President Biden signed two executive actions targeting health care on Thursday, describing the guidelines as a necessary effort to “undo the damage” made by former President Trump
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Biden signed an injunction directing federal agencies to open a special enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges from February 15 to May 15 in response to the coronavirus pandemic and to review existing policies put in place under the Trump administration which limited access to healthcare.
Biden also signed a presidential memorandum that repeals Mexico City’s policies, preventing federal funds from going to foreign aid agencies that provide abortion-related services.
The president repeatedly insisted on Thursday that the guidelines did nothing more than reverse the policies of the Trump administration and restore the policies of the Obama administration.
“I’m not starting a new law, not any new aspect of the law. This goes back to the situation prior to the president’s executive order, ”Biden told reporters in the Oval Office.
Mexico City’s policies, dubbed the “global prop rule” by reproductive health advocates, were first instituted under President Reagan in 1984 and have been consistently rolled back by the Democratic governments and reenacted by the Republican governments.
The memo also directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to consider revoking controversial changes to the Title X family program introduced during the previous administration.
The guidelines are among dozens of executive measures taken by Biden during his first eight days as president, many of which were aimed at reversing the Trump administration’s policies. While Biden focused on healthcare on Thursday, he also signed executive action on climate change, immigration, the economy and the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden government officials defended his use of executive action, as the steps came under the scrutiny of the New York Times editorial office earlier Thursday. The paper’s editors pleaded with Biden to “soften” executive actions, describing executive orders as a “flawed substitute for legislation.”
We are not taking executive action instead of legislation: we are taking executive action to fix what has broken Trump in the executive branch, and to honor the president’s pledges to use his power – within appropriate limits – to make progress. books in four crises, ”White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain
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After signing the executive actions, Biden made it clear that his top priority is to work with Congress to approve a coronavirus relief package. White House aides have fanned out to speak to lawmakers and other stakeholders about the $ 1.9 trillion package proposed by Biden shortly before taking office.
“We have a lot to do, and the first thing I need to do is get this COVID package approved,” said Biden.
Jessie Hellman contributed.