As President-elect Biden said in his first public statement after being declared the victor in the most vicious presidential campaign in living memory: “I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but to unify. Who doesn’t see red and blue states, but a United States….Let us be the nation that we know we can be. A nation united. A nation strengthened. A nation healed.” He said that he recognizes that his paramount challenge will be to reunite a deeply splintered nation.
At IzzSo we take a look at how the first 100 days of the Biden presidency may look like.
BIDEN’S FIRST DAY
COVID-19
- Begin implementing an effective vaccine distribution plan. (He plans to have 100 million vaccine doses administered in his first 100 days in office.)
- Issue a mask mandate on federal property and interstate travel as part of a 100-day initiative.
Diplomacy
- Rejoin the World Health Organization that President Donald Trump and his administration have proceeded to withdraw from.
Education
- His chief of staff said in a Jan. 16 memo that Biden will “extend the existing pause on student loan payments and interest for millions of Americans with federal student loans.”
Environment
- Re-enter the Paris Agreement, which involves nearly 200 countries and nations and their voluntary, non-binding goals for reducing greenhouse gases. In 2017, Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw from it.
- Sign new executive orders to put the U.S. on the track to achieve 100% “clean energy economy” and net-zero emissions no later than 2050.
Housing
- Extend nationwide restrictions on evictions and foreclosures, his chief of staff said in a Jan. 16 memo.
- Direct his housing secretary to lead a task force to make a plan to make housing a right for everyone.
Immigration
- Send Congress a bill to provide a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented people.
- Send a bill to Congress to make DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) permanent. The Obama-era policy allowed eligible unauthorized childhood arrivals to receive renewable two-year protection from removal and work authorizations, the bipartisan Congressional Research Service notes.
- Issue an executive order to create a federal task force to reunite children separated from parents at the border.
- Rescind restrictions preventing people Muslim-majority countries from coming to the U.S.
LGBTQ+
- Restore an Obama-era policy recognizing transgender students’ identity rights, access to facilities consistent with their gender identity and more, a policy rescinded by the Trump administration.
Taxes
- Raise the corporate tax rate, set by congressional tax cuts of 2017, from 21% to 28%.
FIRST 2 WEEKS IN OFFICE
Economy
Strengthen “Buy American” provisions, according to a Jan. 16 memo, which said he would fulfill his promises. His campaign website had previously described a $400 million investment regarding this.
FIRST 100 DAYS
COVID-19
- Administer 100 million vaccine shots.
- Get most schools open.
Economy
- Biden plans to get Congress to approve another relief package that includes $1,400 checks per person. Although Biden said Jan. 4 that “$2,000” stimulus checks would be sent “immediately” if Democrats won two Georgia runoff seats, Biden described Thursday, Jan. 14 how that total would include $600 checks already approved by Congress, which Trump signed off on in late December.
Environment
- Convene a world summit on climate. It’s meant to “directly engage the leaders of the major greenhouse gas-emitting nations of the world to persuade them to join the United States in making more ambitious national pledges, above and beyond the commitments they have already made,” his campaign website said.
- “Lead the world to lock in enforceable international agreements to reduce emissions in global shipping and aviation,” his campaign website said.
Immigration
- End the Trump administration’s national emergency that facilitates funds to the border.
- Restore asylum policies, including reversing those of the Trump administration.
- End prolonged detention. Biden’s campaign has said that migrants waiting for their cases shouldn’t be held indefinitely but be able to “live in dignity and safety” while awaiting court hearings.
- Significantly increase government resources in support of organizations and migrants waiting for asylum claims.
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