It shouldn’t come as any surprise to Democrats and Republicans that a Biden presidency would mean changes. So far, Joe Biden has done the most executive orders in just a week than the past 4 presidents combined. A total of 37 executive orders were signed in the past week while the last president only signed 5 in his first month of being the president. Here are five noteworthy executive orders that were put in just in the first day:

The Paris Accords

• The Paris Accords is an agreement between nations to help with climate change
• It is controversial because it held America to a higher standard than many other nations.
• Opponents argue that American manufacturers and factory workers are going to be held to a much higher standard than many other countries.

New Gender Laws 

• This new executive order reverses Trumps law that didn’t allow people who identifies as a different gender that they were assigned at birth to participate in the opposite sexes sports, and it also doesn’t allow them to be able to use the opposite bathroom.
• Supports celebrate this move in an effort to offer equal opportunities to people regardless of gender identity.
• Opponents argue that there are too many discrepancies with this law, allowing people to enter the opposite genders bathroom and participate in their sports for unjustified reasons. Men can identify as women, even with the realm of athletic competitions. Many fear that this policy will be used improperly and put other at risk.

Stopped Construction on the Pipeline 

• The pipeline was a line that ran through the country that transported gas and liquids over long distances
• There are discrepancies with this because thousands of workers are now out of work because this bill took away their job. They went from making almost six figure salaries to having no income at all.
• Opponents argue that unemployment is even higher than before. Citizens relying on the pipeline for work will now are unemployed. Gas prices are likely to rise more, putting a greater strain on Americans already struggling economically.

Justice and Prison Reform

• This isn’t a bill but the lack of a bill that is noteworthy. Biden promised that his first step as president would be to put in justice and prison reform. However it has been 37 executive orders in and not a peep about either prison reform or justice reform.
• There are many discrepancies with this because there was many empty promises about stopping the crime bill that he created in the 90’s.
• This makes a lot of civil unrest go on and many protest start to occur in the streets of major cities that aren’t being covered.

New Mask Mandate 

• The new mask mandate requires people on federal property and interstate travel to wear a mask or suffer consequences
• There are discrepancies with this because in places like Florida which has no mask mandate now has to have them in federal buildings and on any form of public transportation
• This executive order really only affects people that are in mask-less states, so states like New Jersey will virtually be unaffected by this.

Why Readers Should Pay Attention

Biden has put many executive orders into effect since being in office. Citizens benefit from staying updated; it is extremely important to be educated on these topics so they can voice concern or support for such actions.

To express concern or support to elected officials, representatives from New Jersey can be reached in both the Senate and the House. Contacts can be found here.