# The Biden Administration - the first 1,500 days \[NOT an Afghanistan discussion\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 8, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057 "2020-11-08T15:09:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/1 "2020-11-08T15:09:18Z")
Okay, I’m gonna do it. The clusterfuck is over and will be dismantled. What will take its place? What will Biden do? What should he do? What do you want him to do? > **[Biden plans immediate flurry of executive orders to reverse Trump policies](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-first-executive-orders-measures/2020/11/07/9fb9c1d0-210b-11eb-b532-05c751cd5dc2_story.html)** > > The series of actions on issues from climate to health and immigration would come soon after the president-elect is sworn in Jan. 20. > President-elect Joe Biden is planning to quickly sign a series of executive orders after being sworn into office on Jan. 20, immediately forecasting that the country’s politics have shifted and that his presidency will be guided by radically different priorities. > > He will rejoin the Paris climate accords, according to those close to his campaign and commitments he has made in recent months, and he will reverse President Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization. He will repeal the ban on almost all travel from some Muslim-majority countries, and he will reinstate the program allowing “dreamers,” who were brought to the United States illegally as children, to remain in the country, according to people familiar with his plans. > > Although transitions of power can always include abrupt changes, the shift from Trump to Biden — from one president who sought to undermine established norms and institutions to another who has vowed to restore the established order — will be among the most startling in American history. > … YES!! 👏🏽 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/2 "2020-11-08T15:13:30Z")
Moved from the “hopes for Biden” thread: > [@What are your hopes for a Biden Presidency?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-hopes-for-a-biden-presidency/924907/42): > > I wish Biden would delegate a team right away to reunite the 500+ children and parents who were separated at the border, trashed, discarded, and forgotten by the Republican administration. There’s some major humanitarian intervention that needs to happen immediately. Hell, let’s bring in UNICEF, Amnesty International, or the ICRC-- they’re refugee experts. The way the Republican administration has dealt with these people is a national disgrace. Now we can work on fixing it. This crisis doesn’t need to move to center stage-- goodness knows, there are plenty of things (COVID, for instance) vying for that place… 🙄 ) but the Democrats must bring our values to bear on this atrocity and correct it as much as possible and as quickly as possible. ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/3 "2020-11-08T16:39:21Z")
Number one thing that I would love to see Biden propose in the first 100 days: a comprehensive Infrastructure bill. Trump talked about this incessantly throughout the 2016 campaign, and then didn’t propose bupkus. He just held Infrastructure Week seemingly every month for the first year. I don’t know what chances that it would have of getting passed if the Republicans do hold the Senate, but if they don’t want to pass it, it gives the Dems something to hammer them on in the 2022 midterms (when the Republicans will have numerous incumbents up for re-election). ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/4 "2020-11-08T16:54:53Z")
> [@SwissMan](#): > > I don’t know what chances that it would have of getting passed if the Republicans do hold the Senate, but if they don’t want to pass it, it gives the Dems something to hammer them on in the 2022 midterms (when the Republicans will have numerous incumbents up for re-election). This is actually the template I’d like to see Biden’s team employ for just about everything that needs doing: 1. Propose a solid plan, including both the costs of the plan and the costs of doing nothing. 2. Ask for bipartisan input. 3. When Senate Republicans say “It’s socialism!” or whatever and reject it out of hand, ask, “OK, what’s your alternative plan?” 4. Endure a week or two of the GOP failing to propose anything. 5. Say, “Hey America, Senate Republicans don’t think (this issue) matters to you. They have no plan at all. So when you complain about (this issue), remember who proposed a solution and who brought nothing.” I’m under no illusion that this will change many minds, but when the midterms roll around and nothing has been done, at least there will be a public record of who’s to blame. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/5 "2020-11-08T17:03:47Z")
I think one of the first things he needs to do is hang Obama’s portrait AND Trump’s. That will be a step to reset what is supposed to happen when a new president moves in and might also be a bit healing to a divided country. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/6 "2020-11-08T17:12:51Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > I think one of the first things he needs to do is hang Obama’s portrait AND **Trump’s** Is there any rule that the portrait has to face _out_? ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/7 "2020-11-08T17:30:26Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Is there any rule that the portrait has to face _out_ ? Yes. And no drawing Hitler mustaches, either! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/8 "2020-11-08T17:42:59Z")
What about big 19th century robber baron-style handlebar mustaches? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/9 "2020-11-08T17:46:16Z")
> [@SwissMan](#): > > Trump talked about this incessantly throughout the 2016 campaign, and then didn’t propose bupkus. In fairness, he was going to do it in two weeks. 😆 This looks promising. (I didn’t listen, but the subhead got my attention.) > **[How Biden And McConnell Will Work Together](https://www.npr.org/2020/11/08/932744275/how-biden-and-mcconnell-will-work-together?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news)** > > Former Vice President Joe Biden has a long history with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. What will that mean for President-Elect Biden's time in the White House? If anyone can get Unca Mitch to play (not saying _play nice_, but just to show up at the game), I’ll bet Joe can do it. Joe is an Old White Guy-- they can exchange the Old White Guy’s secret handshake. Joe doesn’t hit the Uppity Negro Muslim hot button or the Uppity Ballsy Female hot button. It’s not going to help the Republicans to keep obstructing! Surely Mitch can see this! (IS he dead? He’s been so absent.) ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/10 "2020-11-08T18:03:13Z")
Reinstate CDC powers and access. Consult with scientists and leaders from countries that have kept the COVID curve flatter or better. Rejoin WHO and Paris Agreement, the latter in conjunction with auto manufacturers and a mainstream farming consortium. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/11 "2020-11-08T18:07:55Z")
Keep the [X-Mas trees,](https://www.google.com/search?q=melania%27s+trees&rlz=1C1CHBD_enCA835CA835&sxsrf=ALeKk02KE9kitEe2e7P6xuSQ5pI2yKG-4g:1604858772993&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjDq9DoxPPsAhXfIDQIHdUkB1cQ_AUoAXoECAMQAw&biw=978&bih=706) though. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/12 "2020-11-08T18:21:28Z")
We need pictures and videos of the Biden dogs _immediately_! ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/13 "2020-11-08T18:32:07Z")
Covid is going to totally dominate what the Biden administration does for at least the first two years of his administration. Other than that government will basically go back to what it was in the last two years of the Obama administration (that is policies which Trump dumped will be restored, but there will be zero progress beyond that–because of Senate Republican and Supreme Court opposition). ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/14 "2020-11-08T18:35:36Z")
It all depends on the outcome of the Georgia senate races. If Democrats win both than things might turn out good. If Republicans win those races, we’ll be stuck with a rerun of 2013 - 2014, and the hope that the 2022 midterms go well enough that Democrats net at least two senate seats. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/15 "2020-11-08T19:26:06Z")
Speaking of Trump’s portrait…could be hung very low on the wall? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/16 "2020-11-08T22:22:41Z")
From NPR. > **[Church And Golf: Biden And Trump Return To Routine After Election Is Called](https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-2020-election-results/2020/11/08/932775820/church-and-golf-biden-and-trump-return-to-routine-after-election-is-called?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news)** > > Both Trump and Biden engaged in routine activities the Sunday after the election: Trump went to his golf course in Virginia, and Biden went to Sunday Mass in Delaware. > Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have also [launched an updated website](https://buildbackbetter.com/the-transition/) as they prepare for the transition process. > > The site includes four priorities of their upcoming administration: COVID-19, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/17 "2020-11-08T23:02:23Z")
Oh… there’s a grown-up heading for the White House. He’s going to listen to _experts_… I’m so happy. [https://www.axios.com/biden-to-announce-covid-19-task-force-monday-23b353bd-863b-4e0f-bb64-c6da4a5758b2.html](https://www.axios.com/biden-to-announce-covid-19-task-force-monday-23b353bd-863b-4e0f-bb64-c6da4a5758b2.html) > Joe Biden plans Monday to name a 12-member task force to combat and contain the spread of the coronavirus, sources tell Axios. > > **Why it matters** : By announcing a COVID task force even before unveiling his senior White House staff or a single cabinet appointment, Biden is signaling that addressing the coronavirus will be the immediate priority for his transition, and then his potential administration. > > - While Biden still hasn’t declared victory in Tuesday’s election, his team is already planning to govern, and he and his advisers want to reassure the country they can address a health crisis that’s getting worse, not better. > > **The picture** : The task force will be led by three co-chairs: former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith from Yale University. > … ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/18 "2020-11-09T00:15:02Z")
I am very much afraid that not much will happen because of obstruction from McConnell. A relief bill is desperately needed but McConnell wouldn’t even do it to help Trump. An infrastructure bill is needed bad both the put America back to work and to create badly needed infrastructure including internet everywhere. I can just see that two years from now the Rs will campaign by crowing that “See, Biden can’t get anything done.” Will McC block a big spending bill to provide vaccine for all? Maybe that is too much even for him, but we will have to wait to see. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/19 "2020-11-09T01:10:17Z")
McConnell is evil, but he’s not stupid. To continue the Obama Obstruction Playbook will not serve the Republicans in the long run. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/20 "2020-11-09T02:59:55Z")
The Trump Administration is already sabotaging the transition process. The GSA administrator is balking at signing a letter authorizing all kinds of funding, resources, and access for the incoming transition team. This is described as being a much bigger deal that us teeming millions would have ever imagined. > **[A little-known Trump appointee is in charge of handing transition resources...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-gsa-letter-biden-transition/2020/11/08/07093acc-21e9-11eb-8672-c281c7a2c96e_story.html)** > > The administrator of the General Services Administration has declined to sign paperwork officially starting the transition to the new administration. > [@](#): > > The administrator of the General Services Administration, the low-profile agency in charge of federal buildings, has a little-known role when a new president is elected: to sign paperwork officially turning over millions of dollars, as well as giving access to government officials, office space and equipment authorized for the taxpayer-funded transition teams of the winner. > > [. . .] > > By declaring the “apparent winner” of a presidential election, the GSA administrator releases computer systems and money for salaries and administrative support for the mammoth undertaking of setting up a new government — $9.9 million this year. > > Transition officials get government email addresses. They get office space at every federal agency. They can begin to work with the Office of Government Ethics to process financial disclosure and conflict-of-interest forms for their nominees. > > And they get access to senior officials, both political appointees of the outgoing administration and career civil servants, who relay an agency’s ongoing priorities and projects, upcoming deadlines, problem areas and risks. The federal government is a $4.5 trillion operation, and while the Biden team is not new to government, the access is critical, experts said. > > This is all on hold for now. > > [. . .] > > The delay has already gummed up discussions on critical issues, including plans to distribute a possible coronavirus vaccine, this official said. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057.md?page=2)