Obama praises Biden executive order blitz: ‘now is the time for daring’

Former President Barack Obama on Thursday congratulated President Biden for promulgating an extensive list of executive orders within hours of taking office as president.

Biden signed a total of 17 executive orders within minutes of entering the Oval Office for the first time on Wednesday and 10 more orders related to the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday. The orders overturned a number of Trump administration policies and covered areas identified by Biden as his priorities on the election campaign, including the coronavirus pandemic and climate change.

“Now is the time for daring and President Biden is already keeping his promises,” Obama wrote on Twitter. “By joining the Paris climate accords from day one, he has declared loud and clear that the United States will once again lead the fight against climate change.”

“And this is just the start,” added Obama.

Biden renewed the United States’ commitment to the Paris climate agreement, an international agreement aimed at reducing carbon emissions, just three years after President Trump withdrew his support. Trump argued the deal was unfair to American interests and would result in job losses at home.

The actions rocked several prominent Republicans, including Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. GOP leaders argued that Biden’s plan to tackle climate change would hurt US energy interests and wipe out thousands of jobs.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Trump ally, warned on inauguration day that he would take action to challenge the “federal overrun” of any Biden order he deemed “unconstitutional.”

Biden signed an executive order requiring masks to be worn on federal lands and government buildings. Other actions included withdrawing federal funding for the Trump-backed border wall and shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline.

“Today, thanks to the executive orders and other directives signed by the president a few hours after taking office, we are closer to ending this pandemic and better prepared for the next one,” Obama added in a blog post.