Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar celebrates Biden presidency: 'It's a new day'

As Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, the former vice president pledged to heal America.

Hours later one of the president’s first executive orders was to revoke the Muslim ban put forth by former President Donald Trump.

The move was celebrated by Muslim Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar,
who took to Twitter to praise the newly-inaugurated president.

"Elections have consequences," she wrote. "Biden within hours of taking the oath of office was able to: revoke Muslim ban, rejoin Paris Climate Agreement, extend federal eviction moratorium, rescind Census orders to exclude non-citizens, preserve/fortify DACA and much more."

"It’s a new day," she added.

Omar, the US’ first Somali congresswoman, had often been the target of hate from former president Donald Trump and his supporters. She later came to lead Trump’s impeachment process following violence by his supporters at Capitol Hill.

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"I am drawing up Articles of Impeachment. Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate," Omar, a second-term Minnesota Democrat, said at the time.

"We can't allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfil our oath," Omar wrote.

Reversing Trump’s policies

Biden’s first act as president was to sign a series of executive orders to undo divisive moves made by his predecessor.

Among the directives was a halt to construction of the wall on the US-Mexico border, and efforts to expand diversity and equality for minority groups in the federal government.

The orders were aimed at setting a clear policy path for Biden's new administration, just hours after he was sworn in as president.

"Some of things we are going to be doing are going to be bold," he said in the Oval Office.

"We are going to combat climate change in a way we have not done so far," Biden said of returning to the Paris agreement, a treaty signed by most nations in 2016 to limit global warming.