President Joe Biden stepped into the White House on Wednesday in the midst of the worst public health disaster in a century. The turbulence has been political and social, too, with a presidential election in which the losing candidate was impeached for a second time after being accused of inciting the US Capitol riots and faces a political trial in the Senate.
Ever since Franklin D Roosevelt coined the term in 1933, 'the first 100 days' have been seen as a vital benchmark for how a president will run their administration. Over the past several weeks, Biden has laid out several things he wants to do in his first days in office. The proposals include tackling the worsening Covid-19 crisis, reviving a pandemic-stricken economy, addressing criminal justice reform and reversing some of his predecessors more controversial politics such as the immigration ban.
$1.9TN CORONAVIRUS AND ECONOMIC STIMULUS PLAN
The overriding priority for the 46th US president is to deal with the covid-19 crisis. He has unveiled a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package to a country battered by a year-long pandemic which has killed more than 400,000 people in the U.S. have died from the coronavirus, and left nearly 11 million Americans receiving unemployment benefits.
The proposal dedicates $400 billion to be used for the vaccines, slowing the virus's spread and reopening schools by his 100th day in office. The plan includes $20 billion toward a national vaccination program, $50 billion for testing and contact tracing, and $30 billion for supplies and protective equipment. He is also seeking money to provide paid sick leave to encourage people to stay home if they are feeling ill, and he called for hiring 100,000 public health workers, nearly tripling the current number.
Biden has also asked Americans to commit to 100 days of mask-wearing from his first day on the job. While the President can't unilaterally require every American to wear a mask, under the law Biden said he could require masks in places like federal buildings and on planes, trains and buses for interstate travel.
The Trump administration left distribution to the states, but Biden plans to broaden the federal government's role. Biden's team plans to set up federal sites for mass distribution, along with mobile vaccination centers for people in rural areas.
Members of Biden’s task force include respected scientists and public health experts, who have served both Republican and Democrat administrations, and its three co-chairs have a range of political and scientific experience. He will prioritise seeking advice from Dr Fauci, and make him a pivotal figure in the response. Dr Fauci has had an at times fractious relationship with Donald Trump, but is trusted by a very high proportion of Americans.
The largest element of the economic relief proposal is, by far, approximately $1 trillion in direct payments and other measures meant to support struggling individuals and families. It would see every American receive a cheque of $1,400 and would increase and lengthen the duration of unemployment benefits. Another flag ship policy includes raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, protect renters from eviction, and provide increased food aid to the needy. Biden’s plan also calls for $440 billion in direct aid to small businesses and state, local, and tribal governments, which have seen tax revenues plummet during the economic downturn caused by the pandemic
Touting his plan, Biden said "the return on these investment in jobs, racial equity will prevent long-term economic damage, and the benefits will far surpass the cost". Biden has also pledged to wipe out corporate tax cuts where possible, while doubling the levies US firms pay on foreign profits.
CLIMATE CHANGE
While climate plans may no longer be at the top of the to-do list, Biden has promised to reverse some of Trump's most controversial policies. He has indicated that he will re-join the Paris Climate Accord and will take other steps to make the United States a global leader in the effort to reduce climate change. This will include efforts to undo the Trump administration’s relaxation of regulations on the extraction and burning of fossil fuels and fuel efficiency of cars and trucks.
The president has announced executive action to formulate a plan to achieve 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions by 2050. He will also enact an executive order "to conserve 30% of America's lands and waters by 2030" in line with other "30% by 2030" pledges made by 50 countries at a One Planet Summit in Paris earlier this month.
He has also indicated that he will organize a "climate world summit" to push world leaders to more aggressively tackle climate change, specifically addressing global shipping and aviation emissions. The new president also promised to "pressure" China to stop subsidizing coal and "outsourcing" pollution.
IMMIGRATION
Biden promised during the campaign that he would make immigration reform a priority as president, aiming to end some of the hardline policies of the previous administration. He has pledged to provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrants who came to the US illegally as children. He has also vowed to rescind the Trump administration's travel ban on those from several majority-Muslim countries, which were issued by executive actions and could be easily undone, according to policy experts.
At the same time, however, a Biden official cautioned to NBC that did not mean the next administration would grant entry to all asylum seekers coming to the country. In laying out his agenda, Biden has worked to frame it as more of a moment for the nation to rally and forget partisan divides. “It’s not hard to see that we’re in the middle of a once-in-several-generations economic crisis with a once-in-several-generations public health crisis,” Biden said during a press conference over the weekend.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris recently described the immigration plan in an interview with Univision. "It will be about creating a pathway for people to earn citizenship. We're going to reduce the time from what is now has been currently 13 years to eight years. We are going to expand protections for Dreamers and DACA recipients. "These are some of the things that we're going to do on our immigration bill. And we believe it is a smarter and a more humane way of approaching immigration."
The likelihood of a sweeping immigration bill passing Congress is an open question. Previous attempts, like the concerted pushed to pass an immigration bill in 2013, failed, and the Republican Party now includes more immigration hardliners after four years under Trump.
This immigration plan will not be Biden's only action taken on the issue at the outset of his administration. Incoming chief of staff Ron Klain wrote in a memo over the weekend that Biden will begin the process of reunifying the families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border within his first ten days in office, and sources familiar with Biden's plans anticipate he will also issue an executive order aimed at halting the construction of Trump's border wall and reinstating the DACA program.
RACIAL JUSTICE
Biden has repeatedly vowed to fight for racial justice in response to public outrage over a rash of police killings of unarmed African American men. He has pledged, in his first 100 days, to establish a new police oversight body to address institutional racism by creating a police oversight commission to help de-escalate tensions between law enforcement and the communities they serve. He also backs comprehensive sentencing reform and programs to reduce continued criminal activity by those released from jail.
In an early indication that the president’s bold layers of reforms might take much longer to implement than 100 days, Biden is asked immigration reform advocates for patience, cautioning that his administration and Congress may not be able to pass a large-scale immigration overhaul in the first 100 days of his term, according to three participants in a meeting the Biden team held with Latino leaders last week.
But Ramiro Cavazos, the president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said he and other participants stressed to Biden's team that they still expect action on immigration, despite the other challenges. "We made it very clear, all of us collectively, that because it's a new administration and the Senate and the House will be under the control of the same party, that they need to tackle immigration," Cavazos told CBS News. "We missed that opportunity under President Obama and clearly, over the last four years, Latinos have been under attack."
A bill is expected be drawn up to end gun background check loopholes.
