Transfer of power - Jan. 20, 2021
Welcome to the Transfer of Power newsletter. Tomorrow will be the last edition of this newsletter. Today, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States around noon.
As we prepare for the moment when all presidential power transfers from President Donald Trump to Biden, here’s the latest news:
In addition to about 25,000 National Guard troops, Kentucky state police said they are among about 90 outside law enforcement agencies helping provide security for the inauguration in Washington.
Kamala Harris will swear in Georgia Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to the U.S. Senate after she takes her oath of office.
Biden plans to dive right in with executive action on immigration on his first day in office, and Harris may “be inclined to push for more executive action” throughout his tenure. Some lawmakers and strategists say he must deliver swift results.
One of President Donald Trump’s final acts in office was a late-night round of pardons: 143 to be exact. The pardons included allies and political figures who were involved in corruption scandals.
Trump also signed an executive order deferring the removal of Venezuelans currently in the U.S. for 18 months.
Trump’s impeachment trial is expected to start in the Senate after Biden’s inauguration.
An arrival and an exit
Joe Biden has a full day – and rest of the week – ahead of him after spending the night at the historic Blair House in Washington, D.C., like many president-elects before him. He attended church, another presidential tradition, before his swearing-in.
A scaled-down inauguration ceremony outside the U.S. Capitol will be accompanied by heightened security, but thanks to virtual programming, many Americans will still be able to watch the new president take his oath of office and deliver an inaugural address.
Outgoing Vice President Mike Pence will attend the inauguration, but was not present at President Donald Trump’s send-off this morning. NBC News reported that a White House official said before Trump’s departure that it was “not logistically feasible for Pence to attend both the sendoff and the inauguration.”
Trump will land in Florida before Biden’s swearing-in to begin his post-presidential life. He did, however, leave the incoming president a note.
Much like the crowd that saw him depart from Andrews Air Force Base this morning, McClatchy writes that Trump’s motorcade will likely be greeted by supporters on its route to Mar-a-Lago, the private club he calls home. “And when Joe Biden is sworn in at noon as the nation’s 46th president, Trump should be firmly situated in a state where his allies occupy some of the most powerful positions in government, media and politics.”
It’s unclear what Trump’s exact plans are, but political strategists told the Miami Herald that “the most predictable outcome of Trump’s retirement is that he will yet again be unpredictable.”
“I don’t expect him to have a quiet retirement,” said Karen Giorno, a senior adviser to Trump’s 2016 Florida campaign. “He’s a doer by nature. And he ought to prove that he was a great president by focusing on all the positive things he did for the country.”
But several lawsuits are looming against Trump as well as an impeachment trial and further fallout from the U.S. Capitol riot. Strategists and politicians are watching to see whether Trump’s base of support sticks with him as he charts his political course.
The road ahead
With several national crises to tackle and a base of political support to build, Democratic lawmakers and senior political strategists say Biden “will need to swiftly deliver tangible results or face a backlash that could cost his party their slim congressional majorities,” writes McClatchy.
As Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania put it, “People out there are desperate to see their elected lawmakers work together and pass something that doesn’t reinvent the wheel, doesn’t tear down the system, it just makes things a little easier on them in a moment of crisis.”
Faiz Shakir, who managed Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, said Biden will have to go beyond urging unity and deliver “simple answers” to voters’ questions. “That’s how they make their judgments and determinations,” stated Shakir, who said that the incoming president also should not get bogged down by questions of legislative procedure.
The first test of whether Biden can bring about bipartisan compromise and deliver on his initiatives could come as Congress considers his proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. His party holds a narrow edge in both the Senate and House and “both parties will view all of Biden’s moves through the lens of the 2022 midterm elections,” writes McClatchy.
Credit: Zach Gibson, AP (Jan. 6, 2017)
His relationship with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, therefore, could “arguably be the most significant in Washington,” McClatchy reports. Biden aides and allies are cautiously optimistic about the incoming president and Senate GOP leader’s ability to work together on Biden’s initiatives. That hope largely relies on the personal connection between the two men, who have remained in contact ahead of the inauguration and attended mass together Wednesday morning.
Follow these journalists on Twitter for more news:
@fran_chambers - Francesca Chambers, White House correspondent, McClatchyDC
@mawilner - Michael Wilner, White House correspondent, McClatchyDC
@Alex_Roarty - Alex Roarty, White House correspondent, McClatchyDC
@davecatanese - Dave Catanese, Washington correspondent for The Lexington Herald-Leader
@LightmanDavid - David Lightman, senior congressional correspondent, McClatchy
@alextdaugherty - Alex Daugherty, McClatchy political correspondent for the Miami Herald
@MurphinDC - Brian Murphy, North Carolina politics correspondent
@BryanLowry3 - Bryan Lowry, Washington correspondent for the Kansas City Star
This story was originally published January 20, 2021 at 10:32 AM.