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Factbox: With strokes of pen, Biden overturns Trump policies and fights COVID-19

[January 30, 2021] NEW YORK (Reuters) - In his first days in office, U.S. President Joe Biden issued a wave of executive orders and proclamations aimed at dismantling some of former President Donald Trump's agenda and bolstering the nation’s COVID-19 response.

Biden also ordered the establishment a variety of environmental protections and changes to immigration policy.

Here is a list of the moves.

TRUMP RULES

All new and pending rules passed in the last days of Trump’s tenure will be reviewed by department and agency heads.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Reverses Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement, an international pact aimed at curbing emissions that cause global warming.

CLIMATE CHANGE DOMESTIC POLICIES

Directs agencies to purchase American-made, zero-emission vehicles in an effort to create union jobs, suspends new oil and natural gas leases on public lands and conserves at least 30 percent of federal lands and waters by 2030.

TRAVEL BAN

Reverse Trump policy that barred entry to the U.S. for refugees and residents from seven predominantly Muslim countries and orders plans within 45 days for resuming visa processing.

MASK WEARING

Mandated mask-wearing and social distancing on all federal properties.

GOVERNMENT-WIDE COVID-19 RESPONSE

Creates a position of COVID-19 response coordinator, who will advise the president and oversee the distribution of vaccines, tests and other supplies.

IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

Reverses a Trump policy that cracked down on communities shielding undocumented immigrants from deportation.

RACIAL EQUITY

Direct all federal agencies to conduct equity assessments and reallocate resources to advance equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically undeserved and marginalized.

UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

Overturned Trump’s attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants during the 2020 census.

KEYSTONE

Revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, a 1,200-mile pipeline system projected to carry crude oil from Canada to the United States.

DISCRIMINATION OVER GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION

Extends federal non-discrimination protections to members of the LGBTQ community, building off the landmark Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia.

ETHICS PLEDGE

Requires all government appointees to sign an ethics pledge prohibiting the acceptance of gifts from registered lobbyists and lobbying for at least two years after exiting the government.

BORDER WALL

Halts the construction and funding of the wall at U.S. southern border.

STUDENT LOANS

Extends the freeze on federal student loan payments.

DACA

Reaffirms an Obama-era program known as DACA that Trump had sought to dismantle that shielded undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children from deportation.

TRANSGENDER MILITARY BAN

Repeals the ban on transgender people serving openly in the military.

'BUY AMERICAN'

Directs agencies to strengthen requirements about purchasing products and services from U.S. workers and businesses and to “close loopholes that allow companies to offshore production and jobs while still qualifying for domestic preferences.”

REGULATIONS

Scrapped a batch of Trump-era executive actions that restricted how federal agencies make regulatory changes, including one measure requiring agencies to discard two regulations for every one proposed.

REGULATORY REVIEW

Directs the head of the Office of Budget and Management to oversee an effort to “modernize and improve” the regulatory review process.

COVID TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

Reinstates travel restrictions affecting non-U.S. citizens traveling from Brazil and much of Europe, which Trump had scrapped days before his term ended.

COVID TRAVEL SAFETY

Mandates mask-wearing on all forms of public transportation, including in airports, airplanes and buses.

COVID TREATMENTS

Directs the secretary of health to support research on COVID-19 treatments and increase support for critical care and long-term care facilities like nursing homes.

COVID DATA

Directs all department and agency heads to facilitate the gathering, sharing and publication of COVID data.

NATIONAL GUARD COVID RESPONSE

Directs the secretaries of defense and homeland security to support governors’ deployment of the National Guard in efforts to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 and provides federal funding.

DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT

Invokes the Defense Production Act to ramp up supplies for the pandemic response and requested the heads of various departments to assess the nationwide availability of personal protective equipment.

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Vice President Kamala Harris watches as President Joe Biden signs executive orders on his racial equity agenda at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 26, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

HEALTH EQUITY TASK FORCE

Creates the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, which will provide recommendations on the allocation of resources and funding in light of “disparities in COVID-19 outcomes by race, ethnicity and other factors.

SCHOOL REOPENINGS

Directs the Department of Education to develop guidance for elementary and secondary schools in deciding when and how to reopen.

PANDEMIC WORKPLACE SAFETY

Directs the Department of Labor to revise and issue new guidance for employers to promote the health and safety of their workers, such as mask-wearing in the workplace.

COVID TESTING BOARD

Creates a pandemic testing board that will coordinate national efforts to promote COVID diagnostic, screening and surveillance testing.

FOOD ASSISTANCE

Extends the 15% increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and allow states to increase SNAP emergency allotments.

VETERANS WITH DEBT

Asks the Department of Veterans Affairs to consider freeze on federal debt and overpayment collection from about 2 million veterans.

COVID WORK SAFETY

Requests the Department of Labor to consider clarifying its rules to establish that workers have a federally guaranteed right to refuse employment that will jeopardize their health and that workers who do so will still qualify for unemployment insurance.

"BENEFIT DELIVERY TEAMS"

Establishes “a network of benefit delivery teams,” which will coordinate with state and federal agencies to facilitate the distribution of federal aid amid the pandemic.

DELIVERY OF STIMULUS PAYMENTS

Directs the Treasury Department to consider taking a series of actions to expand and improve delivery of direct stimulus payments, including the creation of online tools for recipients to claim their checks.

COVID ECONOMIC RELIEF

Directs all government departments and agencies to identify actions they can take within existing authorities to address the current economic crisis resulting from the pandemic.

FEDERAL WORKS, CONTRACTORS

Reverses Trump-era regulations that rolled back protections for federal employees, including a rule that made it easier to hire and fire civil servants in policy-making positions.

LIBERIAN DEPORTATIONS

Blocks the deportation of Liberian refugees living in the United States, reinstating the deferment of their enforced departure granted by the presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

TRUMP HOUSING POLICIES

Directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development to examine the effects of the previous administration’s regulatory actions.

PRIVATE PRISONS

Directs the attorney general not to renew Department of Justice contracts with private prisons.

TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY

Emphasizing the administration’s commitment to respecting the sovereignty of American Indian and Alaska Native tribes.

ANTI-ASIAN DISCRIMINATION

Urges the Department of Health and Human Services to consider issuing guidance on cultural competency and sensitivity toward Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as part of the nation’s COVID response

SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY

Directs the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to review agency policies on scientific integrity.

PRESIDENTIAL COUNCIL ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The president will solicit input from a council of advisors on science and technology, which will advise Biden on scientific and technical information.

MEDICAID, AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

Directs agencies to re-examine policies that could have undermined protections for people with pre-existing conditions, complicated the process of enrolling in Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and reduced coverage and affordability of the programs.

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE

Revokes the “Mexico City policy,” also known as the global gag rule, a Reagan-era policy renewed by Trump that blocks federal funding to foreign organizations that perform abortions or provide abortion counseling or referrals. Also rescinds Trump regulations under the Title X family planning program that pulled funding from hundreds of women’s health clinics across the country in 2019.

(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Alistair Bell)

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