COVID relief, economic stimulus, immigration: What to expect in Joe Biden’s first 100 days

Joe Biden is expected to sign a thick stack of executive orders to begin overturning Donald Trump’s legacy.

Joe Biden has promised an all-guns-blazing start to his time in the White House, with the customary Day One phone calls to foreign leaders to be squeezed in around his first actions to implement an agenda to restore “normal” to America.

As the Democrat tries to move America on from Donald Trump’s reign, Mr Biden has indicated he will issue many executive orders in his first 10 days as president on top of a major stimulus plan and comprehensive immigration legislation.

After entering the Oval Office, Mr Biden signed three executive orders in the presence of reporters — a mask mandate on federal property, support for undeserved communities, and rejoining the Paris climate accord.

It was revealed shortly before his inauguration Wednesday US time that Mr Biden vowed to reverse 17 major Trump policies on day one of his presidency.

Joe Biden has set out an ambitious agenda for his first day in office. Picture: AFP

According to a memo written by Mr Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain, on Day One as President the first Commander in Chief from Wilmington, Delaware, will issue a number of executive orders designed to get his administration off to a fast start.

The orders include:

• Overturning the so-called “Muslim travel ban” which strictly limited travel and immigration to the US from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, with Eritrea, Nigeria, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, and Tanzania also lumped in

• Renewing pauses on evictions and student loan payments in light of America’s COVID crisis

• Directing bureaus to find ways to bring together children and families who are separated during border crossings.

Other first-up priorities include rejoining the World Health Organisation and working out how to give 11 million undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship.

Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden in Delaware before heading to Washington DC for the Inauguration. Picture: AFP

“The Biden administration so far has signalled continuity, stability and a return to normal order,” said business academic Dr Kislaya Prasad from the University of Maryland.

Team Biden will also focus on kickstarting moves to build a 100 per cent clean energy economy and net-zero emissions by 2050, implementing a suite of transgender rights initiatives and conserving 30 per cent of America’s lands and waters by 2030.

Rolling back Donald Trump’s tax cuts and raising the corporate tax rate have also been cited as priorities for the earliest days of the new administration.

His Build Back Better strategy contains a $A1 trillion blueprint to create millions of jobs funded by tax hikes on Americans earning more than $400k a year and large corporations.

Joe Biden has an eye on America’s future. Picture: AFP

Of course, one of his biggest promises is to have 100 million COVID vaccinations administered in his first 100 days in office. Indeed, many observers believe Mr Biden will be consumed by his COVID response for the full four years of his first term.

Mr Biden pledged during his campaign to reach out ahead of his inauguration to infectious diseases chief Anthony Fauci and ask his advice for the best path forward.

Joe Biden is vaccinated at a hospital in Delaware. Picture: AFP

This contrasts with the open hostility Donald Trump held towards Dr Fauci in the final days of campaigning.

Mr Biden also plans to establish a “pandemic board” which would steer resources to fight COVID-19 and improve testing.

Top US infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci. Picture: AFP

He will also be under backbreaking pressure from the left-wing of his own party to introduce sweeping and very expensive reforms to health care and environmental policy, including making the Green New Deal a reality.

Mr Biden will issue an executive order to dissolve the 1776 commission, a panel stood up by Donald Trump as a rebuttal to schools applying a more accurate history curriculum around slavery in the US.

In foreign affairs, Mr Biden will tell the other 27 member nations of the NATO alliance that the US “are back”.

Sculptor Claus Velte works on a wax statue of Joe Biden before its installation at the Grevin wax museum in Paris. Picture: AFP

Joe Biden with wife Dr Jill Biden. Picture: AFP

And while Mr Biden said he was “no fan” of talk the Democrats could “stack” the Supreme Court, he promised to establish a bipartisan national commission that would have 180 days to propose reforms to the justice system.

Also within his first 100 days, Mr Biden plans to send Congress a bill that would repeal protections for gun manufacturers that prevent them from being liable for deaths caused by their weapons.

Down the track, he would also ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines as well as the importation of assault weapons.

Originally published as COVID relief, economic stimulus, immigration: What to expect in Joe Biden’s first 100 days