Biden Seeks Quick Start With Executive Actions and Aggressive Legislation
In an effort to mark a clean break from the Trump era, the president-elect plans to roll out dozens of executive orders in his first 10 days on top of a big stimulus plan and an expansive immigration bill.
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., inheriting a collection of crises unlike any in generations, plans to open his administration with dozens of executive directives on top of expansive legislative proposals in a 10-day blitz meant to signal a turning point for a nation reeling from disease, economic turmoil, racial strife and now the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol.
Mr. Biden’s team has developed a raft of decrees that he can issue on his own authority after the inauguration on Wednesday to begin reversing some of President Trump’s most hotly disputed policies. Advisers hope the flurry of action, without waiting for Congress, will establish a sense of momentum for the new president even as the Senate puts his predecessor on trial.
On his first day in office alone, Mr. Biden intends a flurry of executive orders that will be partly substantive and partly symbolic. They include rescinding the travel ban on several predominantly Muslim countries, rejoining the Paris climate change accord, extending pandemic-related limits on evictions and student loan payments, issuing a mask mandate for federal property and interstate travel and ordering agencies to figure out how to reunite children separated from families after crossing the border, according to a memo circulated on Saturday by Ron Klain, his incoming White House chief of staff, and obtained by The New York Times.
The blueprint of executive action comes after Mr. Biden announced that he will push Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion package of economic stimulus and pandemic relief, signaling a willingness to be aggressive on policy issues and confronting Republicans from the start to take their lead from him.
On Mr. Biden’s second day in office, he will sign executive actions related to the coronavirus pandemic aimed at helping schools and businesses to reopen safely, expand testing, protect workers and clarify public health standards.
On his third day, he will direct his cabinet agencies to “take immediate action to deliver economic relief to working families,” Mr. Klain wrote in the memo.
The subsequent seven days will include more executive actions and directives to his cabinet to expand “Buy America” provisions, “support communities of color and other underserved communities,” address climate change and start an effort to reunite families separated at the border.
Mr. Klain did not provide details about the executive actions, leaving unclear whether they will be merely statements of intent, like many of Mr. Trump’s executive actions. And he conceded that much of the agenda developed by Mr. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris would require action by Congress.
Congress has been largely gridlocked for years, and even with Democrats controlling both the House and the Senate, Mr. Biden faces an uphill climb after this initial burst of executive actions. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, a former Senate Democratic leader who worked with Mr. Biden for years, said the incoming president had an acute sense of the challenges he faced and the trade-offs required.
As leader, Mr. Daschle recalled that when things went wrong for him and he would complain, Mr. Biden would joke, “I hope that’s worth the car,” referring to the chauffeured ride provided the Senate leader. Now, Mr. Daschle said as Mr. Biden prepares to move into the Executive Mansion, “I’m almost inclined to say, well, whatever he’s facing now, I hope that’s worth the house.”
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