President Biden Signs First Executive Orders

President Joe Biden appeared in the Oval Office for the first time on Wednesday afternoon to sign new executive orders and read the ‘private’ letter Donald Trump left for him.

‘The president wrote a very generous letter,’ Biden said. ‘Because it was private, I won’t talk about it until I talk to him. But it was generous.’

Trump left a note on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, one of the rare traditions he followed in the peaceful transfer of power. Trump never invited Biden to the White House after the election nor did he attend Biden’s inauguration.

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Biden wore a face mask as he sat behind the Resolute Desk to sign the executive orders. The visual was a stark change to former President Trump, who rarely wore a covering.

‘I thought there’s no time to wait,’ he said. ‘There’s no time to start like today.’

There was a large stack of folders on the desk and pictures of his family decorated the credenza behind him.

Biden signed three executive actions: one ordering a mask mandate on federal property, another providing ‘support for underserved communities’, and the third was to rejoin the Paris climate accord. Trump removed the United States from the climate agreement and Biden vowed to restore America to the accord on the first day of his presidency.

‘As we indicated we will sign a number of the executive orders over the next several days to a week and I’m going to start today. The crisis of Covid-19 along with the economic crisis, and the climate crisis, the executive actions that we are signing will help change the course of the crisis,’ he said.  Biden is expected to sign many more executive orders in the day to come.

Shortly after signing the orders, Biden swore in nearly 1,000 federal appointees and staff in a virtual ceremony in the State Dining Room at the White House. He spoke from behind a lectern, while the appointees appeared at the event via video streams set up on a series of television screens.

The 46th president said if any of his appointees treat a colleague with disrespect, he will fire them ‘on the spot.’ He said that mindset had been missing in President Donald Trump’s White House.

And in another clear reference to Trump’s administration, Biden’s White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in her first briefing that she will strive to bring truth and transparency.