Once the pomp-and-circumstance of the inauguration ended at 12-Noon today, 78-year old President Joe Biden got his marching orders from his 59-year-old Chief of Staff Ron Klain preparing immediate executive orders to undo the Trump legacy. Klain hit the ground running as expected. Expected to sign 17 executive orders today on a variety of topic from controversial pipelines to the Paris Climate Accord, Biden’s administration plans to make good on promises outlined in the campaign. Signing orders in the Oval Office, Biden was right at home after spending eight years as former President Barack Obama’s Vice President. Klain knows the job well because he was Biden’s Chief of Staff while serving under Biden from Jan. 20, 2009 to Jan. 14, 2011. “I thought there’s no time to wait. Get to work immediately,” Joe said. “There’s no time to start like today.
Former President Donald Trump was long gone, a distant memory to the many White House staff now looks to return the good old Obama days, when a more genteel approach to the presidency prevailed. Trump’s four years were a whirlwind, not liked by elected officials uncomfortable with Trump’s insurgent approach to governing. While Obama followed protocol and tradition, Trump looked to blow things up, light a fire underneath a stodgy bureaucracy, more concerned about self-fulfilling prophecies and cronyism than making real change. Trump was despised by the media, elected officials and career bureaucrats for not embracing the status quo. To Obama and now Biden, the status quo reinstates the institutional inertia hailed by some a routine-and-familiar but reviled by others for perpetuating mediocrity. Klain handed Biden a thick stack of executive orders with pen-in-hand.
Klain showed how to hit the ground running on Biden’s first day in office. “I’m going to start by keeping promises I made to the American people. There’s a long way to go, these are just executive actions. They are important but we’re going to need legislation for other things we’re going to do,” Biden told reporters. Biden acknowledged to receiving a letter from Trump, refusing to reveal the contents until he talked directly to Trump. What’s ironic about that is that Biden admitted to wanting to talk to Trump, something portrayed so differently in the press. Today’s media slammed Trump for not participating in the inauguration festivities, something the press said Trump violated age-old American traditions harking back to George Washington. But in reality, no one in Biden ‘scamp wanted to share the limelight with Trump, who’s knows how to suck the oxygen out of the room.
Biden implemented a mask order “requiring as I said all along, where I have authority, mandating masks indoors and social distancing be kept on federal property and interstate commerce, etc.” Biden said. Masks were always a way Biden criticized Trump for his more lax approach to face coverings. Biden showed a cautious approach to campaigning, avoiding large crowds, speaking in studio setting in the basement of his Wilmington home, free from the risks on the campaign trail. Biden’s mask mandate has little practical value since most federal employees already wear masks in their places of work. Biden often quoted Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] virologist Dr. Robert Redfield who strongly urged the public to wear masks. Without ramping up widespread distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine, it’s doubtful, as Biden said, masks will slow the spread of the virus.
Biden’s executive orders today asked federal authorities to get more health care to minority communities. “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,” Biden said. Biden made a promise to level the playing field with persons of color, showing more empathy to minority communities. Biden also signed an executive order rescinding the permit to construct the Keystone XL pipeline. Biden went back to the Obama-era decision to not build pipeline on Native American lands to help preserve tribal burial sites.. Native Americans complained that the Keystone XL pipelines went through sacred Indian lands, best left untouched by corporate hands. Discontinuing the Keystone XL pipeline forces truckers to transport the crude oil.
Pulling the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline kills about 1,000 union jobs working construction. “Workers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and across Canada will always have or support. Canada is the single-largest suppliers of energy to the United States contributing to the U.S. energy security and economic competitiveness, and supporting thousands of jobs on both sides of the border,” said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Truudeau backed the Keystone XL pipeline to transport tar-sand fracked oil from Albert Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Biden also promised to reverse Trump order to limit travel or immigration from countries known for terrorism, largely Muslim countries. Also top on Biden’s list is an executive order to reinstate Obama’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] AKA Iranian Nuke Deal. With all Joe’s executive actions come adverse risks.
