US President Joe Biden wasted no time undoing former President Donald Trump's policies on Wednesday, signing more than a dozen executive actions in the Oval Office just hours after arriving at the White House.
The orders include measures to rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change, repeal Trump's restrictions on travel from several Muslim-majority countries, stop construction of the Southern border wall and mandate the wearing of masks on federal property, according to NBC News.
He also used his first day in office to propose a sweeping immigration reform bill, a lofty legislative task his administration has decided to take on from the start.
The Trump administration relied heavily on executive orders and memorandums to push through its policy agenda after it struggled to get legislation passed in Congress. In bypassing the legislative branch, Trump made it easier for his successor to undo the actions with the sweep of a pen, as Biden did Wednesday.
Biden's executive order on masks requires employees and contractors to wear face coverings in all federal buildings and on federal land, NBC News noted.
The new President also moved to stop the Trump administration's withdrawal from the World Health Organization. Biden had vowed to have the US rejoin the WHO on his first day in office.
In another order, Biden asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to extend the federal moratorium on evictions until at least the end of March. He also asked the Education Department to extend the pause on interest and principal payments on direct federal loans until at least the end of September.
Biden took action to halt construction on a border wall, issuing an order terminating the national emergency declaration that Trump used to divert money to wall construction.
