The inauguration of the forty-sixth president of the United States, Former Vice President Joe Biden, is planned to take place on January 20 at an outdoor inauguration ceremony; after his inauguration, Biden has a list of goals to accomplish within his first 100 days.

   According to National Public Radio, “Biden ran a heavily policy-focused campaign, releasing dozens of lengthy and ambitious plans ranging from large-scale economic and environmental initiatives to broad actions on racial justice, education and health care. A significant amount of Biden’s agenda also centers on reversing or updating positions taken by the Trump administration, especially on immigration and foreign policy. Biden heads into office with strategies to address the COVID-19 crisis and the search for a vaccine as well” (npr.org). 

   The Biden administration also has outlined their goals for handling COVID-19. “On the heels of major vaccine developments, Biden committed that his team will help get ‘at least 100 million Covid vaccine shots into the arms of the American people in the first 100 days’” (cnn.com).

   The new administration also plans to respond to the recent demands for racial justice for people of color. “Biden said he will institute a national police oversight commission within his first 100 days of taking office. It’s part of a larger plan to help overhaul policing, including investing 300 million dollars into community policing measures across the U.S. and tasking the Justice Department with investigating possible issues of police and prosecutorial misconduct” (npr.org).

   Furthermore, Biden stated he would send an immigration bill to the Senate that “…provides a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million undocumented people” within his first 100 days in office (forbes.com).

   The President-elect also will head into office with an extensive set of environmental goals proposed through his clean energy plan, which includes getting the country to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The proposal calls for a 2 trillion dollar investment, throughout his term, to boost reliance on clean energy and climate sustainable practices (npr.org).

   Despite his lengthy list of goals, Biden may have trouble finding success with all of them. According to The New York Times, the President-elect will need to decide what policies to push through first, considering he will face a divided Congress. Although control of the Senate is still up in the air, Republicans are poised to remain the dominant party. Democrats have maintained a slim majority in the House of Representatives (nytimes.com).

   “A large part of Biden’s health care proposal offers a new public option plan that builds on the existing Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. But the ACA’s fate remains in question during the rest of Trump’s term and into next year” (npr.org).

   Senior Luciano Wells said, “I hope Biden will be able to move the United States towards clean energy for its future. I think it’s important for future generations.”