While Trump has at times embraced conspiracy and downplayed the seriousness of the virus, Biden has said he will impress upon Americans the severity of the pandemic and urge precautions.
Biden says getting control of the COVID-19 pandemic will be a top priority as soon as he takes office, along with supporting Americans financially during the economic challenges that have come from the pandemic.He has said he will urge Americans to wear masks consistently through the first 100 days of his administration and mandating mask-wearing where possible, such as for federal employees. .More: Biden introduces $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that includes $1,400 stimulus checks.More: With Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock wins, Biden could raise taxes and boost health care.Biden, who has called climate change "an existential threat to the health of our planet and to our very survival," has made it a focal point of his incoming administration and vowed to reverse some of the Trump administration's policies, as well as enact some more of his own to combat climate change.Additionally, after Trump formally withdrew the U.S.And in exactly 77 days, a Biden Administration will rejoin it.
More: Biden proposes $2 trillion to spur development of 100% clean energy by 2035.Biden has vowed to reverse most of those restrictionist policies, and the process of overturning many of these policies will be straightforward — he can sign executive orders and his agency heads can issue memos or directives overriding Trump policies — but some changes could take much longer to unwind. .More: Biden might need years to reverse Trump's immigration policies on DACA, asylum, family separation, ICE raids, private detention and more.Within the first 100 days of his presidency, Biden said he would send Congress a comprehensive immigration reform plan, including a "pathway to citizenship" for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. .Some border construction projects may still get built after Biden takes office because contracts may have already been signed.Additionally, the Biden administration will need to address will be the status of refugees.More: Trump administration slashes refugee program amid president's campaign attacks on immigrantsThe refugee cap, which dictates how many refugees may be admitted to the US, has fallen from 110,000 in Obama’s final year in office to a 15,000 refugee cap announced by Trump in October, the lowest since the program was created in 1980
On top of coronavirus-related economic relief, Biden has also pledged to reverse Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which passed in 2017More notably, Trump killed an Obama-era regulation in 2017 that would have forced stricter background checks during gun salesMore: Gunmakers see stock price increases in days after riots at US CapitolAlthough it’s not clear when such policies may be implemented, Biden has an extensive history challenging the National Rifle AssociationIn his time in office, Trump has made attempt after attempt to gut the Affordable Care Act, passed while Biden was last in office as vice presidentBiden has said he will strengthen the ACA when he takes office
He is also likely to reverse Trump administration policies that excluded protections for transgender Americans and would likely prioritize expanding access to contraceptives and reproductive health care, including abortion