President-elect Joe Biden has released his new presidential transition website, where he outlined his plans to address four main issues: COVID-19, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change.
Why it matters: Even as President Trump continues to contest the election and push unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud, the Biden team is moving forward as it faces a historic set of challenges.
COVID-19: Biden and Harris have a seven-point plan to address the coronavirus.
- Set up regular, reliable and free testing for all Americans.
- Create a larger supply of personal protective equipment made in the U.S.
- Provide guidance for how communities should navigate the pandemic by using a renewable fund for local governments and providing a “restart package” that would cover safe operation costs for small businesses.
- Invest $25 billion in a vaccine manufacturing and distribution plan.
- Protect older Americans and others at high risk by establishing a COVID-19 "racial and ethnic disparities task force" and creating a nationwide pandemic dashboard that's updated in real time.
- Restore the nation's relationship with the World Health Organization and bring back the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, originally established by the Obama-Biden administration.
- Implement mask mandates by working with local authorities.
Economic recovery: The transition team says its "ultimate goal" is to mobilize American manufacturing and innovation and build a modern infrastructure for clean energy. Biden wants to reopen the economy by controlling the pandemic first, providing aid to local governments to prevent more workers from getting laid off, and extending COVID crisis unemployment insurance.
Racial equity: The Biden-Harris administration wants to provide equity in business, pass police reform legislation, and reduce the prison population.
- The plan is to strengthen the Federal Reserve’s focus on racial economic gaps, promote diversity in leadership (especially in federal agencies), improve access to affordable housing, boost retirement security and financial wealth for minorities, and address long-standing inequities in agriculture.
- Police reform: Biden wants to ban chokeholds, stop the transfer of weapons of war to police forces and create a national police oversight commission.
- Prison population: Ensure fair sentences, offer second chances based on the belief that the system should be focused on redemption and rehabilitation, and support survivors of violence.
Climate change: The new administration wants to make large investments in ...
- Infrastructure: Rebuild roads, water systems and electricity grids as well as develop systems for clean air and water.
- Auto industry: Develop domestic auto supply chains and infrastructure.
- Transit: Provide every city that has 100,000 or more residents with zero-emissions public transportation options — ranging from installing rail networks and improving existing transit lines to implementing options for pedestrians and bicyclists.
- Power sector: Achieve a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035.
- Buildings: Upgrade 4 million buildings and weatherize 2 million homes.
- Housing: Construct 1.5 million sustainable homes and housing units.
- Innovation: Reduce the cost of critical clean energy technologies and rapidly commercialize them. These technologies include battery storage, building materials, renewable hydrogen and advanced nuclear.
- Agriculture and conservation: Plug abandoned oil and natural gas wells and reclaim abandoned coal, hardrock, and uranium mines.
- Environmental justice: Ensure that environmental justice is a key consideration in where, how and with whom we build.