The decision was made this week for Biden not to make the 90-minute commute from his eponymous station in Wilmington, Delaware, officials said, with at least some of the concerns depending on his arrival at Union Station in Washington, which is just a few blocks away of the now heavily fortified US Capitol.
Biden had previously instructed his team to continue moving forward with inauguration plans, including the takeover of Amtrak, and not be stopped by the deadly riot at the United States Capitol last week or by complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
But since then, security concerns have intensified, as more is known about the attack on the Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, which left five people dead, and the potential threats surrounding his inauguration on January 20.
Biden received a briefing on Wednesday from senior FBI officials, the Secret Service and key members of his national security team on the potential for additional extremist violence in the coming days, the president-elect’s transition team said in a statement.
“In the week since the attack on Congress by a crowd that included domestic terrorists and violent extremists, the nation continued to learn more about the threat to our democracy and the potential for further violence in the coming days, both in the National Capital Region and in cities across the country, “says the transition team statement.” This is a challenge that the president-elect and his team take very seriously. “
Biden’s transition team is engaging with the Trump administration to “obtain as much information as possible about the image of the threat and the preparations being made to prevent and defend against interruptions or violent attacks,” according to the statement.
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are yet to take their oaths of office on the West Front of the United States Capitol in a significantly reduced event. Biden said this week that he “is not afraid to take the oath out there” and that his team has received instructions after the violence.
More than 20,000 National Guard soldiers may be in Washington to help secure Biden’s tenure, Washington police chief Robert Contee said on Wednesday, and sources told CNN that officials are considering raising the level of terrorist threat. The U.S. Secret Service officially took charge of security for Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday, working in coordination with federal law enforcement agencies and the Pentagon.
CNN’s Zachary Cohen and Geneva Sands contributed to this report.