President Biden issues executive action

As of Feb.12, Biden has signed thirty presidential orders tackling issues such as COVID-19

Carey Wooley, Reporter

On Jan. 20, nearly 40 million people tuned in to watch Joe Biden’s inauguration to be the 46th President of the United States. Shortly after, the Biden and Harris families went to the White House to begin Biden’s term.

Nearly a month after Biden’s inauguration, he has signed more executive orders than any other past president during their first month. As of February 12, President Biden has signed 30 executive orders, many having to do with the current pandemic and immigration.

“My favorite things Biden has put out so far is reversing Trump’s legislature that allowed discrimination to LGBTQ people,” senior Lily Albini said. “It got hidden in all of the capitol madness and I’m glad it was prioritized. I’m also happy that he reversed the transgender military ban. Anyone who wants to serve and is able to serve should be able to.”

Biden has become president during very unprecedented times due to Covid-19. The country is still suffering many cases a day and the vaccine rollout is only just starting and many people in the high-risk community are still unable to get a vaccine. Biden has already made another relief package in his first couple of weeks.

“I think the most important thing within Biden’s first 100 days is COVID response, no hesitation on that one,” Albini said. “We are failing miserably compared to the rest of the world and the more time that goes by the more people that die. People need guidance to wear masks, social distance and he needs to prioritize getting people money so they can stay home and get vaccines so that hopefully we can all go out again soon.”

Another aspect of Biden’s presidency, and dealing with Covid, is education. Most schools are now offering an in-person and online version of school but no one is sure when normality will come back to schooling. Even with an in-person option with as many safety precautions as possible, schools are still having cases of Covid pop-up within student and teacher populations.

“Students are struggling and need to be in person with their teachers,” Ready Set Teach and Child Development teacher Bridget Reyes said. “I think by providing all teachers and individuals who are considered high risk with the vaccine, we could then begin encouraging our students to return to campus.”

On January 20, President Biden issued an executive order requiring the wearing of masks on all federal buildings and lands. A day later, President Biden issued an executive order requiring the use of masks on public uses of transportation, which includes airports, trains, and intercity buses.

“In the first 100 days I expect Biden to try to reverse some of Trump’s damage and focus on Covid-19 because that is the most pressing issue right now,” sophomore Abbey Henderson said. “I hope to see Biden really enforce masks and really push for social distancing because that’s what needs to happen.”

In the Covid plan Biden laid out, he included a new round of stimulus checks and a plan for vaccine distribution. According to NBC News, a part of the funds from this plan would go to a program to hopefully vaccinate over 50 million people to then lead to reopening schools.

“The most important thing Biden needs to do right now is focus on the pandemic,” Henderson said. “I think Biden’s first 100 days will be much more stressful than most of the past presidents because he is really under a lot of pressure due to the Coronavirus.”

Like many past presidents, when Biden began his term he reversed many of Donald Trump’s past policies. Some of these reversals include revoking the permit given to the Keystone XL Pipeline, stopping the building of the wall on the Mexico border, and ended the travel ban Trump put on some majority Muslim countries.

“Compared to other past presidencies, I think that President Biden walked into a big mess,” Albini said. “I am hoping that his trend of jumping right in and getting things done will continue for his first 100 days in office and through his four years as President. If he does stay active and engaged, then I would be pretty happy with his performance compared to other past presidents.”