Joe Biden has served his final days as President of the United States, ending his half-century long career in politics, Donald Trump officially taking the reins on Jan. 20. Between the Nov. 2024 election and Trump’s inauguration, Biden made pardons and commutes, signed legislation into law and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to several individuals. Here are some of the changes that he made.
Commuting and Pardoning:
Over the past couple of months, Biden has made American presidential history. He has become the president with the most pardons and commutes by an outstanding number. A pardon is relieving someone of a crime that they have committed, while a commute is changing a sentence to a less severe punishment.
On Dec. 1, Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, of federal tax evasion and gun charges. His son could have received up to 17 years of prison for federal tax evasion and up to 25 years in prison, but the exact sentencing had not been decided. This caused widespread shock throughout the media, as President Biden pledged to America he would never pardon his son and ultimately broke his promise.
Then, on Dec. 12, Biden commuted the sentences of 1,499 federal prisoners who had been serving their sentences from home under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. These people had remained at home for over a year and are now able to reunite with their families. They are also allowed employment and education opportunities.
On Dec. 23, Biden commuted 37 out of the 39 prisoners on death row. These 37 prisoners will instead serve life sentences without the possibility of parole. Biden had wanted to abolish the death penalty as president, but was unable to get legislation to go forward with it. So, he commuted these prisoners as his only way to meet his promise, but still condemns the crime.
Still, this was not the end of his commuting run. On Jan. 17, President Joe Biden announced that he would be commuting nearly 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug crimes that are serving unfair sentences. This would mean that their sentences would be shortened to ones that these individuals would serve in the present day.
On the day of the inauguration, Biden pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley, and the members of the House committee that investigated the attack on the Capital on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump has released an enemies list that he will punish for getting in his way. These “enemies” included people who investigated the Jan. 6 attack, so Biden pardoned them out of fear of Trump politically attacking them once he became president.
Just 20 minutes before Biden officially left office, he pardoned five members of his family. These family members included James B. Biden and Francis W. Biden, his brothers; Sara Jones Biden, Jame’s wife; Valerie Biden Owens, his sister; and John T. Owens, Ms. Owens’ husband. These people had not been charged, but Biden again worried that Trump could attack them politically, so he ensured their safety.
Laws:
On Christmas Eve, Biden signed into law 50 bills. Some of these bills include Paris Hilton’s bill, S.1351, which protects the abuse of minors at residential facilities. Another, S.932, prevents Congress members from receiving their retirement payments if they have been convicted of a crime regarding public corruption and the Stop Hazing Act forces higher education institutions to report incidents of hazing and teach of the dangers of it.
On Jan. 14, The Biden Administration banned vehicles, connected vehicle software and software systems originating in the Russian Federation (Russia) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from entering the U.S. market. According to the White House’s official page, this is done to protect America from nation security risks associated with vehicle supply chains from the PRC and Russia.
Presidential Medal of Freedom:
On Jan. 4, President Biden gave 19 individuals the Presidential Medal of Freedom. According to the White House’s official page, the award is the Nation’s highest civilian honor and is only given to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States or world peace. Some of these awards were given to Bono, Hillary Clinton, Michael J. Fox, Jane Goodall, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Ralph Lauren, and William Nye, also known as Bill Nye.
