Biden “Day One” Executive Orders

1. Implement a “mask mandate” on all federal property (including federal buildings, federal lands,
and by federal employees and contractors).
2. Reestablish an Obama-era position called the “Directorate for Global Health Security and
Biodefense” (originally organized during the 2014 Ebola epidemic). Formally implements a
“response coordinator” who will report to the president on vaccines, testing and personal
protective equipment production, supply and distribution.
3. Rejoining the World Health Organization (WHO) on behalf of the United States.
4. Extend eviction and foreclosure moratoriums to prevent foreclosures and evictions based on
citizens’ failures to pay on mortgages backed by the Department of Agriculture, the Department
of Housing and Urban Development [HUD], and the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA]. These
provisions are in the process of expiring, but Biden’s order extends them to at least March 31.
5. Extend the existing “pause” on student loan repayments until September 30, 2021. Biden plans
to “cancel” $10,000 worth of student loans, but that action has to go through Congress.
6. Rejoining the Paris Climate Accord on behalf of the United States (with former Secretary of State
John Kerry in the lead role).
7. End Keystone XL pipeline work and revoke oil- and gas-development at national wildlife
monuments (specifically, the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in
Utah and at the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine national monuments in New
England). NEED TO RESEARCH THESE SITES TO SEE WHY IT’S SET ASIDE AS A NATURE
MONUMENT.
a. A big chunk of the opposition to this comes from local indigenous people (on
reservations in Montana) who are afraid that spills will occur and will contaminate their
water supply for drinking.
b. Justin Trudeau, PM of Canada, is fairly left-leaning, but he saw the pipeline as an
important step in “bilateral U.S.-Canada relations”, as Canada has the third-largest oil
reserves in the world and could realize a lot of economic benefit from exporting/selling
their oil to the U.S.
8. Advance racial equity through the federal government. Every federal agency must review their
programs and actions to determine whether they are being equitably managed from a racial
perspective (such as the Office of Management and Budget analyzing if federal money is
equitably distributed in communities of color). Also stops President Trump’s 1776 Commission,
which was a board formulated to look at the American education system and determine
whether it is taking “too liberal” an approach to teaching American history (which it likely is).
9. Count non-citizens in the U.S. Census. Trump’s 07/2020 order was that undocumented
immigrants/illegal aliens should NOT be counted for purposes of federal allocation of money
and federal representation. THIS SEEMS RIDICULULOUS, BUT BIDE HAS DESCRIBED TRUMP’S
ACTIONS HERE AS “VIOLATING THE CONSTITUTION AND THE CENSUS ACT”. NEED TO RESEARCH
THE VERBIAGE TO SEE IF THERE’S ANYTHING TO THAT IDEA. BUT IT SEEMS OBVIOUS BIDEN
WANTS ILLEGALS COUNTED BECAUSE THEY ARE DEPENDENT ON THE GOVERNMENT AND IF
THEY ARE ABLE TO VOTE (AS CITIZENS) THEY WILL VOTE TO KEEP THE PARTY IN POWER.
10. Strengthens workplace discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender
identity (apparently for federal agencies only? Supposedly broadens the existing federal
protections – based on race and religious belief? – to include LGBTQ Americans).
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