Presidency of Joe Biden facts for kids
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Quick facts for kids
Presidency of Joe Biden
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| January 20, 2021 – present | |
| President | Joe Biden |
| Cabinet | See list |
| Party | Democratic |
| Election | 2020 |
| Seat | White House |
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← Donald Trump •
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| Seal of the President | |
Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory in the 2020 presidential election over Republican incumbent president Donald Trump. Upon his inauguration, he became the oldest president in American history, breaking the record set by his predecessor Trump. Biden entered office amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic crisis, and increased political polarization.
Contents
Build Back Better Plan
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
On January 14, 2021, Biden revealed a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The plan includes $1 trillion in direct aid, including $1,400 per-person checks, for working Americans, and would provide for direct housing and nutrition assistance, expanding access to safe and reliable childcare and affordable healthcare, increasing the minimum wage, extending unemployment insurance, and giving families with kids and childless workers an emergency boost this year. It would also expand the eligibility of these checks to adult dependents who have been left out of previous rounds of relief. The plan additionally includes $440 billion in community support, providing $350 billion of community support to first responders while the rest goes to grants for small businesses and transit agencies; $400 billion for a national vaccination plan and school reopenings; and $10 billion for information technology, modernizing federal cybersecurity infrastructure. In her first press briefing, press secretary Psaki said the plan was likely to change.
The plan invokes the Defense Production Act of 1950 to ensure the production of personal protective equipment, glass vials, syringes, and other supplies exceeds the demand. It allows partners of states to create vaccine centers in stadiums, convention centers and pharmacies. The federal government would identify communities that have been hit hardest by COVID-19, and ensure the vaccine does not reach them at an unfair pace. In addition, the plan would launch a national campaign to educate Americans about the vaccine and COVID-19, targeting misinformation related to the pandemic. Vaccines would also be freely available to all citizens regardless of immigration status. In Biden's plan, he would issue a national testing strategy that attempts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 by increasing laboratory capacity and expanding testing. The plan would also develop new treatments for COVID-19.
No Republican in Congress voted for the American Rescue Plan. While debates and negotiations over the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 were ongoing, some Republicans, including House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, Donald Trump Jr., and Rep. Madison Cawthorn, focused instead on the decision by the Dr. Seuss estate to stop publishing what many viewed as a racially-offensive Dr. Seuss book and the re-branding of the "Mr. Potato Head" toy. Biden signed the Plan into law on March 11, 2021. The provision to increase the minimum wage was excluded from the relief plan.
American Families Plan
On 28 April, during Biden's speech to Congress he unveiled the American Families Plan, a roughly $1.8 trillion proposal to significantly increase federal spending in areas related to childcare, paid leave, pre-kindergarten, community college, and healthcare. It is considered to be the third part of Biden's "Build Back Better" agenda (the first being the American Rescue Plan and the second being the American Jobs Plan). The bill was effectively merged with climate change and other provisions that didn't make it into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, for a total $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act. However, the bill did not have Republican support, and Democrats struggled to win the support of Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia to pass it on a party-line vote through budget reconciliation, even as the price was lowered to $2.2 trillion. After the bill ultimately failed to match his envisioned cost, Manchin publicly rejected it, dooming its passage.
Domestic manufacturing
Biden signed an executive order intended to support domestic manufacturers by increasing a federal preference for purchasing goods made wholly or partly in the U.S.
Energy, environment, and climate
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On January 20, 2021, Biden signed an executive order rejoining the U.S. to the Paris Agreement. With the U.S. rejoining the agreement, countries responsible for two-thirds of the global greenhouse gas emissions would make pledges of becoming carbon neutral, while without United States it is only half. On the same day, Biden also issued an executive order that cancelled the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, an extension of the Keystone Pipeline. The pipeline was heavily criticized by environmental and Native American activists and groups. This order also directed agencies to review and reverse more than 100 actions made by Trump on the environment.
On January 21, 2021, the Biden administration issued a 60-day ban on oil and gas leases and permits on federal land and waters. On January 27, 2021, Biden signed a number of executive orders aimed at combating climate change, one of them setting climate change as a key consideration for U.S. national security and foreign policy.
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In 2021, the Biden administration proposed a 20-year ban on oil and gas drilling around Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a site in northwestern New Mexico that contain important Ancestral Puebloan sites.
The Biden administration set a goal of achieving 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy generated in the U.S. by 2030 (sufficient to provide electricity to about 10 million homes). In 2021, the Biden administration approved the South Fork Wind project, a major (130 MW, 12-turbine) commercial offshore wind power project located southeast of Rhode Island's Block Island and east of New York's Montauk Point, the wind farm is projected to provide electricity to proved 70,000 Long Island homes. The project is the country's second large-scale offshore wind project (after a similar wind-power development in Massachusetts).
In November 2021, Biden promised to end and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030, joining more than 100 other global leaders in the COP26 climate summit's first major agreement.
Immigration
On January 20, 2021, Biden halted the construction of the U.S.–Mexico barrier and ended a related national emergency declared by Trump in February 2018. Biden issued a proclamation that ended the Trump travel ban imposed on predominantly Muslim countries in January 2017. Biden also reaffirmed protections to recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The same day, Biden sent a memorandum to the U.S. Department of State reinstating Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians.
On January 23, Biden proposed an immigration bill aiming to give a path to citizenship to eleven million immigrants living in the U.S. without a permanent legal status. The bill would also make it easier for certain foreign workers to stay in the U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin called the bill "aspirational". It is widely expected not to pass both houses of Congress without significant revision.
In March 2021, the Biden administration granted temporary protected status to Venezuelans fleeing the country amidst the ongoing political and economic crisis.
Social issues
During his early days in office, Biden focused on "advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice and equal opportunity." According to The New York Times, Biden's early actions in office focused on racial equality more than any president since Lyndon B. Johnson, who passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. On January 25, 2021, Biden signed an executive order that lifted the ban on transgender military service members. This reversed a memorandum imposed by Trump.
On January 20, 2021, the Biden administration issued an Executive Order entitled Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government increasing the federal government's anti-bias enforcement against government contractors. The intent is heightened investigations and audits by the Department of Justice as well as more detailed follow-up inquiries with government contractors, with an emphasis on combatting pay discrimination. Also in January, Biden directed the U.S. Department of Justice to reduce their usage of private prisons and ordered the attorney general to not renew contracts with private prisons, citing the need to "reduce profit-based incentives" for the incarceration of racial minorities.
Biden made Juneteenth (June 19) a federal holiday in 2021, celebrating the end of slavery in the U.S. In March 2022, Biden signed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act into law. With the enactment of that legislation, lynching was made a federal hate crime for the first time in American history.
LGBT rights
The United States Department of Agriculture unveiled efforts in 2022 to prevent anti-LGBT discrimination in food programs, including school lunch programs, resulting in 20 lawsuits from 20 Republican attorneys general.
In December 2022, Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which repealed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), required states to recognize other states' marriage certificates for LGBT Americans, and ensured some religious liberties. The bill came from a push from Democrats to codify same-sex marriage after the Dobbs decision, particularly Clarence Thomas's push to reconsider other precedents.
Gun control
Biden advocates for further gun regulations, such as a restored ban on assault weapons and a high-capacity magazine ban, as well as reinforcing preexisting background checks.
Space policy
The Biden administration continued the Artemis program to send people back to the Moon. The administration also emphasized the role of NASA in studying climate change.
Biden appointed Bill Nelson, an astronaut and former U.S. Senator, to the post of NASA administrator. Nelson was confirmed unanimously by the Senate in April 2021.
In April 2021, as part of his first annual budget request, Biden proposed a $24.8 billion budget for NASA in 2022, a $1.5 billion increase on what Congress allocated to 2021. The proposal includes funding for the Artemis program for a new crewed Moon landing mission. The proposal also included a 12.5% increase for NASA's Earth Science Division, as well as a 22% increase for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which operates a fleet of weather satellites; both measures aimed to use space tools to study and mitigate climate change.
On December 1, 2021, Biden announced his new framework for US space policy, the United States Space Priorities Framework, which explains Biden's approach for commercial, civil, and military space activity. There is a new emphasis on combating climate change and investing in STEM education.
Education
In August 2022, Biden announced that the Department of Education would cancel certain federally owned student debt. Borrowers earning under $125,000 per year, or under $250,000 for married couples who file jointly, would be eligible for up to $10,000 in loan forgiveness. Borrowers who received a Pell Grant while attending college could qualify for up to an additional $10,000 in loan forgiveness, for a total of $20,000. The administration estimated that about 43 million borrowers would be covered by the plan, including about 20 million individuals whose student debt would be completely forgiven. On August 9, 2022, Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, which supports STEM education with funding.
Trump wall
On October 5, 2023, Joe Biden's administration said on Thursday it will add sections to a border wall to stave off record migrant crossings from Mexico, carrying forward a signature policy of former President Donald Trump. One of Biden's first actions after taking office in January 2021 was to issue a proclamation pledging that "no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall" as well as a review of all resources that had already been committed.
Foreign affairs
The foreign policy goal of the Biden administration is to restore the US to a "position of trusted leadership" among global democracies in order to address the challenges posed by Russia and China. In foreign policy, Biden completed the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan, declaring an end to nation-building efforts and shifting U.S. foreign policy toward strategic competition with China and, to a lesser extent, Russia. Biden signed AUKUS, an international security alliance, together with Australia and the United Kingdom. Biden called for the expansion of NATO with the addition of Finland and Sweden, and rallied NATO allies in support of Ukraine. During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Biden condemned Hamas and other Palestinian militants as terrorism and announced American military support for Israel; Biden also showed his support and sympathy towards Palestinians affected by the war and has sent humanitarian aid.
Images for kids
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U.S. National Guard soldiers at the Capitol, January 20, 2021
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Chief Justice John Roberts administers the presidential oath of office to Biden at the Capitol, January 20, 2021.
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President Biden addresses a joint session of Congress, with Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, April 28, 2021
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President Biden signs the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law, November 15, 2021
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Inflation rate, United States and eurozone, January 2016 through June 2022
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Vice President Kamala Harris meets with State Department Special Envoy for the Northern Triangle, Ricardo Zúñiga, and other officials on the surge of migrants from Central America, March 2021
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President Biden signs his first bill, H.R. 335
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President Biden delivers remarks at The Pentagon, February 2021
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on October 31, 2021
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Biden meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chairman Abdullah Abdullah, June 2021
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President Biden hosted the Quad meeting at the White House, September 24, 2021
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Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 2021 Russia–United States summit in Geneva, Switzerland
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Biden visits Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw, Poland, March 2022
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President Biden with European leaders at the G20 summit in Rome, Italy, October 30, 2021
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President Biden and French President Macron meeting in Rome, October 29, 2021
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Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Saudi Arabia's Deputy Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman, July 2021
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Secretary Blinken, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on October 13, 2021
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See also
In Spanish: Presidencia de Joe Biden para niños
