Biden has turbocharged the process: He signed 30 EOs, actions and memorandums in his first three days.
The new leader is prioritising the pandemic and US economy.
But the laundry list of items is wide ranging.
Some of the main ones include rejoining the Paris climate accord and mending fences with the World Health Organisation. He has also lifted a ban on travellers from several Muslim-majority countries and stopped construction of the border wall.
On the pandemic, he has extended freezes on people being evicted from their homes and on federal student-loan payments. Masks are now required in airports, on public transport and in federal buildings. Biden has signed orders to increase food aid and allow federal workers and contractors to get a US$15 hourly minimum wage.
There are a number of factors behind this approach.
Biden is trying to avoid the problems of Obama's first term where key legislation got bogged down in the very slow Congress process. He's pushing through where he can to get quick results and keep his party - impatient for action on policy goals - onside.
It is a way of signalling urgency and resolve to get things done despite a stated preference to achieve bipartisan legislation. Although the Democrats are now the majority party in the Senate, it is only thanks to Vice-President Kamala Harris' casting vote.
This is a feeling-out period between Democrats and Republicans in Washington with Biden's US$1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill, Cabinet confirmations and Trump's upcoming impeachment trial which has been earmarked for February.
Biden and his party view quick action on the aid package as essential to getting control of the virus and boosting the economy but also to the new administration being judged a success. Vaccination levels need to increase and the economy is 10 million jobs short of pre-pandemic levels.
The dot on the horizon that the party can already see is the November 2022 Midterm elections. The Democrats will want voters to believe the party has made a difference by then. The Midterms historically favour the party in opposition to the president.
From the Republican viewpoint, the pandemic has already forced Congress' hand to the tune of US$4 trillion. Ultimately there are risks for Republicans in opposing the virus attack plan. A new poll shows significant support for Biden's agenda so far.
Biden is initially trying to work with a group of Republican and Democratic senators in the middle as a buffer against implacable opposition.
The President has a choice of shrinking his request or passing chunks of it under a Plan B tactic called budget reconciliation which just needs a majority rather than 60 votes.
Biden described the situation as: "We are in a national emergency ... I don't believe Democrats or Republicans are going hungry and losing jobs, I believe Americans are going hungry and losing jobs."
