Is Joe Biden What the US Needs?

Are we settling for Biden, or is he giving the country what we’ve been missing?

By Shannon Brault

Joe Biden is off to a record start in his presidential term. Within his first two weeks in office, he has signed 28 executive orders reversing many of former President Trump’s most aggressive policies. Biden is off to break the record of executive orders signed in the first month of being in office, which is currently held by President Franklin Roosevelt, with 30 orders. But do these executive orders match the platform that Biden ran on? 

Biden ran on the idea of unity. The United States has been polarized for decades, but the Trump presidency seemed to exacerbate that polarization. With a pandemic, a climate crisis, and gender and racial inequality and discrimination, Biden ran on the idea that in order to move forward and create a future for all of us, we need to work together. 

Some of his executive orders were efforts to control the pandemic, which he said was one of his priorities. The Trump administration wanted the US to leave the World Health Organization, which demonstrates Trump’s failed leadership and response to the global pandemic. However, Biden, ordered the United States to rejoin the World Health Organization and also implemented a mask mandate on federal property—a start to his plans to fight the pandemic. 

Part of Biden’s platform was centered around the importance of preserving the environment and combating the climate crisis. He fulfilled one of his campaign promises by putting the United States back into the Paris Climate Agreement on his first day of office, hours after getting sworn in. Another executive order revoked the construction permit granted for the Keystone XL Pipeline. Native American groups and environmentalists have fought the pipeline for more than a decade as it would be detrimental to the land and impractical in the long run, in part because it would contribute to the country’s long-term dependence on fossil fuels. Additionally, Biden has  reversed some of the Trump administration’s most harmful racially motivated policies. Biden revoked the emergency declaration that helped fund the building of the wall on the Mexican border and also ended the Muslim travel ban.

Biden’s executive orders have aligned with the promises he’s made and the platform that he ran on. In two weeks, he has signed a record number of executive orders and is set to sign more, relating to the pandemic, gender equality, and environmental preservation. However, Biden and his team have had months to plan these orders. The actions that he is taking are important, but there is more that can and should be done regarding all of these issues. Executive orders and action are relatively easy, but for Biden to make a lasting change, he must work with Congress to pass legislation on the pandemic, immigration, healthcare, student loan debt, and criminal justice—all issues he ran on. Democrats have control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, which gives Biden an opportunity to pass some of the legislation he has discussed. He will still need to work with Republicans across the aisle—something he also said he would do, with his moderate policies and years of experience in government. 

Biden’s early successes suggest a promising future for his presidency, but the United States has a long way to go on the path of both unity and equality. Biden has received backlash from both the right and the left sides of the political spectrum, and he has a lot to do to convince both sides that he is worth their trust. So are we settling for Biden? Or is he giving us what we have been missing the last four years: leadership, compassion, unity, and guidance?