WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden set an ambitious agenda for his first 100 days in office, promising swift action on everything from climate change to immigration reform to the coronavirus pandemic.
Wednesday marks his fiftieth day in office, as his administration contemplates an important milestone: the final step in Congress of its huge $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package. The bill includes direct payments to millions of Americans and money to help the White House fulfill several of Biden’s biggest campaign promises, such as reopening schools and vaccinating more Americans.
Fifty days later, Biden has made great strides in several key campaign commitments for his first days in office, while others are still pending action. Where it is in some of its main promises:
OBJECTIVES COMPLETED
Biden gave priority to tackling the coronavirus pandemic during his first weeks in office and attention has paid off. It is on track to reach its target of 100 million doses of vaccine administered in its first 100 days as early as the end of next week. The daily vaccination rate now makes more than 2 million vaccines and more than 75 million doses have been administered since Biden swore.
Biden also took several early actions that fulfilled promises on climate policy. On the day of the inauguration, he signed an executive order revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, halted the development of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and ordered a review of Trump-era environmental regulations. , public health and science. An executive order on Jan. 27 halted new leases of oil and gas to federal lands and marine waters.
Biden also easily fulfilled the major campaign commitments that involved stepping back the Trump administration in everything from climate change to immigration. At first, the Biden administration joined the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Agreement, stopped the construction of the border wall, ended travel restrictions on people from various Muslim-majority countries. and set up a working group to reunite separated families in the US. Border with Mexico.
As for immigration, Biden pledged to deliver to Congress a comprehensive reform bill in its first 100 days and it was introduced last month, although Biden has already indicated its openness to a piece approach. per piece if necessary. Biden also issued an executive order directing the Secretary of Homeland Security to “preserve and strengthen” protections for young immigrants that their parents brought to the United States.
Biden also made some initial moves to fulfill its commitment to strengthening the ethical standards of its administration, including a January 20 executive order that imposes an ethical promise on appointees who govern activities such as lobbying and gift-taking, which included prohibition of political interference in the Department of Justice. .
IN PROGRESS
Yet other promises from Biden remain a work in progress.
Biden’s national COVID-19 strategy pledged to establish 100 new federally-supported vaccination centers nationwide by the end of February. To date, the administration is located at about 20 mass vaccination sites run from end to end by the federal government and equipped with active-duty troops deployed by the Pentagon. Overall, according to the administration, at least 441 vaccination sites already have federal support. Many of these were not new sites, but almost all have expanded capacity with additional federal resources.
On immigration, Biden pledged to reverse the “public burden” rule established by the Trump administration to deter immigrants from using public benefits, streamline the naturalization process, and reform the U.S. asylum system in its first 100 days. An executive order it signed in early February orders the relevant agencies to review these policies and recommend changes within 60 days.
The administration has made some moves to reform the asylum system, including a decision by the Department of Homeland Security on the first day of Biden to suspend a Trump-era program that forced asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims were in the process of being reviewed. But Biden has yet to articulate a plan to manage asylum flows beyond proposing that billions of dollars be spent to address the root causes in Central America.
The president has also maintained pandemic-related powers that allow his administration to immediately expel people from the border without the opportunity to seek asylum. Biden’s aides have said they have no immediate plans to end authority, which Trump introduced a year ago through an obscure 1944 public health law.
Biden also promised to end the long-term detention of migrant families. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said last week that it plans to stop using one of those facilities, but the ICE will continue to support families for three days or less at two other Texas facilities. And the Biden administration is expanding capacity in several long-term facilities containing immigrant children, to cope with the steady increase in unaccompanied minors at the border.
On climate change, Biden pledged to make due commitments of other nations to reduce global maritime transport and aviation emissions and convene global climate summit to discuss new and more ambitious commitments to address climate change, in its first 100 days. The United States will hold this summit on April 22, Earth Day.
The reopening of American schools is one of the main promises of the Biden campaign that has proven most difficult to execute, in part because the decision on whether to return to face-to-face learning is in the hands of local officials and of teachers’ unions. After going back and forth on the details of his goal, Biden said last month that his one-hundred-day mission was to open most elementary schools five days a week for face-to-face learning.
This month he directed states to prioritize vaccination teachers and announced that he would direct federal resources toward vaccination teachers in March. The Biden administration hopes that with the passage of the coronavirus relief bill and the distribution of millions of grants to schools to improve safety measures, teachers will feel more comfortable returning to face-to-face learning. .
According to Burbio, who monitors school reopening plans, approximately 47% of kindergarten through 12th graders have access to face-to-face school every day of the week.
WAIT FOR ACTION
The Biden administration has not yet taken significant steps on criminal justice reform, apart from an executive order ending private prison contracts. Biden pledged to set up a police oversight council in its first 100 days, but so far there has been no clear move in that direction.
Other 100-day commitments are also pending: creating a cabinet-level working group focused on promoting union participation and ordering an FBI review of issues related to background checks. .
Some of Biden’s 100-day promises will require action in Congress, such as his promise to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act and raise taxes on businesses. Biden also pledged to pass the Equality Act, which bans discrimination on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, a priority in its first 100 days. This bill has been passed by the House, but not the Senate.
And some of his promises are waiting for Biden’s cabinet secretaries to be confirmed by the Senate. As for gun control, Biden has said he would direct his attorney general to make recommendations to restructure the top Justice Department agencies to enforce the nation’s weapons laws more effectively. He also pledged that his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development would lead a working group to create recommendations to make housing a right for all Americans.
Both his nominated attorney general, Merrick Garland, and his candidate to head the Department of Housing, Rep. Marcia Fudge, are expected to get confirmation this week.