WASHINGTON (AP) – The latest on the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden (always local):
10:45 h
Three new Democratic senators are to be sworn in after the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday.
The arrival of Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Alex Padilla of California will give Democrats a working majority in the Senate, divided between 50 and 50, with new vice president Kamala Harris as the tiebreaker vote.
A person granted anonymity to discuss planning tells The Associated Press that Harris will have to hand over the oath of office to the three Democrats after he took office during the inauguration as vice president.
Warnock and Ossoff defeated Republican senators earlier this month. The Georgia Secretary of State is expected to certify these results on Tuesday.
Padilla has been approved by the California governor to occupy Harris’ remaining term in the Senate.
– By Lisa Mascaro.
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HERE YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE INAUGURATION OF JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT:
When Chief Justice John Roberts leads President-elect Joe Biden on the oath of office, security will be unusually tight after the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and inaugural events will be reduced due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more:
– Opening ceremony to celebrate the resistance of black Americans
– Biden and Harris rest from the inaugural preparation on the occasion of MLK Day
– Inaugural rehearsal evacuated after a fire in the homeless camp
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HERE’S MORE:
10:35 h
Two members of the U.S. Army National Guard are removed from the security mission to secure the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden. A U.S. military official and a senior U.S. intelligence official say the two members of the National Guard have been found to have links to right-wing group militias.
No plot was found against Biden.
The Army officer and intelligence official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to Department of Defense regulations. They did not say to which marginal group the members of the Guard belonged or to which unit they served.
The National Guard PA, which contacted him on Tuesday, addressed questions to the U.S. Secret Service and said, “Due to operational security, we do not discuss the process or the outcome of the military verification process that supports the investiture “.
The Secret Service told the AP on Monday that it would not comment on whether any member of the National Guard had withdrawn from securing the inauguration for operational security reasons.
– By James LaPorta, report from Delray Beach, Florida.
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9:45 h
Joe Biden will address an issue of unity ahead of his inauguration as president on Wednesday by venerating the four Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress.
The Democratic president-elect has spoken throughout the campaign and post-election period about his goal of uniting a heavily divided country.
Biden’s new chief of staff, Ron Klain, on Tuesday dismissed a post saying Biden had quietly extended invitations to Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and Republicans Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy to accompany him to a mass at the St. Matthew’s Cathedral.
Spokesmen for Pelosi, Schumer, McConnell and McCarthy confirm they are accompanying Biden.
Senator Chris Coons tells CNN that church service is “an important part of respecting tradition.”
Coons is a Democrat from his native Biden, Delaware. He says the service is a “reminder of who Joe is and who we are as a hopeful and optimistic nation.”