Democrat,

Yesterday we watched as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris finally took office and brought the Trump era to an end. While there was plenty of pomp and circumstance — including appearances from Jersey favorites like Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi — the Biden Administration also did some real work yesterday to start undoing the mistakes and outright cruelty of the Trump years. Here are some of the Executive Orders and other actions that President Biden has already taken:

• Mandating masks and social distancing on federal property
• Extending the federal moratorium on evictions
• Rejoining the Paris Climate Accords
• Ending Trump’s Muslim Ban
• Reinstating federal nondiscrimination policies on sexual orientation and gender identity 
• Strengthening the DACA program for young immigrants 
• Ensuring that non-citizens are properly counted in the Census 
• Halting construction of Trump’s border wall
• Revoking the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline
• Pausing federal student loan payments and reducing interest rates to zero
• Enforcing new ethics laws for White House staff and appointees 

The work of rebuilding the federal government’s ability to make positive change won’t happen overnight, but we could not be more excited about the progress that is already being made. It’s a breath of fresh air and another reason why we’re feeling more optimistic about 2021 than ever before. 

— NJDSC Team