WASHINGTON (AP) – In his first hour as president, Joe Biden plans to take executive steps to reverse some of his predecessor’s most controversial decisions and address the raging coronavirus pandemic, his incoming chief of staff said Saturday.
The opening salvo will usher in a ten-day blitz of executive action, as Biden wants to act quickly to divert the country to the presidency of Donald Trump without waiting for Congress.
On Wednesday, after his inauguration, Biden will end Trump’s restriction on immigration to the U.S. from some Muslim-majority countries, rejoining the Paris climate agreement and carrying out a mandate for federal property and during interstate travel. That’s about a dozen actions Biden will take on his first day in the White House, his incoming chief of staff, Ron Klain, said in a memorandum to senior staff.
Other actions include extending the break for the payment of student loans and actions intended to prevent evictions and negatives for those struggling during the pandemic.
“These executive actions will alleviate the millions of Americans who are struggling in the face of these crises,” Klain said in the memo. “Elected President Biden will act – not only to prevent the most serious damage from the Trump administration, but also to start moving our country forward.”
“Full achievement” of Biden’s goals will require Congress to act, Klain said, including the $ 1.9 billion bill to alleviate viruses he set out Thursday. Klain said Biden would also propose a comprehensive immigration reform bill to lawmakers on his first day in office.
The next day, Thursday, Klain said Biden would sign orders related to the COVID-19 outbreak aimed at reopening schools and businesses and expanding virus testing. The next day, Friday, action will be taken to provide economic relief to those suffering the economic cost of the pandemic.
In the ensuing week, Klain said, Biden will take additional steps on criminal law reform, climate change and immigration – including a mandate to accelerate the reunification of families separated on the U.S.-Mexico border under Trump’s policies.
More actions will be added, Klain said once the legal review is clear.
Incoming presidents traditionally move quickly to sign a variety of executive actions when they take office. Trump did the same, but he found that many of his orders were challenged by courts and even rejected.
Klain maintained that Biden should not suffer similar problems, saying “the legal theory behind them is well-founded and represents a restoration of an appropriate, constitutional role for the president.”