“A tired-sounding Biden, 78, signed three orders in front of reporters in the Oval Office. His press secretary, Jen Psaki, later told reporters at an evening briefing that Biden signed another 12 orders Wednesday” reported the New York Post. Biden made sweeping promises of overhauling many of President Trump’s accomplishments, and it appears he is swiftly keeping his word.
The first three executive orders included recommitting the U.S. to the Paris Climate Accord, mandating COVID-19 masks be worn in federal buildings, and promoting “racial equity” in the health care system. “I thought there’s no time to wait. Get to work immediately…there’s no time to start like today” said Biden as he took pen to paper.
“I’m going to start by keeping the promises I made to the American people. There’s a long way to go, these are just executive actions” stated Biden. First, the mask order Biden signed, is “requiring, as I said all along, where I have authority, mandating masks indoors and social distancing be kept on federal property and interstate commerce, etcetera.”
“The second one I’m signing here is the support for underserved communities…we’re going to make sure we have some better equity equality as relates to how we treat people in health care and other things,” said Biden. “Third…is a commitment I made that we’re going to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord as of today.”
Biden is expected to sign up to 17 executive orders right away, “most of them overturning directives of his predecessor. He said in the Oval office that additional orders would come ‘over the next several days to a week” reported the Post.
Press secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this week that Biden will also reimpose a COVID-19 travel ban on Brazil, the UK and Europe’s 26-country Schengen Zone. Psaki also stated Biden signed an order ending Trump’s 2017 travel ban on countries including Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, which she called “the Muslim ban, a policy rooted in religious animus and xenophobia.”
Biden is also expected to rescind a permit for construction of the Keystone Pipeline, despite Canada’s plea for him not to. Keystone XL president Richard Prior said over 1,000 jobs, the majority unionized, will thus be eliminated in the coming weeks.
