Seven Executive Actions Biden-Harris Can Take on Day One to Move Beyond the Trump Era
By: Alan Jenkins
Tags: Human Rights, Diversity And Inclusion, Public Policy, White House, Civil Rights

President-Elect Biden has made clear that he will reverse the harmful executive actions taken by President Trump over the last four years. Among other actions, he will rejoin the Paris climate accords, reverse President Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization, repeal the Muslim travel ban, and reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Those early actions are crucial to stemming the harm and cruelty of the prior administration. But there is more that the Biden-Harris administration can and should do on day one to move our country in a new, inclusive direction. Whatever the outcome of the fight for Senate control, the Executive Branch has significant power to act, particularly regarding civil and human rights. Here are seven ideas to get them started.

1. An Opportunity Action Plan.

Biden-Harris made a renewed commitment to equal opportunity and justice a cornerstone of their campaign. On Inauguration Day, they will have the power to implement that vision through the administration of hundreds of billions of dollars in federally-funded programs around the country. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its federal regulations prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, and ethnicity in federally-funded programs, whether that discrimination is intentional or in practice. Other rules prohibit federally-underwritten discrimination based on gender and disability. Yet, as the COVID-19 pandemic and our national reckoning on race make clear, federal funds continue to subsidize public health, transportation, educational, justice, and other systems that significantly exclude or harm people of color. On day one, the Biden-Harris administration should issue an executive order requiring public and private recipients of federal funds to affirmatively demonstrate, based on real data, how they will prevent discrimination and guarantee equal access as a condition on future funding. The Opportunity Agenda has proposed an Opportunity Impact Statement process as one way of implementing this crucial goal.

2. Reinventing Safety and Justice.

This year, the largest social justice movement in history took to the streets to demand a re-envisioning of public safety and a new commitment to equal justice. On day one, the Biden-Harris administration should re-direct existing justice funding toward state, tribal, and local governments that emphasize prevention, equity, human services, and restorative justice. Jurisdictions should be incentivized to reduce reliance on policing and mass incarceration while advancing community-led approaches that deliver true safety. Innovative localities are deploying community mediation, de-escalation teams, mental health services, and other strategies to keep communities safe, prevent harm, and uphold the values of fairness and accountability. The new administration should support, assess, and learn from these efforts. And Biden-Harris should immediately halt the transfer of military-grade weaponry to police departments.

3. Repurposing Prisons and Jails for Jobs and Education.

As they move away from harmful mass incarceration, states, localities, and nonprofits have been finding innovative ways to repurpose prisons and jails to advance community health, educational opportunity, and regional economies. Ideas range from a small farm incubator in Illinois, to a distillery and tourist attraction in Tennessee, to a youth and community resource center in South Central LA. Biden-Harris should direct federal agencies that already fund local initiatives to invest in best practices for reinvestment of this kind.

4. Protecting Human Rights at Home and Abroad.

President-Elect Biden has indicated a welcome intention to return the US to the community of nations, including the system of international human rights that America helped to craft after WWII and the horrors of the Holocaust. An immediate step, recommended in an influential Human Rights Blueprint, should be a revitalized Interagency Working Group on Human Rights to coordinate federal agencies’ promotion and implementation of human rights obligations in U.S. domestic policy. In addition, the new president should sign the international human rights treaties from which the United States has been noticeably absent, including protections for migrant workers and their families.

5. Tackling Climate Change and Environmental Justice.

President-Elect Biden has correctly described human-driven climate change as an “existential threat to humanity,” noting that “we don’t have much time” to address it. Biden and Harris have also noted the discriminatory impact of climate change on communities of color, as with a wide range of environmental hazards. On day one, the Biden-Harris administration should make good on its commitment to establish an Environmental and Climate Justice Division within the U.S. Department of Justice, charged with enforcing environmental laws and addressing the inequitable impact of emissions and other hazards on communities.

6. Respecting Tribal Sovereignty.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling, McGirt v. Oklahoma, holding that 19th century treaties that the United States signed with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation remain binding, and that the lands that Congress “solemnly guarantied” to the Creek Nation in exchange for leaving their eastern homelands remain theirs today. In addition to ensuring that this ruling is faithfully implicated, Biden-Harris should order a thorough inventory of all treaty obligations, with an eye toward ensuring that they are implemented and respected. Tribal leaders and governments must have a central role, and indigenous sources of history and knowledge must be considered in this process.

7. Moving Toward Full Equality.

In another landmark decision earlier this year, Bostock v. Clayton County, the Supreme Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The Court’s reasoning applies not only to Title VII, but also to other gender-based civil rights protections. The Biden-Harris administration should immediately issue an order prohibiting discrimination on these bases by the executive branch and military, as well as a review of all laws that prohibit gender discrimination, clarifying that each prohibits discrimination based on LGBTQ status.

These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to a Biden-Harris opportunity agenda. And they must complement, not replace, the President-Elect’s plans to reverse the many harmful Trump executive actions. But taking these concrete steps on Inauguration Day would begin the process of moving beyond the Trump era toward one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Have additional ideas for the first 100 days? Post them in the comments!