Crishelle Phoebe Yu ||

After the transfer of authority in the United States, the newly elected president, Joe Biden, is making rapid use of the unilateral powers he now possesses. Within hours after taking the oath of office at the Capitol, Biden signed the orders pivoting swiftly from his walled-down inauguration ceremony to the promulgation of his agenda. At the end of his first full week, he had provided 39 executive actions – orders, memoranda, and proclamations that could drastically shift the direction of American governance without any intervention by lawmakers in Congress.

Seeking to unify the global response to the coronavirus, Biden intends to regain the membership of the U.S. in the World Health Organization (WHO) immediately, which Trump formally withdrew in May 2020, claiming that China had put too much pressure on the agency. Biden included an order requiring everyone to wear a mask wherever they go.

“The World Health Organization plays a crucial role in the fight against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic as well as countless other threats to global health and health security,” Biden stated.

Biden also rejoined the Paris climate agreement, revoked the Keystone XL oil pipeline permit, and instructed the Environmental Protection Agency and the transportation department to reestablish fuel efficiency mandates as a part of overturning the environmental policies set by Trump.

To advance racial equality and eradicate systemic racism from federal programs and institutions, Biden released an executive order to help underserved populations. He stated that one of the priorities of his administration is to dismantle systemic racism.

           “The president-elect has promised to root out systemic racism from our institutions,” Domestic Policy Council director, Susan Rice, pointed out.