Joe Biden to sign 17 executive orders undoing Trump policies on first day as President

20 January 2021, 15:01

Joe Biden is planning to undo a slew of Donald Trump's most controversial policies in his first hours as US president.

Mr Biden is set to sign 17 executive orders on inauguration day as he bids to swiftly move the country in a different direction without waiting for Congress.

Among the actions Mr Biden will take are ending Mr Trump's restriction on immigration to the US from some Muslim-majority countries, moving to rejoin the Paris climate accord and mandating mask-wearing on federal property and during interstate travel.

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Incoming chief of staff Ron Klain said in a memo to senior staff that other actions would include extending the pause on student loan payments and preventing evictions and foreclosures for those struggling during the pandemic. 

"These executive actions will deliver relief to the millions of Americans that are struggling in the face of these crises," Mr Klain said in the memo.

"President-elect Biden will take action - not just to reverse the gravest damages of the Trump administration - but also to start moving our country forward."

Mr Klain told CNN's State Of The Union that Mr Biden, in his inaugural address to the nation, would deliver "a message of moving this country forward. A message of unity. A message of getting things done".

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Incoming White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said Mr Biden would appeal to those frustrated by the rancour of Washington and explain how his administration would tackle the nation's challenges.

She told Fox News Sunday: "I think you can expect that this will be a moment where President-elect Biden will really work to try to turn the page on the divisiveness and the hatred over the last four years and really lay out a positive, optimistic vision for the country, and... lay out a path forward that really calls on all of us to work together.

Despite the flurry of expected executive action, "full achievement" of Mr Biden's goals would require Congress to act, Mr Klain wrote, and that includes a 1.9 trillion US dollars virus relief bill that the incoming president outlined last week.

Mr Klain said Mr Biden would also propose a comprehensive immigration bill to representatives on his first day in office.

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Some politicians have already balked at the aid bill's price tag, while immigration overhaul efforts over the past decade-and-a-half have all stalled in Congress.

Despite this, Mr Klain expressed optimism.

"I think there are people in both parties we can work with to move this agenda forward," he said on Sunday, noting that voters elected a 50-50 Senate, where Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would serve as the tie-breaking vote.

"We're going to have to find ways to get Democrats and Republicans to work together to get things done."

Providing a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants in the US illegally would be part of Mr Biden's agenda, according to people briefed on his plans.

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Ali Noorani, president of the National Immigration Forum and among those briefed, said immigrants would be put on an eight-year path.

He added there would be a faster track for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which shields people from deportation who came to the US as children, and for those from strife-torn countries with temporary status.

Meanwhile, Mr Klain also said the coronavirus pandemic would get worse before it got better, projecting a further 100,000 deaths from Covid-19 in the first five weeks of Mr Biden's administration.

Mr Klain told CNN Mr Biden was inheriting a dire situation, saying even with vaccines: "It's going to take a while to turn this around."

Mr Biden has set a goal of injecting 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine in his first 100 days in office, a goal Mr Klain said they were on target to meet.