Inauguration Day for President-elect Joe Biden is going to look quite a bit different from those of presidents past: Rather than being surrounded by scores of cheering onlookers, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will instead look out onto the National Mall displaying more than 190,000 U.S. and state flags, representing the Americans watching the transition of power virtually.
Beginning shortly after 11 a.m., our coverage at CBN News and Faithwire.com will begin. You can follow along live here:
The official invocation and national anthem is expected to begin around 11:30 a.m. Harris will be sworn in as vice president by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor shortly before noon.
Biden will then be sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts at 12 p.m. on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, where there will be around 1,000 in-person guests.
Moments after taking the oath of office, then-President Biden will deliver his inaugural address, a speech he has pledged will be unifying.
After the president’s address, Biden, Harris and former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton will travel to Arlington National Cemetery, where Biden and Harris will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
All of this will happen against the backdrop of some 25,000 National Guard troops gathered in Washington, D.C., as security has been ramped up to record heights following a breach of the U.S. Capitol two weeks ago.
CBN’s David Brody described the scene in D.C.
“I work in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “It’s not the District of Columbia out there — it’s the District of Afghanistan. I mean, it’s bad. I mean, it’s hard to get anywhere in D.C. — anywhere close to the Capitol or the White House, and I’ve never seen anything like this.”