On April 28, 2021, President Joseph Biden delivered his first State of the Union address since taking office in January. In this article, we are going to examine the progress President Biden has made (or not) during the first 100 days of his term concerning the most pressing issues facing the country today.
CORONAVIRUS
Before the election, President Biden promised to increase access to testing and vaccines, issue a mask mandate, and issue a third round of stimulus checks. As promised, Biden prioritized testing and vaccines, issuing 141 million first-dose vaccination shots in the first 100 days to 43% of the American population. Over 88 million Americans (or 27% of the population) are fully vaccinated, as of April 27, 2021.
Biden issued a mask mandate by way of executive order in January 2021. The mandate, originally set to expire on May 11, 2021, has been extended to September 13, 2021. The mandate affects all transportation networks, including airports and airplanes, intercity buses, ferries and rail systems.
On March 11, 2021, Biden signed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill, called the American Rescue Plan, which featured, among other benefits: one-time $1,400 stimulus payments for most Americans and their dependents; and an additional $300 per week for unemployed Americans until September.
President Biden has accomplished most of his campaign promises when it comes to dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic.
IMMIGRATION
Raise the refugee cap to 125,000, up from 15,000 set by Trump.
President Biden pledged to raise the number of refugees who can enter the United States, also known as the ‘refugee cap’, to 125,000, up from 15,000 set by former President Trump. However, Biden fell short on this promise.
His administration argued that they would be keeping the cap at 15,000 because of “humanitarian concerns.” After some Democrats applied pressure, Biden’s administration backpedaled and said that they would raise the cap but not to the level that Biden originally promised. According to experts, the numbers this year will likely be close to the 15,000 Trump cap.
President Biden promised to reform the US asylum system, saying that he would provide a humane means of dealing with refugees and asylees. He did eliminate one Trump-era policy which required asylees to wait in Mexico before being admitted to the United States, but Biden has continued a Trump-era policy allowing “Customs and Border Protection to expel migrants who enter the country without authorization to avoid the spread of COVID-19.”
Despite this, Biden ended Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban,” a policy preventing people from majority Muslim countries from coming to the United States.
DOMESTIC POLICY
Police Oversight Board
Biden said that he would create a police oversight board to address the recurrent police shootings targeting and killing unarmed Black people. Even though police brutality remains a pressing issue in America, Biden’s administration has not followed through on this promise.
Biden’s office abandoned talks for a police oversight board because the idea would be “counterproductive,” according to the White House. Instead, Biden’s administration has been backing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. If passed, this act would end qualified immunity for police officers, lower the legal standard required to convict a police officer for wrongful conduct, establish a national database to monitor and track police misconduct, and provide grants to help state and local officials conduct investigation into claims of police misconduct. (Qualified immunity is the law that makes it hard for individuals to sue state officials who are working in their official capacities for conduct they did while on the job).
In addition to the above mentioned changes, the act would restrict use of chokeholds, ban no knock warrants, and change the threshold requirements for physical force and deadly force.
The Violence Against Women Act
The Violence Against Women Act is a landmark piece of legislation that provides protections for victims of domestic violence and penalizes perpetrators of domestic violence, but became unauthorized under the Trump adminstration. Although VAWA’s funding remains intact despite its unauthorized status, Congressional approval is needed to re-authorize VAWA. In Biden’s first 100 days, VAWA remains unauthorized.
LGBTQ+ rights
The Equality Act is a piece of legislation that would protect LGBTQ+ Americans from discrimination, expanding on civil rights protections that already exist. This act would further protect people from being discriminated against based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and other services, as well as access to public accommodations. The legislation passed in the House, originally in 2019, but now it is being introduced in front of a new, liberal-leaning Congress and a Democrat President. As recently as March 2021, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed interest in bringing the legislation to the senate floor.
FOREIGN POLICY
President Biden is currently working to end the war in Afghanistan and the Middle East and end US involvement in the war in Yemen. He has announced that American troops will begin withdrawal on May 1, 2021, and the redeployment would be complete no later than September 11, 2021. Biden also announced that he will be ending support for the war in Yemen, but no timeline has been provided for his withdrawal of support in Yemen.
In addition, Biden has initiated two rounds of sanctions against Russia. Biden’s team has also expressed interest in reengaging with North Korea, but their attempts to do this have been rebuffed.
This list is in no way exhaustive in the various areas that the Biden administration has been discussing and working on in its first 100 days. Learn more about the full scope of President Biden’s policy areas here.
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This list is in no way exhaustive. Learn more about the full scope of President Biden’s policy areas here.