WASHINGTON (AP) – The latest news about Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration (all local times):
10:45 am
Three new Democratic senators are due to take office after President-elect Joe Biden took office on Wednesday.
The arrival of Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff from Georgia and Alex Padilla from California will give Democrats a majority in the Senate – split 50-50, with new vice president Kamala Harris as a tiebreaker vote.
A person who had anonymity to discuss the planning told the Associated Press that Harris should swear an oath of office to the three Democrats after she takes office during her tenure as vice president.
Warnock and Ossoff defeated Republican senators earlier this month. Georgia’s secretary of state is expected to certify these results on Tuesday.
Padilla was chosen by the California governor to fill Harris’ remaining term in the Senate.
– By Lisa Mascaro.
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HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE INAUGURATION OF ELECTED PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN:
When Supreme Court President John Roberts leading President-elect Joe Biden’s oath of office, security will be unusually tight after the January 6 US Capitol rebellion and inaugural events will be halted because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Read More:
– Inaugural event to celebrate the resilience of black Americans
– Biden and Harris take a break from the inaugural preparation to mark MLK Day
– Inauguration rehearsal evacuated after fire in homeless field
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HERE IS HAPPENING:
10:35
Two members of the US Army National Guard are being removed from the security mission to secure Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration. A US Army officer and a senior US intelligence official say the two members of the National Guard have ties to militias from right-wing groups.
No plot against Biden was found.
The Army officer and the intelligence officer spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity due to Defense Department media regulations. They did not say which marginal group the Guard members belonged to or what unit they served.
Contacted by the AP on Tuesday, the Office of the National Guard referred questions to the U.S. Secret Service and said: “Due to operational security, we have not discussed the process or the outcome of the verification process for the military who supported the tenure.”
The Secret Service told the AP on Monday it would not comment on whether any member of the National Guard was removed from office for reasons of operational security.
– By James LaPorta, reporting from Delray Beach, Florida.
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9:45 am
Joe Biden will address the theme of unity before his inauguration as president on Wednesday, worshiping the four main Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress.
The Democratic president-elect spoke during the campaign and in the post-election period about his goal of uniting a strongly divided country.
Biden’s new chief of staff, Ron Klain, retweeted on Tuesday a post that said Biden 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 Cathedral in São Mateus.
Spokesmen for Pelosi, Schumer, McConnell and McCarthy confirm that they are accompanying Biden.
Senator Chris Coons told CNN that religious service is “an important part of respecting tradition”.
Coons is a Democrat from the home state of Biden, Delaware. He says the service is a “reminder of who Joe is and who we are as a hopeful and optimistic nation”.