What to expect if Biden wins the 2020 election
Credit: Reuters
US 2020 election
Joe Biden has made a long list of promises for his first 100 days, but his overriding priority will be the coronavirus pandemic.
In addition, he is expected to try to roll the clock back as much as possible to January 2017, when he and Barack Obama left office.
That would involve using executive orders, as much as possible, to overturn orders introduced by Mr Trump, including those that loosened environmental regulations.
He will also prioritise international relations with a flurry of calls to world leaders, reassuring allies about the US role on the global stage.
Another immediate priority will be to act to save Obamacare by withdrawing from a federal legal case, brought under the Trump administration, that aims to end it.
His team is currently considering what to focus on in terms of bills to send to Congress. That will have to be determined once the make-up of Congress is known.
If Republicans hold on to the Senate then much of what Mr Biden wants to do will be an uphill struggle. If Democrats take it, then the legislative floodgates will open.
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2020 Election
Pandemic priorities
On the pandemic Mr Biden has indicated he will make quick appointments of the Cabinet secretaries who will be key to the response.
That includes his health secretary, treasury secretary, and the director of the National Economic Council.
He will prioritise seeking advice from Dr Anthony Fauci, America’s leading infectious diseases expert, and make him a pivotal figure in the response.
Dr Fauci has had an at times fractious relationship with Donald Trump, but is trusted by a very high proportion of Americans.
Read more: Who is in Joe Biden’s presidential team?
Mr Biden has said he would also quickly appoint a "supply commander" who would be responsible for producing and distributing tests, masks, and vaccines.
There will also be a "pandemic board" deciding what resources were required.
Mr Biden said he would be announcing a new Covid-19 taskforce on Monday to help turn his plan for tackling the pandemic into a blueprint that can be implemented when he takes office on January 20, 2021, inauguration day.
Rebuilding bridges
Mr Biden has also said that "you don’t have to have a crowd" for the presidential inauguration, and he could be sworn in with guests standing 6ft apart outside the US Capitol.
On his first day in the Oval Office he intends to "restore our leadership on the world stage" by taking actions including rejoining the World Health Organisation.
He said recently: "Day 1, if I win, I’m going to be on the phone with our Nato allies saying we’re back. We’re back and you can count on us again."
He has also vowed to strike out Mr Trump’s Muslim ban on day one, and then work with Congress to pass a law on hate crime.
In regard to dozens of Mr Trump’s executive orders affecting the climate, Mr Biden said he would "do away with all [Mr Trump’s] executive orders. I mean, not figuratively. Literally, all of them."
It was unclear whether that includes orders relating to commercial fishing and oil pipelines.
He is set to immediately sign an executive order rejoining the Paris climate accord, which the US originally joined when he was vice president.
Mr Biden has said: "The first thing I’d do as president is call a meeting of all the nations who sign on to the accord, in Washington, DC, to up the ante. Because we’ve learned so much just in the last years about the science, about what has to happen quicker."
Read more: Who is Joe Biden’s wife and First Lady candidate?
Guns and taxes
Mr Biden has also said he would take immediate action to reverse tax cuts, for individuals and companies, that Mr Trump secured in 2017.
He has also pledged, in his first 100 days, to establish a new police oversight body to address institutional racism.
A bill is expected be drawn up to end gun background check loopholes.
And there will be a bill aimed at creating a pathway to citizenship for America’s estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants.
Mr Biden will also move to eliminate tax cuts passed under Trump in 2017, affecting individuals as well as large corporations.
He has also promised, in the first 100 days, a "roadmap to end homelessness," and to once again allow transgender students to play sports and use bathrooms according to their gender identity.
Mr Biden will also have to fill over 4,000 politically appointed jobs in his administration, 1,200 of which will have to be confirmed by the Senate.
Read more: Trump vs Biden 2020 policies
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