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Updated August 7th, 2021 at 16:53 IST

Joe Biden eyeing vacation for first time since assuming US President's office

It has been more than six months since Joe Biden undertook the gigantic responsibility of pulling the United States out of the coronavirus crisis

Reported by: Riya Baibhawi
Us, Joe Biden
Image: AP | Image:self
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It has been more than six months since Joe Biden undertook the gigantic responsibility of pulling the United States out of the coronavirus crisis, negotiating a bipartisan infrastructure bill, and replenishing the country’s image abroad. Now, the White House has revealed that Biden would be utilizing his traditional August break from Washington and heading out on a brief vacation. With legislative work on infrastructure bills keeping the Senate occupied, the 78-year-old President has only been on short trips to his hometown of Delaware and has been working most weekends. 

“Every president is always working no matter where they are,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, explaining that presidents can't ever really tune out.

Regardless, Psaki confirmed that Biden would be going on vacation. Spilling out details, she said that the US President would either be visiting Wilmington in Delaware, where he grew up and owns a home, or Camp David, which is the official presidential retreat. It is worth noting that even on a vacation, the US president is ubiquitously surrounded by a large number of aides, secret service agents, and journalists. 

The number of days off or vacation is taken by American presidents has often been contentious. During his tenure, the country’s 45th Presdient Donald Trump took a total of 381 days off, amounting to a cost of US$144 million. Meanwhile, Barack Obama was on a vacation for 328 days, resulting in the expenditure of US$105 million. 

Biden's latest goal 

Meanwhile, in his latest policy measure, Biden set a new target of half of all cars sold in the United States to be zero-emission vehicles by 2030. The target includes zero-emission vehicles powered by fuel cells and batteries as well as plug-in hybrid models with internal combustion engines.

Addressing a press briefing on August 5, President Biden said that he is following through on the "campaign commitment to reverse the previous administration’s short-sighted rollback of vehicle emissions and efficiency standards." Biden said that he is set to sign an executive order demanding that 50% of all new passenger vehicles sold by the end of the decade be electric. He informed that International Brotherhood Electric Workers (IBEW) members and other union workers are working to install 500,000 charging stations along the roads, highways, homes, apartments. He said that the new order will help in innovating, manufacturing, and building the supply chains for batteries as well as semi-conductors. 

Image: AP

(With inputs from AP)

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Published August 7th, 2021 at 16:53 IST

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