In his final days in office, President Joe Biden and his administration have rolled out 32 executive actions on various issues, including immigration and energy policy, in an apparent effort to solidify his legacy and limit the agenda of President-elect Donald Trump.
Among the last-minute actions, Biden has focused on granting protections from deportation. On January 10, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nearly one million individuals, providing work permits and shielding them from deportation for 18 months. This includes protections for 234,000 Salvadorans, 1,900 Sudanese, 104,000 Ukrainians, and 600,000 Venezuelans. While Trump’s Department of Homeland Security appointees could attempt to rescind these TPS designations, such efforts would likely result in prolonged legal battles. Notably, in 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Trump’s revocation of TPS for 300,000 individuals from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan, years after his administration initiated the process.
Another significant action taken by Biden is a sweeping ban on offshore drilling. Through a presidential memorandum on January 6, Biden prohibited oil and natural gas drilling across a massive portion of U.S. coastal waters—an area larger than Alaska and Texas combined. Trump has vowed to overturn the ban immediately upon taking office. However, the law Biden used, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, provides no straightforward mechanism for reversal, potentially requiring Congress to repeal the memorandum. With Senate Democrats holding the ability to filibuster legislation, Trump faces a significant legal and legislative challenge to undo the ban.
Biden also used his clemency powers to nearly empty federal death row. On December 23, he commuted the death sentences of 37 of the 40 inmates awaiting execution, sparing individuals convicted of heinous crimes, including mass murderers, child killers, and those deemed dangerous after murdering fellow inmates. This action stands in stark contrast to Trump’s approach at the end of his first term, when he oversaw five federal executions shortly before Biden assumed office. While Trump cannot reverse these clemencies, he expressed his outrage on social media, stating, “I refuse to wish a Merry Christmas to those lucky ‘souls’ but, instead, will say, GO TO HELL!”
Biden’s administration has also made a point of spending down funds allocated by Congress for Ukraine and environmental initiatives. His team rapidly approved $74 billion for climate-related projects, leaving only $20 billion of the Inflation Reduction Act’s $369 billion in green funding for Trump’s administration to manage. Additionally, on January 9, Biden authorized a final $500 million in weapons for Ukraine, bringing total U.S. aid during his presidency to $183 billion. Trump has pledged to end the conflict in Ukraine swiftly upon taking office, though achieving peace in the short term appears unlikely. The president-elect has criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as the “greatest salesman on Earth,” while incoming national security adviser Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) has called Biden’s approach a “blank check” strategy.
In a further push, Biden addressed student loan forgiveness. On January 13, he utilized three separate authorities under the Department of Education to cancel $4.23 billion in federally held student debt. This relief targeted borrowers with disabilities, those allegedly defrauded by educational institutions, and public-service workers, bringing the total amount of loans forgiven under his administration to $183.6 billion. This piecemeal initiative followed the Supreme Court’s rejection of an earlier, broader plan for debt forgiveness. Trump’s incoming team is reportedly exploring ways to scale back portions of Biden’s debt cancellation, with Republicans arguing that such measures unfairly burden taxpayers while benefiting the college-educated. The courts are likely to play a decisive role, as the Supreme Court is set to hear a case this year concerning $20 billion in pending loan forgiveness for borrowers alleging fraud by schools.
{Matzav.com}