In a fresh and crucial beginning of his presidency, US President Joe Biden has begun his drive of overhauling the country's path by repealing the controversial policies of Trump, on his day one as the 46th President of the United States. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn-in as the President and Vice President respectively on Wednesday in the towering monument of Capitol Hill that was filled with eerie emptiness and the grounds of the inauguration ceremony carried flags in place of people as the riots triggered-lockdown in Washington DC had put millions into their residencies and to join the ceremony virtually.
With wasting no time, Joe Biden swiftly swung into action as the raging pandemic and warnings of security threats had canceled key events including the presidential parade and presidential ball dance. Taking the resolute desk in the Oval Office moments after swearing-in, Joe Biden began his drive of giving a significant push to his reign towards getting the country back on the track of democracy that was drifted by his immediate predecessor Donald Trump, who skipped the inauguration and left Washington to Florida.
Making his day one big and pivotal, the oldest president of the United States began signing 15 executive actions towards repealing Trump's policies and addressing the health crisis in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis, and racial inequality. His overhauling drive was aimed to erase Trump's legacy and in what had become a major overhauling measure by any president in modern US history on the first day of taking office, Joe Biden had signed the orders of undoing Trump's policies from immigration, climate, and health crisis. Speaking to the reporters in Oval Office, Biden said, "With the state of the nation today, I thought it's no time to waste, get to work immediately. There's no time to start like today".
Biden described his efforts as starting points as he begins his four years of office, asserting his policy agenda as bold and vital. He has apparently reversed the autocratic policies of Trump and among the orders signed, Biden signed in an order of inducting the United States into the Paris Climate Accord and repealing Trump's policy of banning the entry of people from seven Muslim majority countries. He also ordered to renew the support to the World Health Organization, which was earlier suspended by Trump by accusing the UN Body of supporting China.
Biden has signed in an order that made masks mandatory to respond back to the pandemic and he has prioritized pandemic and climate change as a major task for his administration. According to Reuters, Biden had signed the order of making masks mandatory for the federal employees and he also has signed the order to establish a new White House office coordinating the response to the Coronavirus and halting the process of withdrawing from the World Health Organization.
In what has become one of the crucial abrogations of Trump's policies, Biden had revoked Trump's emergency declaration that helped fund the construction of a border wall. Biden's predecessor had rolled out the policy of erecting the border wall in his bid to stop the overflow of migrants from bordering Mexico. Speaking to the reporters at the White House Press Briefing Room, Biden's Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, "The Day One plans were just the start of a flurry of an executive actions Biden would take soon after entering office".
Psaki said, "In the coming days and weeks, we will be announcing additional executive actions that confront these challenges and deliver on the president's promises to the American people". Reuters said that some of the further actions would include revoking the ban on military service by transgender Americans and reversing a policy that blocks US funding for programs overseas linked to abortion. On the economic front, Biden has asked the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to extend a moratorium on evictions until the end of March and the Department of Education to suspend loan payments until the end of September.
Ahead of signing the orders, Joe Biden said, "Some of the executive actions I'm going to be signing today are going to help change the course of the COVID crisis, we are going to combat climate change in a way that we haven't done so far and advance racial equity and support other underserved communities". Following the inauguration, Biden took to Twitter and said, "Now the real work begins, folks". From the official Twitter of the President of the United States, Biden tweeted, "There is no time to waste when it comes to tackling the crises we face. That's why today, I'm heading to the Oval Office to get right to work delivering bold action and immediate relief for American families".
78-year-old Biden has become the oldest President of the United States and Kamala Harris had become the first woman and first South-Asian ever to become the Vice President of the United States. When Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts administered the oath of office to Joe Biden, the first Hispanic Justice of the United States Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor administered the oath for Kamala Harris. While Joe Biden headed to the White House, Kamala Harris headed to the US Senate, where she took the office as the President of the upper house of US Congress and administered the oath of office for three new senators, two Democratic Senators from Georgia, and one Democratic Senator from California, who replaced the Senate seat left vacant by Kamala Harris after getting elected as the Vice President.
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