions on student loan payments and evictions that are currently set to expire at the end of January. Biden’s proposed “American Rescue Plan”, if passed by Congress, would extend the moratorium on evictions until September 2021.
President Biden’s international rebuild has begun. Trump has left the nation’s legacy more polarised and disoriented than ever before. The recommitment to the Paris climate accord and the other steps are, symbolically, the Biden team’s first olive branches to the rest of the world.
This updated approach in foreign policy is bound to impact India as well. It would certainly have different flavors to it than the Trump administration’s straightforward yet highly favorable attitude.
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