What does President-elect Joe Biden plan to do during his first 100 days in office?

In just 48 days, President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States of America. With the first sign of the Trump administration acknowledging defeat, General Services Administration chief Emily Murphy, informed President-elect Joe Biden that federal resources will be made available to him to start the transition of power. This news came last Monday, minutes before President Trump tweeted that he approved of the move. However, Trump still refuses to concede the race and continues to promote false claims and conspiracy theories as his legal battle for voter fraud persists without success.

All eyes are now on President-elect Joe Biden and his team to see what promises he will uphold in his first 100 days of office. This 100 day benchmark was created by Franklin Roosevelt when he took office in 1933 as a way to measure how a president will perform throughout their administration. Biden has already begun to assemble his inner team of advisors and Cabinet officials with the list including many women and people of color.

President-elect Biden made many policy promises throughout his campaign with his response to the COVID-19 pandemic being center stage. Below is a list of key issues he has promised to address and his plans for each in the first 100 days of office.

COVID-19:

Biden and Harris have already announced their COVID-19 advisory board to spearhead the administration's response to the pandemic.

1. Biden has said he will encourage state governors to mandate mask wearing and if they refuse, he will go to the mayors and county executives to get local mask mandates in place throughout the country.

2. According to the administration's transition website, they have created a seven point plan to beat COVID-19. This includes investing “$25 billion in a vaccine manufacturing and distribution plan that will guarantee it gets to every American, cost-free.”

   1. Distribution will likely be at the forefront of Biden’s first 100 days as COVID-19 vaccines from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna are awaiting approval from the FDA. (The U.K. approved the Pfizer vaccine yesterday for emergency use, becoming the first Western country to approve the vaccine.)

Immigration:

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have remained steadfast on reversing a number of Trump immigration policies during the first 100 days of office.

1. Biden says he wants to stop the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols, a policy that forces asylum seekers to wait for their immigration court hearings in Mexico.

2. According to NPR, the president-elect has also promised to halt funding toward the U.S.-Mexican border wall. However, Biden said he would not take down the parts of the wall that have already been built during the Trump administration.

3. Biden’s immigration plan also increases government oversight of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Two agencies that have faced much public scrutiny.

Racial Equity:

Addressing racial equity is another issue the Biden administration hopes to address within the first 100 days. The country grappled with police brutality against Black people and a national reckoning on racism this summer, coupled with a global pandemic that is disproportionately affecting the Black population. According to AP VoteCast, nine in 10 Black voters nationwide supported Biden in the presidential election.

1. Biden has called on Congress to pass Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s bill that would create a specific task force to address racial disparities brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. Biden has promised to create a national police oversight commission as a part of a bigger plan to overhaul policing, which includes investing $300 million into community policing measures, according to NPR.

3. President-elect Joe Biden also included in his plans to create a nationwide ban on chokeholds. Cities and states such as Minneapolis, Denver, Houston and New York have already passed similar legislation.

While President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris plan to enact these and many other policies in the first 100 days of office, they will likely face a tough time from Congress. The GOP is currently leading in the Senate, but control will not be decided until January during a runoff race for two seats in Georgia. If the Republican party remains in control of the Senate, the Democratic party will have a tough time passing many of these laws.