January 20, 2021

Liveblog: Biden Sworn in as the 46th President of the United States

Here’s the latest.

Anthony Behar/AP

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Happy Wednesday and welcome to the inauguration of Joe Biden.

Today’s ceremony looked starkly different from previous inaugurations in light of the pandemic. Unprecedented security measures are in place following the murderous attack on the Capitol exactly two weeks ago. Today, 25,000 National Guard troops—roughly five times the number of service members currently stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan—are patrolling the area.

Donald Trump is, of course, snubbing the festivities. Instead, he spent his final hours in office with a military-style send-off that reportedly failed to attract even Mike Pence. John Kelly, Don McGahn, and Anthony Scaramucci were also among the former White House officials who declined invites to Trump’s farewell.

Follow along below for the latest:

3:45 p.m. ET: Biden gave Al Roker a fist bump, but I was disappointed not to see Roker hand over his bag of snacks.

3:30 p.m. ET: Biden is setting off on his inaugural parade, albeit without civilian spectators. Drum lines from the University of Delaware and Howard University—the president’s and vice president’s alma maters, respectively—will join the procession.

In other news, NBC’s Al Roker is trying to get the first and second families to speak with him by luring them with their favorite snacks.

1:10 p.m. ET: Take in today’s sweet feeling of relief by mainlining these wonderful memes and reactions:

12:30 p.m. ET: A new whitehouse.gov with normal, non-horrifying policy priorities has finally been installed. One big change: the removal of the Trump administration’s 1776 Commission.

12:15 p.m. ET:

11:50 a.m. ET: It’s official. Biden has been sworn in as the 46th president.

11:45 a.m ET: Take in this historic moment: Sonia Sotomayor, the country’s first Latina Supreme Court justice, administering the oath of office to Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black and South Asian woman to hold the office.

11:40 a.m. ET: Lady Gaga is performing the National Anthem and she is killing it.

11:30 a.m. ET: 

11:15 a.m. ET: 

10:30 a.m. ET: They’re here!

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are being escorted by Eugene Goodman, the Capitol police officer who guided the pro-Trump insurrectionists away from senators during the Jan. 6 attack.

10:20 a.m. ET: While we wait for guests to start taking their seats, my colleague Russ Choma has a guide to the mounting financial problems that await Trump as he crosses into civilian life:

Trump will return to a faltering business empire, its troubles magnified by the insurrection at the Capitol that he provoked. His bankers don’t want his business. Business partners are cutting ties. He’s facing looming deadlines to repay hundreds of millions in debt, with few good options for coming up with the cash or refinancing. Meanwhile, the threat of post-presidency legal problems, civil and criminal, has proliferated.

In short, the walls are closing in.

Sounds scary!

10:00 a.m. ET: More arrivals and a tweet-congrats from Barack Obama:

9:20 a.m. ET: Our DC Bureau Chief David Corn is live at the ceremony where guests are starting to arrive.

8:35 a.m. ET: Trump is now speaking at his farewell event at Joint Base Andrews, where he organized a 21-gun salute for himself:

8:00 a.m. ET: Bye.

8:00 a.m. ET: A small crowd has gathered outside for Trump’s final White House exit.

7:40 a.m. ET: Before the events of the day overtake us,  let’s take a look at the flurry of executive orders Biden is expected to sign after getting sworn in. Those include immediate orders to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization, extending key coronavirus financial relief measures such as eviction and foreclosure moratoriums, and ending the Trump’s administration’s Muslim ban. 

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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