Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. on Wednesday was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.
Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to Biden shortly before noon.
Kamala Devi Harris was also sworn in as the 49th Vice President of the United States. She is the first woman and first person of South Asian descent to hold the vice presidency. Justice Sonia Sotomayor administered the oath of office to Harris.
Former President Donald Trump left the White House Wednesday morning for Florida, where he plans to live.
In his first hours in office, President Biden signed 17 executive orders, memorandums and proclamations. The orders, among other things, issued a government-wide regulatory freeze pending review, reentered the U.S. in the Paris Climate Accord, revoked the Keystone XL pipeline permit, directed the Census Bureau to count all persons inhabiting a state regardless of their immigration status, largely federalized the COVID-19 response efforts and addressed numerous aspects of the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic response, directed the Department of Labor to revise guidance on worker safety in light of COVID-19 and consider whether an emergency temporary standard (ETS) should be issued, and reversed some of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
President Biden also sent an immigration plan to Congress for its consideration, announced the U.S. will rejoin the World Health Organization, fired Peter Robb, the Trump-appointed general counsel at the National Labor Relations Board and appointed then fired Robb’s replacement, and announced priorities for another COVID-19 relief bill.
