Biden’s first 100 days were productive, but he has more to accomplish

Gage+Skidmore+%7C+Flickr

Gage Skidmore | Flickr

Jason Galak

Who would have thought that after two failed presidential bids in 1988 and 2008, President Joe Biden would have actually persevered and received the honor of being the president of the United States.

Well, now it has officially been 100 days since Biden has entered office, or rather 100 days since former President Donald Trump left, and it is time to take a look back at Biden’s “honeymoon period,” during which he’s done plenty of work.

Automatically Biden started his presidency by firing out 30 executive orders in his first three days alone, most of which were aimed at reversing Trump’s rulings.

That amount of executive orders are more than any of the last eight administrations have decreed in their first full week in office. Out of those previous administrations, former President Barack Obama’s had the most with five in his first week.

Biden managed to reverse Trump’s traveling ban that mostly targeted primarily Muslim countries and has made an effort to preserve and fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which helps “dreamers,” or undocumented students who came to America as minors. In addition, he canceled Trump’s so-called “remain in Mexico” policy.

However, the Biden administration has faced much backlash regarding what is happening at the southern border.

The United States border has seen a large increase in the number of unaccompanied children showing up — children as young as six or seven years old. The Biden Administration has quietly continued to allow Trump’s Title 42 coronavirus border restrictions that limit family entry. Additionally, it chose to exempt UACs from Title 42.

“I am going to say something that President Biden refuses to say. There is a crisis on our southern border. It is a humanitarian crisis. It’s a public health crisis. A national security crisis. It is a Biden border crisis. And it is spiraling out of control, with no signs of ending.” Rep. Kevin McCarthy said.

Aside from Biden’s immigration policies, he has also decided to take a powerful yet expensive approach to speed up the United States’ recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recession as a result of it.

On March 11, Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law. Some of its key elements are $1,400 direct payments to individuals, paid leave for over 100 million Americans, expansion of the child tax credit and $130 million for K-12 schools to safely reopen within 100 days.

“So what do we say to America? We say to America: Help is on the way.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

In respect to action against the monstrous COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration initially set a goal of administering 100 million vaccine doses throughout the United States. He has not only surpassed that goal on April 21 but actually doubled it by reaching 200 million doses administered.

“Some experts say that our rapid vaccination effort has already saved tens of thousands of American lives … I am proud of the work my administration has done to get Americans vaccinated, but more than that, I’m proud of the American people,” Biden said in a speech on April 21.

Amid these troubling health and economic times, Biden has also managed to address the issues of social justice and inequality. He started his presidency by making history with the most racially diverse cabinet in the history of the United States. In addition, he disbanded the 1776 Commission, a committee that was made to develop what Trump called a “patriotic education” among schools.

Biden, along with House Democrats, have announced support to sign the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020. The act was already passed in the House back in March with absolutely no Republican support. Some aspects of the bill include lowering the criminal intent standard and limiting the ability of officers to escape consequences for their actions.

According to a recent Gallup poll, Biden’s presidential job approval rating stands at 57% after his first 100 days. This is certainly a change to what the public saw from Trump’s approval ratings which have never actually made it past 50%.

In just his first 100 days, Biden has attacked a variety of issues such as immigration, foreign policy, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and social justice. However, he hasn’t been the only one in the White House doing some attacking. Biden’s younger dog, Major, has already had two well-publicized bites in the first 100 days of the Biden administration.

Nevertheless, Biden has certainly been busy over his first 100 days in office, though there is certainly a lot more work to be done.