It is not clear what security changes, if any, made in Washington in preparation for the inauguration will remain permanent, or to what extent President Joe Biden’s speech at a joint session of Congress and possible impeachment procedures will be considered in security planning.
Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, said the US Capitol complex “will never be the same again”.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Tuesday that there would be a “new stance” in the district, but also noted that she did not want “fences and armed troops in our city any longer than necessary.”
In a tweet on Wednesday, the mayor’s chief of staff said the teams will start breaking the fences on the main streets from that night and that the process will take 36 hours. The deadline for removing the fence was set to coincide with the end of the city break in a ban on indoor dining. The ban is scheduled to end at 5 pm Eastern time on Friday.
The unprecedented number of soldiers, federal police, police and protective infrastructure in the country’s capital for the inauguration was triggered by a demonstration that turned into a riot on January 6. After the demonstration, thousands of Trump supporters descended on the Capitol with hundreds or more running over the Capitol police who protected him, all in an effort to overturn the presidential election results.
More than 20,000 soldiers have been sent to Washington for Biden’s possession, and more than 6,000 National Guard soldiers will remain in addition.
A federal official familiar with the positions of the National Guard said the current plan is for many guard units to depart on Thursday. Some more regional ones can stay until the weekend.
“And that number could increase or decrease, depending on the requirements of the main federal agency or requests by the federal police,” said Army General Daniel Hokanson, head of the National Guard Department. “But really after the inauguration, we are going to look at the conditions and the environment and the set of missions that we are asked to carry out. And if that is below the number of personnel we have, then we will start to identify these people to take them to home as soon as possible. ”
At the Capitol, Durbin predicted that there might be metal detectors at the entrances to each legislative chamber and some “improved” perimeter of the building.
“We are getting to the point where it is – if we have to fear that some members bring firearms to the ground or visitors, then we have to take extra precautions,” he said.
Durbin said he did not speak to the new Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, about placing metal detectors in front of the Senate House and that the decision would be his.
For the time being, parts of the District remain largely confined. Four of the bridges that reach the city are closed until Thursday morning. The National Mall, the city’s central park, is closed, covered with flags to represent American citizens who are unable to attend in person due to Covid-19 security measures and restrictions.
National Guard troops are stationed in Washington neighborhoods, including Chinatown, Foggy Bottom and the borders of the Dupont and Logan circles.
It was unclear on Wednesday what, if any, physical changes around the Capitol and the district will become permanent.
“But at the same time, we need to be smart about how to approach this new stance,” said Hokanson. “Unfortunately, we have had other incidents of terrorism in our country, both internally and externally, and we want to see what the best approaches were to harden without appearing to be strengthening our security.”
CNN’s Ryan Nobles, Ali Zaslav, Phil Mattingly, Josh Campbell and Aileen Graef contributed to this report.