Joe Biden plans to start unwinding these Donald Trump policies on his first day in the White House

Now that Mr Biden is headed to the White House, here is a list of the some of the policies the president-elect and his team want to take "on Day One".

US Vice President Elect Joe Biden

US President-elect Joe Biden has a long list of priorities for when he enters the White House. Source: Getty

Democrat Joe Biden has been keeping a long wish list of actions he would take if had a chance to reverse the policies of Republican US President Donald Trump.

Now that Mr Biden is headed to the White House after winning Tuesday's election, here is a list of the some of the policies the president-elect and his team want to take "on Day One".

The coronavirus pandemic

Mr Biden has said his No. 1 focus is getting the coronavirus under control.

He will push for masks to be worn nationwide, a change that health experts say could save thousands of lives, 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.

The economy

Mr Biden promised to undo many of the tax cuts Mr Trump signed into law for corporations and wealthy individuals as soon as he takes office, though the changes require congressional approval.

He vowed to increase enforcement of tax policies already on the books and also to quickly bolster workers' unionisation rights.
A major plank of Mr Biden's plan to recover from the coronavirus recession is to force government agencies to buy US-made goods and services to help boost domestic manufacturing. He can do this through spending already authorised by Congress and orders to the agencies soon to be under his control.

Civil rights

Within Mr Biden's first 100 days, he pledged to work on getting the Equality Act passed, a bill adding vast new anti-discrimination protections based on sexual and gender identity.

He is also expected to issue an executive order promoting diversity and inclusion in the federal government, and create a new White House Council on Gender Equality to coordinate policies relating to women.
And while he pursues gun-control legislation, Mr Biden has promised to use his powers "to ban the importation of assault weapons."

Immigration

Mr Biden plans to send an immigration bill to Congress on his first day in office that includes a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally, a goal sought unsuccessfully by many US presidential administrations of both parties.

Apart from the legislation, Mr Biden intends to reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which grants deportation relief and work permits to roughly 644,000 people living in the United States illegally after entering as children, known as "Dreamers".

Mr Trump has reduced protections under the program.
Mr Biden also promised to halt deportations during his first 100 days in office. He promised to sign an order creating a task force to reunite more than 500 children who were separated from their families at the US-Mexico border by the Trump administration and whose parents have not been located.

Mr Biden plans to rescind Mr Trump's travel bans, which placed restrictions on travellers from 13 countries, most of them either majority-Muslim or African nations.

The environment

In addition to leaving the Paris Agreement, Mr Trump reversed a number of other environmental policies under Democratic former President Barack Obama that Mr Biden is set to restore.

Mr Biden will set higher clean-energy targets, and ban coal and natural gas leasing on federal lands while curbing methane emissions from oil and gas production.

He would also establish an environmental and climate justice division within the US Department of Justice that would increase enforcement against polluters.


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4 min read
Published 8 November 2020 3:14pm
Updated 8 November 2020 9:29pm
Source: Reuters, SBS



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