INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Washington: In his first hours as president, Joe Biden will aim to strike at the heart of President Donald Trump's policy legacy, signing a
series of executive actions that will reverse his predecessor's orders on immigration, climate change and handling of the coronavirus
pandemic.Biden on Wednesday planned to halt construction on Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall, end the ban on travel from some Muslim-majority
countries, rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization and revoke the approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, aides
pared-down inauguration ceremony to enacting his agenda.The 15 executive actions are an attempt to essentially rewind the last four years of
federal policies with striking speed.Only two recent presidents signed executive actions on their first day in office ? and each signed just
But Biden, facing the debilitating coronavirus pandemic, is intent on demonstrating a sense of urgency and competence that he argues has
possibilities ? much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build and much to gain,? Biden said after being sworn in as the
nation's 46th president.Biden started Inauguration Day by signaling he would seek a return to the Washington traditions and normalcy his
predecessor upended.As Trump, who declined to attend the inauguration, left from Washington in the morning, Biden and his family made their
way to the Cathedral of St
Matthew the Apostle, the historic church where John F
bipartisanship he hopes to inspire in the fight against the pandemic.Biden's top priority is getting a grip on the pandemic, which reached
another grim milestone on Tuesday when the U.S
surpassed 400,000 virus deaths.In his first act as president, Biden paused his inaugural address and asked Americans to join him in a silent
prayer for the victims of the nation's worst public health crisis in more than a century.Later he planned to sign an order putting in place
a mask mandate on federal property and extending the federal eviction freeze
It will create a federal office to coordinate a national response to the virus and restore the White House's National Security Council
He intends to order a review of all Trump regulations and executive actions that are deemed damaging to the environment or public health.He
will order federal agencies to prioritise racial equity and review policies that reenforce systemic racism.He will revoke a Trump order that
sought to exclude non-citizens from the census and will order federal employees to take an ethics pledge that commits them to upholding the
independence of the Justice Department.His orders also seek to fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, a
signature effort during the Obama administration that provided hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants protection from
just-issued report of Trump's ?1776 Commission? to promote "patriotic education."These actions will be followed by dozens more in the next
10 days, aides said, as Biden looks to redirect the country without having to go through a Senate that Democrats control by the narrowest
margin.Notably, the opening actions did not include immediate steps to rejoin the Iran nuclear accord, which Trump abandoned and Biden has
orders, the new president will in the coming days revoke the Pentagon's ban on military service by transgender Americans as well as the
so-called Mexico City policy, which bans U.S
funding for international organisations that perform or refer women for abortion services.In another effort to signal a return to pre-Trump
times, Psaki said she would hold a news briefing late Wednesday in a symbol of the administration's commitment to transparency
the Oval Office in four years
Since then, presidential order actions were often marked by clumsy announcements and confusion.In their first days in office, Trump's team
was forced to rewrite executive orders by court order and aides took days to figure out how to use the White House intercom to alert press
about events.The repeatedly cancelled plans to hype new building programs ? dubbed ?Infrastructure week? ? became a national punchline
pressed on the theme of unity and urged Americans to set aside politics at a difficult inflection point for the nation.?This is our historic
moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward," Biden said.
