Trump impeachment looms over Biden’s first 100 days agenda

WASHINGTON: President-elect Joe Biden is expected to unveil plans on Thursday for fighting Covid and restoring the economy, but the ambitious first 100 days agenda is already overshadowed by the looming Senate trial of his soon-to-be predecessor Donald Trump.

On the day after Trump was impeached in the House of Representatives -- becoming the first US president in history subjected to a second impeachment -- Biden hopes to seize the narrative and get Americans looking forward again.

In a primetime speech, he is expected to address a twin crisis exceeding even the challenge that faced him as vice president to Barack Obama when they assumed office in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to hit new peaks, the vaccination program is stumbling, and there are fears that the economic recovery from the cratering of 2020 could backslide.

Biden, who will be sworn in on January 20, says his plan is to tackle all of this at the same time, putting one of the darkest periods in American history into the rearview mirror. One prong will be a third massive Covid relief package since the pandemic began a year ago.

This would include more direct stimulus payments and could also feature new taxes on the wealthy and an increase in the minimum wage. Biden is also promising to get vaccinations off the ground, with an eye-catching slogan of 100 million shots to be administered in the first 100 days. It’s a tall order. Biden takes office with one advantage he wasn’t expecting even a few weeks ago: full control of Congress.