As explained in a report from The Washington Post, President Joe Biden was slated to sign two executive orders geared towards undoing some of the damaging fallout from the Trump era.
Monday is International Women’s Day, and Biden’s executive orders include a demand for a review of controversial guidance for handling allegations of sexual assault on college campuses that was put in place by Trump era Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Under the guise of due process, DeVos’s guidelines “mandated a judicial-like process in which the accused has the right to a live hearing and to cross-examine accusers,” the Post explained, but these provisions could clearly unfairly impact sexual assault victims, forcing them to relive trauma and directly face off with their attacker’s side in service of a process that might not end up even granting them any relief.
Biden’s executive order mandates a conclusion from the Education Department on whether DeVos’s regulations are “consistent with the policies” of the Biden team, and this review of the regulations could constitute the first step in undoing them. The order also directs the department to look at other policies in order to ensure that the full breadth of federal education directives are in line with the Biden administration’s mission to “guarantee education free from sexual violence.”
The second of Biden’s planned executive orders creates a White House Gender Policy Council, which mirrors the White House Council on Women and Girls that existed during the Obama era. The shifted name reflects an intention to include issues relating to transgender people in the council’s purview. According to an administration official speaking to the Post, the council will be meant to review policies across the administration in an effort to help ensure the “full participation of all people.” According to the Post, “Issues the council plans to address include sexual harassment, family caregiving, gender-based violence and gender equity globally.”
While in office, besides advancing his own agenda, Biden has been working to address some of the fallout of the Trump era. On immigration, for instance, his administration has already moved to phase out the controversial Remain in Mexico program, which forced asylum-seekers to stay in potentially dangerous conditions outside of the U.S. while their claims were processed in the country.
