Featured image courtesy of Brain Cahn/ZUMA Wire via Mother Jones.

In January of 2021, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will step into White House and begin their term in office. A president’s first 100 days in office is crucial because they are a key benchmark in showing a president’s ability to take swift and resourceful action. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the standard in 1933 — It grew popular and, ever since, the first 100 days has been used to measure a president’s productivity. What will be the first actions that Biden takes in office, and will he keep his promises?

Biden drove his campaign with ambitious plans and policies. His campaign supports improving racial justice, education, and healthcare, and of course, Biden is expected to effectively address the COVID-19 pandemic. The President-elect also sought out to reform some of Donald Trump’s actions in office, such as immigration and foreign policy.

“If I’m elected president, we’re going to immediately end Trump’s assault on the dignity of immigrant communities,” Biden said in his acceptance speech at the virtual Democratic National Convention. “We’re going to restore our moral standing in the world and our historic role as a safe haven for refugees and asylum-seekers.”

Here are a few things on Biden’s to-do list:

Criminal Justice Reform

Biden plans to implement a national police oversight commission and task the Justice Department to investigate possible police misconduct. The plan also proposes to expand federal funding for mental health and substance use disorder services and research — among other efforts to expand mental health care — and use the power of the U.S. Justice Department to address systemic misconduct in police departments and prosecutors’ offices by using pattern-or-practice investigations and consent decrees.

COVID-19

The COVID-19 plan  plans to combat the virus by immediately restoring the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense(?), and preparing for future global health threats.

Biden named 13 health experts to his COVID-19 Transition Advisory Board that will help him address the pandemic. There will be three co-chairs of the panel, including former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. David Kessler at the University of California, former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, and associate professor of medicine and epidemiology Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith at Yale.

“The advisory board will help shape my approach to managing the surge in reported infections; ensuring vaccines are safe, effective, and distributed efficiently, equitably, and free; and protecting at-risk populations,” Biden said in a statement.

Foreign Policy

An international summit is planned where leaders will join together and discuss expanding human rights, and ways against corrupt and authoritarian practices. Another summit about climate change is also proposed to help other nations with high carbon emissions take climate action. Biden says he will reach out to U.S. allies and “restore moral leadership.”

Climate Plan

Biden’s clean energy plan proposes to “put the United States on an irreversible path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050.” The plan also proposes to create one million new jobs in the American automobile industry, provide every American city with 100,000 or more residents with high-quality, zero-emissions public transportation options, and to generate clean, American-made electricity to achieve a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035. The plan is a $2 trillion investment.

Education Beyond High School

The president-elect plans to invest in community colleges, and improve student success among the middle class. In his plan, Biden says he will “Strengthen college as the reliable pathway to the middle class, not an investment that provides limited returns and leaves graduates with mountains of debt they can’t afford.” Biden also supports the College for All Act, proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, which would remove tuition at public universities for families making up to $125,000.

Boost Economic Growth

Biden’s Made in America plan hopes to make a $300 Billion Investment in Research and Development and Breakthrough Technologies, and use $400 billion to boost domestic manufacturing.

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