Original article:
https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?trackId=596a649cade4e20ee371b859&s=600c2c0c9d2fda0efbbd09db&linknum=7&linktot=109
Must Reads: The Trump policies that Biden is already reversing
The Washington Post Unsubscribe
9:04 AM (3 hours ago)
to me
T.J. Ortenzi By T.J. Ortenzi
Within hours of taking the oath of office on Wednesday, President Biden signed 17 executive actions reversing some of former president Donald Trump’s policies on issues ranging from immigration to mask mandates. Executive orders can be controversial because they allow presidents to effect change without approval from Congress, pushing the boundaries of their authority. But that means executive orders are, in some ways, more temporary than laws and can often be reversed by future administrations.
This week, I asked Post reporters to explain the specifics behind some of Biden's executive orders and what they will look like in practice. Here are a few of their takeaways.
A national mask mandate (sort of)
Michael Laris and William Wan:
One Biden order requires masks be worn at airports and on many planes, trains, ships and intercity buses. The second order requires masks on federal property. The two orders come as close to a national mask mandate as some experts believe Biden's federal powers may allow.
Who will be most affected by these orders? Workers such as flight attendants say it could make their lives a bit easier. They are often blown off when they try to get resistant passengers to mask up, since after all it was just the airline telling them to do it. Fellow passengers — on planes, trains or whatever — who have been wearing masks for safety might also benefit if the heated rhetoric around masks cools off along with new clarity on the rules, since maybe it will be an encouragement for others.
Of course, the mandate could have the opposite effect on some mask skeptics, having the government itself ordering people to wear them, and the whole issue of enforcement remains muddy.
What are experts saying? A few public health experts we talked to were so overjoyed to see this. On one hand, it's hard to believe we're a year into the pandemic with more than 400,000 Americans dead and still talking about how to convince people to wear masks.
On the other hand, it's been almost a year of politicization over wearing masks from the Trump White House. This is definitely a relieving change of pace. And if you're going to start with the lowest-hanging fruit, masks are it. This is something easy that everyone can and should do to prevent others (and themselves) from dying.
Read more: How do Biden's new mask orders work?
The Keystone XL pipeline ends immediately, the U.S. rejoins Paris deal, and more than 100 of Trump's policies get a closer look
Juliet Eilperin:
Biden signed one document on Wednesday indicating the U.S. will rejoin the Paris climate accord, and America will formally become a party to the agreement 30 days later. He then signed a separate executive order that revokes the cross-border permit for the Keystone XL pipeline immediately, and instructs agencies to scrutinize more than 100 different Trump-era environmental and energy policies.
More than anything else, Biden’s executive orders will galvanize action based on his priorities — in this case, tackling climate change and restoring environmental safeguards. So for example, the document he signed doesn’t immediately expand the boundaries of two national monuments Trump shrank in Utah, but it instructs Interior officials to take a hard look at that decision, and they will lay the groundwork for him to expand them again. And by identifying so many different regulations to review, it lays out a road map for which ones Biden administration officials should unravel. But it will take much more work to actually accomplish that.
There are about 200 Trump-era policies in place that can’t just be undone by executive order, which we’ve laid out in our new tracker.
Who will be most affected by these orders? All sorts of people. Federal career employees will have to start rewriting a lot of the policies they helped craft under President Donald Trump. Lobbyists for a range of industries, like the oil and gas sector, will start lobbying to preserve some of these rollbacks. But across America, changing these policies will have enormous implications over time. Tribal members may regain access to sacred sites. Hunters and anglers might spend time in areas that would otherwise be under development. Residents of low-income communities might be exposed to less pollution.
What are activists and experts saying? My sources have had a range of reactions to the changes President Biden has put in motion. Some environmental advocates have talked about this in very emotional terms, saying that Trump’s opponents held him off just long enough to make the road to recovery possible. “After hours of tears yesterday, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,” an Alaskan wrote me on Thursday. But some of the folks I talk to regularly who supported Trump’s policies are nervous, and trying to figure out how to navigate this new terrain.
The 2020 Census won't include citizenship data that could have been used to redraw congressional districts
Tara Bahrampour:
Biden signed an executive order revoking one that Trump implemented in 2019 directing federal agencies to share information on citizenship with the U.S. Census Bureau. The constitutionally-mandated population tally is used to determine how many House members and electoral college votes are allotted to each state. Former commerce secretary Wilbur Ross used Trump's order to direct Census officials to compile block-level data about citizens of voting age, which could have been used to redraw state legislative maps that would be more favorable to one party or another. After Biden's order, the bureau issued a statement saying that a key report used for redistricting would not include citizenship data.
Who will be most affected by these orders?
Everyone living in the U.S. In the case of apportionment, it will affect anyone living in a state that didn't lose a seat in Congress that the state might have lost, or not gained, as a result of excluding undocumented immigrants. Excluding undocumented immigrants might also have changed the number of electoral college votes allotted to some states.
Biden's decision to sign these executive orders reflects his priorities. For a better understanding of Biden's agenda, follow The Post's coverage of the new administration on this page. You'll find an in-depth look at the 46th president's objectives on immigration, foreign policy, health care, climate change, social and criminal justice, economic policy, and tech policy.
1. On his first day, Biden signs executive orders to reverse Trump’s policies
Biden signed executive actions to require masks on all federal grounds and ask agencies to extend eviction moratoriums.
By Seung Min Kim ● Read more »
2. Kamala D. Harris makes history. What will she do with it?
The former California senator breaks one glass ceiling, and now will define herself more fully than she has to date.
By Chelsea Janes ● Read more »
3. FEMA would operate up to 100 federally run mass vaccination sites under Biden plan
A draft FEMA document envisions four different models for sites, with the largest capable of handling 6,000 doses a day.
By Isaac Stanley-Becker ● Read more »
ADVERTISEMENT
(Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
4. A look inside Biden’s Oval Office
The Oval Office looks different now that President Biden is its occupant.
By Annie Linskey ● Read more »
5. The last day of Donald
“Macho Man” fades out.
By Dan Zak ● Read more »
6. Trump’s new reality: Ex-president, private citizen and, perhaps, criminal defendant
The stark lesson of the last four years is that the failure to hold a president to account only leads to more conduct for which the president should be held to account.
Opinion ● By George T. Conway III ● Read more »
7. 41 minutes of fear: A video timeline from inside the Capitol siege
An examination of video, texts and other evidence shows how perilously close lawmakers came to the enraged mob
By Dalton Bennett, Emma Brown, Sarah Cahlan, Joyce Sohyun Lee, Meg Kelly, Elyse Samuels and Jon Swaine ● Read more »
8. Army falsely denied Flynn’s brother was involved in key part of military response to Capitol riot
The outgoing Army secretary said it is “incredibly awkward” for Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, the brother of retired general Michael Flynn, who has voiced support for the extreme ideology QAnon.
By Dan Lamothe, Paul Sonne, Carol D. Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis ● Read more »
9. Attorney Roberta Kaplan is about to make Trump’s life extremely difficult
“I became the go-to person to sue the president,” says Kaplan, who represents his niece Mary L. Trump and the writer E. Jean Carroll.
By Karen Heller ● Read more »
(Jay Young/Adventures on the Gorge)
10. America’s newest national park is known for rock climbing, white-water rafting
The scenic canyon has a rich history.
By Kate Morgan ● Read more »
Photo of the week
(Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
(Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
I'm sure you've already seen this image of Vice President Kamala Harris taking the oath of office, but I think it's worth another look and then another. If it weren't for the coronavirus pandemic, I would have watched President Biden's inauguration from The Post's newsroom, surrounded by colleagues watching a woman become vice president for the first time in U.S. history.
But these are not normal times and on Wednesday, I was actually grateful that I got to see the ceremony from my crowded, noisy house, because it meant that I could watch my daughter see Kamala Harris be sworn in.
Knowing that we'd be watching the ceremony together, I tried to pick out a red, white, and blue outfit when I dressed her that morning. But as a 2-year-old, she knew better than I did, and opted for something purple (her favorite color). I started to push back, but then realized that giving her the decision to choose was probably the best way to observe the occasion. You should have seen the smile on her face when she watched the vice president walk out on that stage wearing purple.
(T.J. Ortenzi)
(T.J. Ortenzi)
See more photographs from Biden's inauguration and more of the week's best photos.
We think you’ll like this newsletter
Check out Post Most for the most popular and interesting stories of the day, from politics to opinions to world news, to keep you in the know. In your inbox, every day. Sign up »
The Washington Post
Manage my email newsletters and alerts | Unsubscribe from Must Reads | Privacy Policy | Help
You received this email because you signed up for Must Reads or because it is included in your subscription.
©2021 The Washington Post | 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071
|
|
