President Biden signs 17 executive orders, many of them undoing orders made by Trump.
Video / BBC
Joe Biden is scoring a much higher approval rating in early polls of his performance as US President than Donald Trump ever did.
A Hill-HarrisX poll conducted on January 21-22 found Biden had a 63 per cent approval rating, while only 37 per cent of respondents surveyed said they disapproved of the new President's performance so far.
However, there were still signs of polarisation, as Biden scored highly with Democrats and independents, while 70 per cent of Republican voters said they disapproved of his performance.
Biden scored highest on Covid-19 measures in the poll, with 69 per cent approval for his handling of the pandemic.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have both seen their popularity increase since Inauguration Day - even among Republican voters. https://t.co/l2JF324WoGpic.twitter.com/04dzNgoecb
Morning Consult Political Intelligence tracking found that 56 per cent of voters approved of Biden's job performance in the first few days, while 34 per cent disapproved.
That approval rating is four percentage points higher than Trump's best-ever showing in Morning Consult and Politico polling in early March 2017.
It looks even stronger compared to their polling conducted at a similar point four years ago, when just 46 per cent approved of Trump's early work.
Polling conducted at a similar point four years ago found just 46 per cent approved of Donald Trump's early work in the White House. Photo / AP
Bribes for vaccine
Meanwhile, a Beverly Hills doctor revealed the lengths some of America's elite are going to to get access to the coronavirus vaccine.
Dr Robert Huizenga told Variety that his practice had been offered more than US$10,000 ($13,805) by people, including some in the entertainment industry, who were desperate to get vaccinated.
"We've been offered bribes," Huizenga said. "We see people taking planes to every location. We've seen people try to transiently get into the healthcare profession or on staff at nursing homes, so they qualify for an early vaccine."
The US is recording more than 150,000 coronavirus cases a day and more than 400,000 people have died since the beginning of the pandemic.
Biden has increased his vaccination target to 1.5 million shots a day and hopes to reach 150 million vaccinations over the next 100 days.
Conviction unlikely
Meanwhile, an article of impeachment for Donald Trump was yesterday formally presented to the US Senate, but it seems unlikely to succeed.
At least 17 Republicans would need to vote in favour of finding Trump guilty in order for him to be convicted, and Biden told CNN he didn't think that would happen.
Trump has also given his first public update since leaving the Oval Office, announcing the establishment of his "Office of the Former President", which will manage his correspondence, public statements, appearances and official activities.
