Biden to sign inauguration day orders on pandemic, economy, other crises

President-elect Joe Biden will sign executive orders on Inauguration Day next week to address the pandemic, the ailing US economy, climate change, and racial injustice in America, a senior aide said Saturday.

“All of these crises demand urgent action,” his incoming chief of staff Ron Klain said in a memo to the new White House senior staff, adding that Biden will sign “roughly a dozen” orders after he is sworn in on Wednesday.

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“In his first ten days in office, President-elect Biden will take decisive action to address these four crises, prevent other urgent and irreversible harms, and restore America’s place in the world,” Klain added.

As he inherits the White House from Donald Trump, Biden’s plate is overflowing with acute challenges.

The US is fast approaching 400,000 dead from the Covid-19 crisis and logging well over a million new cases a week as the coronavirus spreads out of control.

The economy is ailing, with 10 million fewer jobs available compared to the start of the pandemic and American consumers and businesses are struggling to stay afloat.

US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris gestures toward President-elect Joe Biden after he introduced key members of his White House science team at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, US. (Reuters)

Biden this week unveiled plans to seek $1.9 trillion to revive the economy through new stimulus payments and other aid, and plans a blitz to accelerate America’s stumbling Covid vaccine rollout effort.

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On Inauguration Day Biden, as previously promised, will sign orders including ones for the US to rejoin the Paris climate accord and reverse Trump’s ban on entry of people from certain Muslim majority countries, the Klain statement said.

“President-elect Biden will take action -- not just to reverse the gravest damages of the Trump administration -- but also to start moving our country forward,” Klain said.

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