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Joe Biden has given himself an imposing to-do list for his earliest days as president and many promises to keep over the longer haul.
Overshadowing everything at the very start is Biden’s effort to win congressional approval of a $1.9 trillion plan to combat the coronavirus and the economic misery it has caused.
But climate change, immigration, health care and more will be competing for attention — and dollars. Altogether Biden has laid out an ambitious if not always detailed set of plans and promises across the range of public policy.
Drawn from a review of his campaign statements and a recent memo from Ron Klain, who’ll be his chief of staff, here’s a sampling of measures to expect right away, around the corner and beyond:
WEDNESDAY, after the inauguration, mostly by executive action:
— Declaration that the U.S. is rejoining Paris climate accord.
— Declaration that the U.S. is rejoining World Health Organization.
— Ethical standards for his administration and an order prohibiting interference in the operations of the Justice Department from other parts of government.
— Start of a process to restore 100 public health and environmental rules that the Obama administration created and President Donald Trump eliminated or weakened.
— Start of a process to rejoin the deal restraining Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
— Executive action to end travel restrictions on people from a variety of Muslim-majority countries.
— Executive action to protect from deportation people who came to the country illegally as children.
— Executive action to make masks mandatory on federal property and when travelling out of state. Others will be asked to wear masks for 100 days.
— Steps to extend pandemic-era restrictions on evictions and foreclosures.
— Legislation to go to Congress proposing to repeal liability protections for gun manufacturers and tightening some other aspects of gun control.
— Immigration legislation to go to Congress as part of an effort to offer a path to citizenship for 11 million people in the U.S. illegally and to codify protections for people who came illegally as children.
— Education Department to be asked to extend the existing pause on student loan payments and interest for millions with student debt.
(ap)
