WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden taking power at one of the darkest times in American history. His inauguration comes after a violent mob attacked the Capitol and the second impeachment of former President Donald Trump. During the first few days of his presidency, he'll watch to see if the Senate will convict his predecessor of inciting an insurrection.
There are lots of divisions and challenges, and the Biden Administration has lots of goals in the first 100 days.
Biden's top priority is getting a grip on the COVID-19 pandemic. He plans to enact a federal 100-day mask mandate and encourage governors to do the same.
Biden is promising to improve the vaccination rollout, pledging 100 million shots in 100 days. And he will make it a national priority to get every school back open for in-person learning by the end of his first 100 days.
Biden also vows to push for a bigger $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package right away. That includes another stimulus check up to $1,400 and extended unemployment benefits.
The Biden team plans to create new jobs, first through a public health jobs corp, creating 100,000 jobs tied to testing, tracing and controlling COVID-19.
Thousands of more jobs could be created through infrastructure improvements.
Biden's first 100 days will also be spent reversing many of Trump's policies. Biden plans to roll back Trump's tax cuts, rejoin the Paris Climate Accord, reverse the Muslim travel ban, stop family separation at the border and send Congress a comprehensive immigration plan with a path to citizenship for 11 million people living here illegally.
It's an ambitious agenda, but one that may be more likely now with Democratic control of the House and the Senate.