President Joe Biden.Photo: Jim Lo Scalzo/AP/Shutterstock
Within minutes of stepping into the Oval Office after his inauguration on Jan. 20, PresidentJoe Bidenbegan signing a stack of executive orders waiting on the Resolute desk.
Biden’s sweeping use of orders has drawn applause from supporters hoping the president would reverse many of former PresidentDonald Trump’s policies, but his historic use of them has brought criticism as well.
“You can’t govern with a pen and a phone,” Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican, tweeted days after Biden took office. Another Republican, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert (who has drawn controversy of her own) pleaded for someone to “please hide the pens” at the White House.
In late January,The New York Timeseditorial board published anop-edtitled: “Ease up on the Executive Actions, Joe.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki defended Biden’s rush of executive orders within the administration’s first few days in office, saying the president was merely taking steps “immediately to address the pain and suffering that the American people were feeling,” which “includes overturning some of the detrimental, harmful, and, at times, immoral policies and actions of the prior administration.”
President Joe Biden.JIM LO SCALZO/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
President Joe Biden (center), with Vice President Kamala Harris (right), as he signs three documents including an Inauguration declaration, cabinet nominations and sub-cabinet nominations on Wednesday.JIM LO SCALZO/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Biden’s 25 first-month executive orders were more than double the amount any president in the modern U.S. era had signed in their own first months, saysDr. Adam Warber, a Clemson political science professor and the author ofExecutive Orders and the Modern Presidency.
Trump hadsigned sevenexecutive orders in January 2017 and PresidentBarack Obamasigned ninein January 2009, while no president fromJimmy CarterthroughGeorge W. Bushsigned more than two during their first weeks in office.
Here are some of the biggest executive orders Biden has signed during his first weeks in office.
On COVID-19
The president signed an executive order requiring people wear protective facemasks on federal property, while he also extended a pause on federal student loan payments and interest until at least Sept. 30.
Biden also ordered a pause on evictions and foreclosures through the end of March.
On the Environment
Last week, the president declared “we can’t wait any longer” to combat climate change. Bidensigned a sweeping list of executive ordersaimed at thwarting negative impacts on the environment, including his executive decision to end the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and re-committing the U.S. to the Paris Climate Agreement.
On Immigration
Biden reversed Trump’s expansion of immigration shortly after he was sworn in on Jan. 20, signing an executive order that vowed to “reset the policies and practices for enforcing civil immigration laws.”
With three more orders signed on Tuesday, Biden took aim at reversing Trump’s controversial approach on immigration. Responding to criticism that he’s signed too many executive orders, Biden said: “I’m not making new law, I’m eliminating bad policy.”
Biden’s most prominent new immigration order creates a task force to reunite families separated at the US-Mexico border under his predecessor’s “zero tolerance” policy. (Justice Department lawyersrevealedlast October they still haven’t been able to locate the parents of hundreds of migrant children separated from their families under the Trump administration’s policy.)
A second executive order on immigration seeks to better manage the flow of migrants traveling from Central America through Mexico and to the U.S. Psaki, the White House press secretary, told reporters Tuesday that the order develops “a strategy to address the root causes of migration.” Meanwhile, a third executive order designed to review the U.S. immigration system “promotes immigrant integration and inclusion,” Psaki said.
“These actions are centered on the basic premise that our country is safer, stronger, and more prosperous with a fair, safe, and orderly immigration system,” the White House spokesperson added.
On Equality
Bidenended Trump’s ban on transgender military members— one of the previous president’s most controversial decisions. On racial inequality, Biden issued an executive order calling on government agencies to reallocate “resources in a manner that increases investment in underserved communities,” while he also issued an order condemning racism against Asian Americans following a rise in incidents amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
On gender equality, Biden also issued another executive order banning workplace discrimination. “Every person should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear,” Biden wrote in that order, adding, “All persons should receive equal treatment under the law.”
In March, Biden signed three more executive orders promoting equality and equity in the government.
The president established a Gender Policy Council that will deliver him a plan to “advance gender equity and equality in the United States and around the world,” while he also signed an order reaffirming the stance that no students shall face discrimination based on sex or gender. Both of those orders were signed on International Women’s Day.
source: people.com
