A double waiting game
Biden’s inauguration, Cabinet nominee approval still ahead
The incoming Biden administration on Tuesday will put its finishing touches on inaugural plans as security threats loom ahead of Inauguration Day, while the president-elect’s Cabinet picks get their first round of hearings.
Many of President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees will not be Senate approved by the time he takes the oath of office on Wednesday.
On the day before inauguration, the Senate plans to hold its first confirmation hearings for the Cabinet nominees. These include Biden’s picks for: Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen; Secretary of State, Antony Blinken; Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin; and Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg.
Biden’s transition team on Monday announced that an MIT professor is the administration’s pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Gary Gensler is currently a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, researching artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and new financial technologies.
Ahead of Inauguration Day, the FBI has warned of possible attacks on the U.S. Cap
itol and at all 50 state capitols in the wake of the pro-Trump mob storming the Capitol on Jan. 6. More than 20,000 National Guard troops have been sent to the Capitol.
On Monday, Biden-Harris national security and homeland security transition officials met virtually with staff from national security agencies to discuss the security situation surrounding Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C. and around the country.
“Career officials from the National Security Council, the Secret Service, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, the National Counterterrorism Center, the Department of State, the Department of Treasury, the Department of Defense and other agencies briefed participants on the current security situation and the pace of interagency coordination with state, local, and industry partners,” the Biden-Harris transition team said in a statement.
“Participants affirmed the importance of continued close coordination in the period leading up to and including Inauguration Day, and expressed gratitude for the men and women of the National Guard, law enforcement, and career services who are supporting efforts to ensure a peaceful transition,” the transition team added.
Before Inauguration Day, the Presidential Inaugural Committee is planning a nationwide COVID-19 memorial to honor the 400,000 lives lost in the U.S. to the coronavirus pandemic.
The memorial will feature the lighting around the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and hundreds of communities across the country will join the tribute at 5:30 p.m. today.