After all the storm created by the insurrection at the US capitol on January 06, the world witnessed the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-president Kamala Harris.
Senior US senator from Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar began the inauguration ceremony. The function of the inauguration was carried out following full measures of social distancing, using masks, and regular applying of sanitizers at the podium in the context of the pandemic. In the function, the US National Anthem was performed by Lady Gaga.
Joe Biden, apart from being the oldest President, is also the second Roman catholic President of the US after JFK. Kamala Harris is the first woman of colour, and the first South-Asian American to hold the office of Vice President.
As a fallout of the insurrection, the departure ceremony of Trump was unceremonious at best, where he was described as looking small (in terms of his actions as President) by speakers at CNN, while he was leaving the WH for the last time on Marine One. The CNN also highlighted that Trump was leaving in disgrace after two impeachments.
Inauguration highlights
The inauguration speech of the 46th President Joe Biden set the tone for his tenure. Biden, at the beginning of his empathic speech, stated that it was a time for history, a time for hope, for rejoice, & for healing. He, in clear words, called out for unity among all Americans. In his speech, he also stated that it is okay to have disagreements and stressed that people cannot have hatred based on the differences of race, colour, ethnicity, or in the ways in which people worship. He specifically underlined what is American, that is opportunity. He said that it is necessary to counter the domestic issues, pointing to the insurrection of January 06 by Trump supporters and the White supremacists. Biden also stressed that it is okay to have disagreements and differences and that disagreements should not lead to disunion. He stated that he would be the President for all the Americans irrespective of whether they supported him or opposed him. He also underlined that America has never ever failed when it has worked united. On the front of the foreign policy, he stated that alliances would be rebuilt and that America will not lead by the example of its power but by the power of its example.
Also Read: Which archetype of US foreign policy might Biden follow
Immediately after taking over the office of the POTUS, Biden began a swift reversal of the legacy of Trump through executive orders. He began undoing the pandemic response, the environmental agenda, the immigration policies, the economic policies, and many other actions of Trump which had drawn criticisms from observers across the board in the US & around the world.
Actions taken by Biden on Day 01 & other plans
Biden signed the order for the US to rejoin the Paris climate accord. The new administration is not interested in compromise but in the erasure of the works by Trump which had caused lots of damage on the domestic and international fronts. Seventeen executive orders were on the desk for Biden to work on in a blitz move directed to reverse the Trump-time actions. Biden also ended Trump’s travel ban on the predominantly Muslim and African countries. Highlighting the urgency of immediate actions, Biden said, “I thought with the state of the nation today, there is no time to waste. Get to work immediately. There is no time to start like today.” Biden also signed an order for the US to rejoin the WHO and become a part of the global vaccine efforts.
The newly inaugurated president moved to reverse four years of harsh restrictions and mass deportation with a plan for sweeping legislation on citizenship. Biden has also issued executive orders reversing some of former President Trump’s immigration policies, such as halting the work on a U.S.-Mexico border wall. He also ordered his Cabinet to work to keep deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of people brought to the U.S. as children. Many undocumented immigrants (around 11 million), are pinning hopes with enhanced optimism on Biden’s plan to provide a path to US citizenship.
The recently inaugurated President also issued an executive order on a range of environmental concerns including halting the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. In another step acting as a relief to countless students, Biden directed the Department of Education to extend the suspension of federal student loan payment and interests till October 01.
According to the policy that Biden had laid out during his campaign, his administration aims to restore the full federal tax credit for electric vehicle purchases. In addition to giving automakers like General Motors and Tesla tax credits once again, (the two exhausted theirs at the start of 2020) the Biden administration will also pursue direct-consumer rebates to encourage American car buyers to swap out fossil-fuel-powered cars for zero-emission vehicles.
Joe Biden, however, wants the federal government to set an example. As part of the administration’s Buy American campaign, Biden plans to include new government fleet vehicle purchases in a $400 billion procurement investment for American-made goods. This should encourage US businesses to adopt electric fleet vehicles, as well, and will include a proposal to convert all 500,000 US school buses to battery power by the end of this decade.