Here’s what we know about Biden’s inauguration

Invitations have been curtailed by the pandemic and security has been boosted by the insurgency, but Joe Biden’s inauguration as the 46th President of the United States next week will still have a lot of flair.

The National Mall will be closed to keep people away, so we’ll all be spared another comparison of crowd sizes, especially since Donald Trump’s Twitter account has been disabled. The threat of violent protests by Trump supporters refusing the election and the presence of 20,000 National Guard troops will prevent anyone from forgetting Trump’s turbulent leadership, or lack thereof. The FBI has warned of armed protests in all 50 state capitals and the TSA is preparing to restrict guns in checked baggage.

Instead of the inaugural balls, there will be a special show hosted by Tom Hanks.

It will be unusual, but it will still be an inauguration.

All you need to swear in a new president, now that the electoral votes have been counted, is for Biden to speak these words, which are written in the Constitution, at noon on January 20:

Biden had planned to make a statement when arriving in Washington via Amtrak from Wilmington, Delaware, where the station is named after him – a testament to when he was a senator and used to make the round trip to be with their children. . It is not. He will stay the night before at Blair House opposite the White House instead of a hotel.

Normally, members of Congress are given a series of tickets to distribute at will. This year, they each get a +1. The public is encouraged to stay away and the National Mall will be closed. There will be no public parade from the Capitol to the White House, but rather a virtual parade bringing together people from across the country.

The inaugural balls – usually there are several and the new president makes a cameo appearance at several – will be replaced by a produced television show starring stars like Hanks with Justin Timberlake. It will look a lot like the inauguration of Covid.