The Biden Administration Enters the White House

Source%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fjoe-bidens-transition-and-cabinet-picks-what-happens-next-11606250123

Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-bidens-transition-and-cabinet-picks-what-happens-next-11606250123

By Lester Flores, Staff Writer

As high school students, most adults disregard and invalidate our opinions when it comes to politics. However, what they do not realize is most teenagers actually are politically active and want to have their voices heard. In this past election, many students in the Senior class were able to cast their ballots and vote in a Presidential Election for the first time. Joe Biden won the Election and a large majority of teenagers and young adults decided to vote for him and his Vice Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris.

Students Wants from the Biden Administration

Whether or not students at Miami Senior High were able to vote in this past election, there are certain things teens and young adults would want the Biden Administration to focus on in these next 4 to 8 years. “Throughout Trump’s Presidency, the United States was very divided due to his supporters not agreeing with the Black Lives Matter protests that erupted during the summer. Even though I wasn’t able to vote in this election, I would want the Biden Administration to focus on fighting against the deeply rooted white supremacy that this past administration failed to condemn,” said junior Emilsen Bonilla.

Junior Mario Zeron added, “The former Vice President of the United States will hopefully seek to hone in on The Climate Action Plan he and Obama had introduced in his time as president. The plan offers a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions that currently plague not only the country, but the world. With Biden’s predecessor having since revoked Obama’s Climate Action plan, he was quick to reinstate it upon his inauguration. The executive order ‘Protecting Public Health and Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis,’ is only the first step at preventing climate change and the deterioration of our environment.”

Do Students Approve?

There’s no debate on how the 2020 Presidential Election was one of the most talked-about and stress-inducing events of the past year. Everyone in the United States has an opinion on the new administration and whether or not they approve of them. However, there are some students at Miami High who are not for the Biden Administration.

Senior Nathalie Saladrigas says, “As someone who voted for Biden this election, I never really had much hope for his administration from the start. I needed to weigh the options of Trump or Biden. I understood that Trump was a person focused on benefiting the rich and his own ego as compared to helping people who truly need the help, which is why I voted against him. I voted against Trump, not for Biden. Although Biden wants to present himself as someone who is for certain movements and as someone who is dedicated to people, he is a politician. He as a politician appeals to the people’s current struggle in order to win.”

Senior Rosario Barraza said, “Regardless of his alliance with the Democratic Party, Biden won due to the absence of Bernie sanders. As a progressive, I can say that I don’t expect much from the Biden administration, especially since they’re not letting states cancel standardized testing due to the profit made from it—while putting students, especially POC (Black and Brown students) at risk.

On the other hand, some students at Miami High who voted for Biden in November said they don’t regret the candidate they chose. “Even in just one month, we can see the stark contrast between Biden and Trump. Biden ran his campaign on ending the division that is very evident in the United States today and I believe with him we’re going in the right direction,” senior Danelia Nunez said. “ On top of that he’s been very focused on quickly and safely trying to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic by increasing the production of the vaccines and creating the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force to help ensure an equitable pandemic response and recovery,” she said.

The Biden Administration So Far

The Biden Administration has been hard at work during their 34 days in the White House. President Biden has been very transparent and determined on what his agenda is for his first 100 days in office since the start of his inauguration on January 20th.  As Biden plans his first months in the office, White House Chief of Staff says he has been studying Roosevelt’s model in an interview with TIME: “We are coming to this with a determination to meet these challenges with solutions as big as the problems are. Our goal is to rally the country behind that, mobilize the Congress behind that, start to make the changes we need to make to tackle these horrible problems.” Biden has shown his determination in his mission by his multitude of executive actions he has signed throughout this past month.

To name just a few of the executive actions Biden has implemented, “Within hours of his Inauguration, Biden rejoined the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization and rescinded the Trump Administration’s so-called Muslim ban, which restricted immigration from a host of Muslim-majority countries,” according to TIME.

Trump Supporters/Republicans Perspective

Trump supporters and Republicans have not been shy about showing their discontent for the election results since they were first announced on November 7th, 2021. The United States even witnessed the storming of our nation’s Capitol on January 6th. However, hearing from different perspectives is how we as a nation can come to understand each other, especially when it comes to politics. “I believe the new administration can enact policies that can be beneficial in their own way, one particular aspect that I look forward to seeing is the environmental side of things. Despite being Republican-leaning, I believe his administration can lead the U.S. to a sort of unity we, unfortunately, lost over the last 4 years,” said Kevin Palma, Junior at MAST Academy.

President Biden’s Cabinet

Secretary of State: Antony Blinken

Secretary of the Treasury: Dr. Janet Yellen

Secretary of Defense: Lloyd Austin

Attorney General: Merrick Garland*

Secretary of the Interior: Deb Haaland*

Secretary of Agriculture: Tom Vilsack

Secretary of Commerce: Gina Raimondo*

Secretary of Labor: Marty Walsh*

Secretary of Health and Human Services: Xavier Becerra*

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Marcia Fudge*

Secretary of Transportation: Pete Buttigieg

Secretary of Energy: Jennifer Granholm

Secretary of Education: Dr. Miguel Cardona*

Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Denis McDonough

Secretary of Homeland Security: Alejandro Mayorkas

*=not confirmed by U.S. Senate as of 2/25/21

Source: whitehouse.gov, cnn.com