News

Biden Signs Executive Orders On Food Stamps, Stimulus Checks, Federal Unions, Minimum Wage

   DailyWire.com
U.S. President Joe Biden signs an executive order as Vice President Kamala Harris looks on during an event on economic crisis in the State Dining Room of the White House January 22, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong/Getty Images

President Joe Biden on Friday signed two more executive orders that covered a range of issues including coronavirus relief, food stamps, federal unions, and an increase in the federal minimum wage.

CBS News reported that the first order Biden signed on Friday related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), typically referred to as food stamps. Biden requested in the order that the U.S. Department of Agriculture allow states to increase SNAP benefits by 15%.

“Congress recently passed a $1 trillion relief bill that boosted the maximum SNAP benefit by 15%, but that did not help the 40% of SNAP recipients who were already at the maximum benefit. Mr. Biden’s order tells the USDA to ‘consider issuing new guidance that would allow states to increase SNAP emergency allotments for those who need it most,’ according to a fact sheet provided by the White House, which would mean that an additional 12 million people get enhanced benefits,” CBS reported. “The order would also increase Pandemic-EBT, an electronic debit card program for students who would have qualified for free or reduced-price meals at school.”

Biden’s order would also allow the Pandemic-EBT benefits to be increased by 15%. In addition to increasing the SNAP and P-EBT benefits, Biden’s executive order would also require the USDA to update the Thrifty Food Plan, which determines SNAP benefits, CBS reported. The White House said the plan “is out of date with the economic realities most struggling households face when trying to buy and prepare healthy food.”

In the same executive order, Biden also sought to streamline how stimulus checks are delivered for those who still haven’t received their payments from Congress’ last coronavirus relief bill.

Biden’s second executive order, according to CBS, improves “collecting bargaining power and protections for federal workers, and direct the Office of Personnel Management to develop recommendations to increase the minimum wage for federal employees to $15 per hour.”

The executive orders came on the same day Biden admitted there “is nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next few months,” even though his campaign was based on doing just that, The Daily Wire reported.

The two executive orders signed Friday brought Biden’s total to 30, more than President Donald Trump signed in his first 100 days in office. Biden has been president for just three days. CNN compiled a list of all Biden’s executive orders. Seventeen were signed after Biden was inaugurated, 11 were signed on Thursday, and the final two were signed on Friday. Many of the executive orders sought to undo much of Trump’s legacy, including ending the construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and rescinding Trump’s 1776 Commission to require federal agencies to again institute controversial “antiracist” training that critics say teaches that white people are inherently racist.

Trump signed just 24 executive orders in his first 100 days in office.

Got a tip worth investigating?

Your information could be the missing piece to an important story. Submit your tip today and make a difference.

Submit Tip
The Daily Wire   >  Read   >  Biden Signs Executive Orders On Food Stamps, Stimulus Checks, Federal Unions, Minimum Wage