Inauguration Day live updates: Biden sworn in as 46th president. Here’s what to know
This story was last updated at 6:30 p.m. EST.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office shortly before noon EST Wednesday, Jan. 20, the constitutionally set Inauguration Day. Biden is the nation’s 46th president and Harris becomes the first woman, first Black and first Southeast Asian-American to hold the office of vice president.
The ceremony was broadcast live as Biden and Harris took the oath of office at the West Front of the U.S. Capitol.
The inaugural committee will hold its primetime “Celebrating America” television event hosted by Tom Hanks from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m EST. It will also be available to watch live on the inaugural committee’s social media pages and will be carried live by ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, MSNBC and PBS, the committee says.
The inauguration and related festivities will look different this year due to the worsening coronavirus pandemic and heightened security following the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Tickets were limited to members of the 117th Congress and one guest each — roughly 1,000 people compared to the usual 200,000 tickets lawmakers distribute to their constituents.
Biden executive actions
Biden signed more than a dozen executive actions during his first day in office — including on the pandemic, racial and LGBTQ equity, immigration issues and environmental issues.
Hours after taking office, Biden took “a historic number of actions” — including orders, memoranda and directives to agencies — to address a number of issues and to undo some of Trump’s policies, according to the Biden-Harris transition team.
Administration officials told reporters that “this is just the beginning” and that more actions should be expected within Biden’s first 100 days, according to Politico.
More on his executive actions can be found here.
Democrats take control of U.S. Senate
Harris swore in Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock into the U.S. Senate Wednesday afternoon.
The swearing-in of Warnock and Ossoff, who won Georgia runoff races earlier this month, means the Senate will be split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats. Harris will serve as a tiebreaker when necessary, meaning Democrats have majority control of the chamber.
Harris also administered a Senate oath to Democrat Alex Padilla, who took over her seat for California. Padilla is California’s first Latino senator.
Biden enters White House
Biden entered the White House for the first time as president Wednesday afternoon.
He and Harris were given a presidential escort to the White House after attending a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. A virtual “Parade Across America,” which features “diverse performances in communities across the country,” followed the escort to the White House.
Harris and her husband also arrived at the White House shortly after the Bidens.
Biden and Harris attend wreath-laying ceremony
Biden and Harris visited the Arlington National Cemetery along with their families to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a monument dedicated to U.S. service members whose remains haven’t been identified.
Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and former first ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton also attended the ceremony.
Biden participates in signing ceremony
Seated at the President’s Room at the Capitol, Biden signed a proclamation on Inauguration Day as well as documents that make his nominations to Cabinet and sub-Cabinet positions official.
Biden sworn in, delivers address
Biden delivered his inaugural address after being sworn in.
“My fellow Americans, this is America’s Day,” Biden said in his address. “This is Democracy’s day, a day of history and hope of renewal and resolve. Through crucible through the ages Americas been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge.”
Biden was sworn in on the family Bible that his late son Beau Biden used when he was sworn in as attorney general of Delaware.
Harris was also sworn in as vice president, making history as the first woman, Black and South Asian-American to hold the office.
During his address, Biden urged unity.
“This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward, and we must meet this moment as the United States of America,” he said. “If we do that, I guarantee you we will not fail. We have never, ever, ever failed in America when we’ve acted together.”
He also promised to be president for “all Americans.”
“I promise you I will fight as hard for those who did not support me as I do for those who did,” he said.
Biden then held a moment of silent prayer in honor of those lost to the pandemic in what he called his “first act as president.”
He closed his address by promising to “level” with Americans.
“Together we shall write an American story of hope not fear, of unity not division, of light not darkness — a story of decency and dignity, love and healing, of greatness and goodness,” he said. “May this be the story that guides us, the story that inspires us and the story that tells ages yet to come that we answered the call of history, we met the moment. Democracy and hope, truth and justice did not die on our watch but thrived.”
Their swearing in came after they, along with incoming first lady Jill Biden and incoming second gentleman Doug Emhoff, were introduced on the platform shortly before 11:30 a.m. ET.
Attendees had arrived at the Capitol for the inauguration after 10 a.m., including Congressional leaders and former presidents, and introductions had started on the platform.
Former President Bill Clinton and former 2016 Democratic presidential nominee and first lady Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, and former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush were introduced on the platform shortly before 11 a.m EST.
U.S. Supreme Court justices, members of Biden’s family and former Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence also arrived on the platform shortly after.
Inauguration festivities will continue into night
The inauguration festivities will continue Wednesday night with the primetime special “Celebrating America,” hosted by Tom Hanks. The 90-minute show starts at 8:30 p.m. ET and will include performances from Katy Perry, Jon Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, John Legend, Demi Lovato, Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake and Ant Clemons
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote and starred in the musical “Hamilton,” will recite a classic work, according to the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
Trump leaves White House
Former President Donald Trump walked out of the White House as president for the last time early Wednesday.
He boarded Marine One and held a departure ceremony at Joint Base Andrews. Former Vice President Mike Pence does not plan to attend the ceremony and instead is set to attend Biden’s inauguration.
Trump will then board Air Force One and head for Palm Beach International Airport. Some supporters are organizing crowds to greet his motorcade on its route to Mar-a-Lago, the private Palm Beach club where he’ll reside during his post-presidential life.
But some residents have have questioned whether Trump can reside at Mar-a-Lago because of an agreement he signed in the 1990s.
It’s unclear what Trump plans to do once home in Florida. He’s made efforts to remain relevant in Republican politics, including floating a 2024 presidential run, but strategists have told The Miami Herald it’s most likely he will yet again be unpredictable in his retirement.
Trump won’t attend swearing in
Trump said earlier this month he won’t attend Biden’s inauguration, joining the few presidents to skip out on his successor’s inauguration.
His announcement came after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and amid impeachment efforts from the U.S. House of Representatives. He conceded his loss Jan. 7 but made no mention of Biden and said he was ready to “get on with the business of America.”
Trump’s absence from his successor’s swearing in made him one of just a few presidents to do so in U.S. history. He joins Richard Nixon (1974), Andrew Johnson (1869), John Quincy Adams (1829) and John Adams (1801) in skipping it.
Trump leaves note for Biden
Before leaving the White House, Trump left a letter for Biden — an Inauguration Day tradition for the outgoing president. Biden described the letter as “very generous” but declined to share more details until he spoke with his predecessor.
The tradition started with former President Ronald Reagan, according to The Associated Press. As he was preparing to leave office on incoming President George H.W. Bush’s Inauguration Day, he wrote his successor a message on a notepad that included a cartoon of turkeys climbing an elephant — the symbol of the Republican party — and the letterhead “Don’t let the turkeys get you down.”
Since then, every outgoing president has carried on the tradition — leaving words of encouragement, advice and congratulations for their successors to find on their Inauguration Day.
Pence has also left a note for Harris, NBC News reports.
Increased security in D.C.
Security in Washington, D.C., has been ramped up ahead of the inauguration in the wake of the Capitol siege.
On Jan. 6, rioters in support of Trump broke through police lines and breached the building as Congress was certifying the Electoral College results.
Thousands of members of the National Guard had been arriving daily in the district ahead of Inauguration Day, with 25,000 members authorized to help provide security at the inauguration, ABC News reports. The FBI and Secret Service have also boosted security measures, according to The New York Times.
The number of National Guard members in the district will be a military force five times larger than that in Iraq and Afghanistan combined, ABC News reports.
Biden, McConnell, Pelosi, Schumer attend church together
Biden attended church Wednesday morning at St. Matthew in Washington, D.C., along with Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, CNN reports.
Biden invited all three to attend with him.
Trump issues last minute pardons
In his final hours as president, Trump granted clemency to a number of politicians and business executives, including some of his close allies.
Recipients of his pardons include Stephen Bannon, his former chief strategist, and Elliot Broidy, one of his top fundraisers during his 2016 campaign for president, The New York Times reports.
He also granted clemency to rappers Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., known as Lil Wayne, and Bill Kapri, known as Kodak Black. But he did not pardon the “Tiger King” documentary star Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as Joe Exotic.
It’s typical for a president to grant clemency in the lame-duck period. Trump’s pardons, however, have been particularly controversial as they’ve largely been focused on his friends and political allies.
Previously, Trump pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contact with a Russian diplomat during Trump’s transition period.
This story was originally published January 20, 2021 at 9:03 AM with the headline "Inauguration Day live updates: Biden sworn in as 46th president. Here’s what to know."
