A New Administration Begins

     Guess what? You'll get at least two if not three blogs today! I didn't write anything yesterday so this will make up for that and then later this afternoon or evening I'll do a recap of today's events. I also am going to put up a typical post because I know some of you don't like hearing about politics all day everyday and would like a break from it here. With that in mind, yesterday was the first official day of the new Biden-Harris Administration. Here's your play-by-play guide to how the day unfolded!
     Early in the morning, the White House released the schedules of President Biden, Vice President Harris, the First Lady, and the Second Gentleman. This was a complete change from the previous administration who very rarely released the President's schedule for the day and when they did all it said was that the President would work from early in the morning to late into the night and he will have many meetings and take many calls. This schedule included a virtual prayer service, the delivering of the President's Daily Briefing, and different meetings including a press conference with Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Dr. Anthony Fauci. It seems daily health briefings have returned and they only contain truthful facts. Who knew that was a thing! Telling the public the truth and not covering it up with insane half truths or just entirely false information. No one was happier about this change than Dr. Fauci who looked like a kid in a candy store since he was finally able to do his job without any interference.
    The first story that broke Thursday morning was that the previous administration had virtually no vaccine rollout and the new administration was essentially working from scratch. Obviously there was some guidance because vaccines had been getting out but in terms of an overall plan, that was not evident to staffers in the West Wing. Throughout the day, President Biden signed multiple executive orders reversing many Trump policies. These included halting the construction of the boarder wall by retracting the national emergency declaration as well as others pertaining to immigration and economic policy. He also signed ten executive orders specifically involving the COVID-19 pandemic and announced his full COVID plan which is available to the public on the official White House website.
     The next big news is that Dr. Fauci officially announced that the United States will be rejoining the World Health Organization. Former President Trump had previously started the process of removing the U.S. from WHO last year. By rejoining, this will greatly help us in fighting the pandemic as we can work with other health officials around the world and share data with each other more easily. There were also more committee meetings for cabinet members. Yesterday, Avril Hanes was confirmed as the Director of National Intelligence. It was also announced that the current FBI director Christopher Wray will stay in his post. He had previously been appointed by former President Trump in 2017 after he fired the previous director. President Biden had said he would keep him on if he wasn't fired before he got in office.
      Over the last few months, there's been lots of hostility between the GOP and the new administration. Today it was revealed that seventeen freshman GOP senators have sent letters of congratulations to President Biden and have promised to work with him on his agenda. This is a definite step up in some aspects but there's still a long way to go to get back to calmer waters. Last week, former President Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives. It is officially confirmed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will deliver the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate on Monday, January 25th. A trial would likely take place in mid-February and some top players are saying that it could possibly be a three-day trial making it the shortest impeachment trial to date.
     In happier, more positive news, new polls show that the number of Americans wanting to get vaccinated has risen since last fall. This is wonderful news considering that up to 85% of the public needs to be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity and get back to normal.
      I hope you enjoyed and learned something new after reading the first breakdown of the new Biden Administration. Remember to come back later today for the breakdown of day two and another old school blog!