• Local politicians from both parties to attend Biden’s inauguration,
A pair of Republican congressmen from Western Pennsylvania who have steadfastly supported President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the election — and who officially objected to the state’s election results on the same day the Capitol was breached — will attend Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday.
Spokespeople for U.S. Reps. Guy Reschenthaler, RPeters, and Mike Kelly, RButler, said the lawmakers plan to attend the ceremony, which officially will mark the transition of power that Mr. Trump tried to halt on the basis of unsubstantiated claims that the election was stolen.
They won’t be alone. Several top Republicans and rank-and-file party members have said they will attend the inauguration, including Vice President Mike Pence. The two congressmen’s caucus leader, Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will accompany Mr. Biden to a pre-ceremony Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral. They will be joined by Speaker of the House Nancy
Pelosi, D-Calif., and the new Senate majority leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as well as the soon-to-be former majority leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Mr. Trump won’t be at the inauguration, becoming only the fourth president in U.S. history not to attend his successor’s inauguration. He will be flying to Florida on Wednesday morning, departing from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
Aides have been organizing an elaborate send-off, but it is unclear how many invitees plan to attend. The spokespersons for Mr. Reschenthaler and Mr. Kelly
did not respond to a question of whether they’re planning to attend Mr. Trump’s event.
Pennsylvania will be wellrepresented at the inauguration to see the swearing-in of a president who grew up in Scranton.
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., plans to attend the ceremony at the Capitol and “will follow all of the necessary social distancing guidelines,” his spokeswoman said. “He and his wife, Terese, look forward to witnessing this transfer of power to the new Biden-Harris Administration,” spokeswoman Natalie Adams wrote in an email.
Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, plans to attend, his
office said, and is bringing Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald with him as a guest.
Mr. Fitzgerald arrived in Washington on Tuesday to go through the mandatory health screenings, and remarked that there’s a “huge presence of military, uniformed security, uniformed police, National Guard, everywhere on every corner and every intersection” in the city.
Much of Washington is under lockdown, with thousands of National Guard troops on patrol and otherprecautions in place. The caution comes weeks after Trump supporters stormed
the Capitol to try to stop Congress from confirming Mr. Biden’s victory.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Mr. Fitzgerald said.
Some of Pennsylvania’s lawmakers won’t be attending for personal reasons.
Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, will watch the event virtually because he is “dealing with some non-COVIDrelated health issues that precluded me from getting to D.C. in time to comply with health screening protocols,” he said.
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said he is unable to attend for “personal and logistical
reasons,” but that he spoke with Mr. Biden recently, in part, “to congratulate him on winning the presidency and to identify areas of possible collaboration,” his office said. He won’t be attending Mr. Trump’s send-off event, a spokesman added.
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto will stay in Pittsburgh to focus on “security and safety in the short term,” said spokesman Timothy McNulty, then support Mr. Biden’s administration in “efforts including battling the pandemic, providing fiscal aid to local governments and addressing climate change.”