Biden executive orders the 'wishlist of the far left,' Rubio says

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Republican Sen. Marco Rubio on Friday said President Biden is "talking like a centrist" but is governing like someone "from the far left" by signing executive actions and orders in his first days in office that fulfill items on the "wishlist of the far left."

Rubio, R-Fla., posted a video to Twitter Friday morning criticizing Biden’s approach and warning that the new policies could be detrimental to American workers and jobs.

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"An important thing to point out this morning. President Biden is talking like a centrist, he is using the words of the center, talking about unity, but he is governing like someone from the far left," Rubio said.

"He has ordered more executive fiats than anyone in such a short period of time—ever. More than Obama, more than Trump, more than anyone," Rubio said, referring to the more than two dozen executive actions and orders Biden has signed since he took the oath of office on Wednesday.

"These aren’t just normal executive fiats. This is literally going down the wishlist of the far left and checking them all off," Rubio said. "Some of them are incredibly dramatic and far-reaching in real life."

Rubio pointed to Biden’s move to revoke the presidential permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline.

"At the stroke of a pen, he literally put thousands upon thousands of hardworking, blue collar union members out of work," he said. "These are people that were working on Monday—that were working on Tuesday—and then the president goes into the Oval Office and signs an executive order wiping out the Keystone Pipeline and they’re out of work."

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks during a confirmation hearing for President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for national intelligence director Avril Haines before the Senate intelligence committee on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

Rubio added: "These folks now have to go back to their families in the middle of a pandemic and tell them, ‘we just lost our job and I don’t know where I’m going to go work next.’"

"That’s a far left agenda there," Rubio said. "The list goes on."

The 1,700-mile Keystone XL Pipeline was planned to carry roughly 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast, passing through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

The move was part of the Biden administration’s broader goal to crack down on fossil fuels. The new president is expected to direct sweeping environmental regulatory changes over the next four years and reverse some Trump-era deregulatory policies in an effort to tackle climate change.

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The controversial Keystone XL pipeline initially proposed more than a decade ago, would sustain about 11,000 U.S. jobs in 2021 and generate $1.6 billion in gross wages.

Since its initial proposal, the pipeline has become emblematic of the tensions between economic development and curbing the fossil fuel emissions that are causing climate change. The Obama administration rejected it, but President Donald Trump revived it and has been a strong supporter.

Meanwhile, Rubio pointed to a number of other executive actions—specifically the Biden Administration’s 100-day moratorium on deportations, warning that "there are some incredibly dangerous criminals that are going to be able to stay in this country."

"The bottom line is this— I want everyone to be aware of it," Rubio said. "We now have a president who talks like a centrist but is governing from the far left, and we’re not going to just be able to sit around here in a honeymoon period and watch these things happen."

Rubio said it is "important everyone is aware that that is the direction it appears we’re headed."

"And it’s not going to be good one for the country and its not going to be a good one for people and for working Americans or your jobs," he said.

President Biden signed 17 executive actions during his first day in office—many of which reversed Trump administration policies and directives—like cancellation of border wall funding and construction, a reversal of President Trump’s travel ban, re-joining the World Health Organization and more—while others restored Obama-era programs like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, re-joining the Paris Climate Accord, and a number of other moves focused on the economy, racial equity and the coronavirus.