WASHINGTON (AP) – The latest on Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration (always local):
10:45 am
Three new Democratic senators will be sworn in following Wednesday’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
The arrival of Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff from Georgia and Alex Padilla from California will give Democrats a working majority in the Senate – split 50-50, with the new Vice President, Kamala Harris, as the casting vote.
A person who has granted anonymity to discuss the schedule tells The Associated Press that Harris will take the oath of office to the three Democrats after being sworn in as vice president during the inauguration.
Warnock and Ossoff defeated Republican senators earlier this month. The Georgia Secretary of State is expected to certify those results on Tuesday.
Padilla has been tapped by the California governor to serve Harris’ remaining term in the Senate.
– By Lisa Mascaro.
___
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE BIDEN:
Then Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court leading President-elect Joe Biden in the oath of office, security will be unusually tight following the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, and inaugural events will be curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more:
– Inaugural event to celebrate the resilience of black Americans
– Biden, Harris is taking a break from inaugural prep to celebrate MLK Day
– Inauguration rehearsal evacuated after homeless camp fire
___
HERE’S WHAT’S DIFFERENT:
10:35 am
Two members of the US Army National Guard are removed from the security mission to secure Joe Biden’s inauguration. A US military official and a senior US intelligence officer say the two members of the National Guard have links with marginal right-wing militias.
No plot against Biden was found.
The army officer and the intelligence officer spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the Department of Defense media regulations. They did not say which fringe group the guards belonged to or which unit they served.
The National Guard Bureau, contacted by the AP on Tuesday, referred questions to US intelligence, saying, “For operational security reasons, we are not discussing the process or outcome of the vetting process for military members supporting the inauguration.”
The Secret Service told the AP on Monday it would not say whether members of the National Guard had been removed from the inauguration for operational security reasons.
– By James LaPorta, reporting from Delray Beach, Florida.
___
9.45 am
Before his inauguration as president, Joe Biden will address a unity theme on Wednesday by worshiping alongside the four Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress.
The democratically elected president spoke during the campaign and the post-election period about his goal of uniting a highly divided country.
Biden’s new Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, retweeted a post Tuesday that Biden had quietly made invitations to Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and Republicans Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy to accompany him to a mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral.
Spokespersons for Pelosi, Schumer, McConnell and McCarthy confirm that they are accompanying Biden.
Senator Chris Coons tells CNN that church service is “an important part of respecting tradition.”
Coons is a Democrat from Biden’s home state of Delaware. He says the service is “a reminder of who Joe is and who we are as a hopeful and optimistic country.”