A White House official and source familiar with the matter tell NBC News Vice President Mike Pence is not expected to attend the Joint Base Andrews sendoff for President Trump tomorrow.

The White House official said it is not logistically feasible for Pence to attend both the sendoff and the inauguration, but Pence is not the only Trump administration member opting out.

A person familiar with the matter tells NBC News that Trump’s former National Security Adviser John Bolton and Deputy National Security Adviser Charles Kupperman were invited, but are not planning to attend. Bolton has been sharply critical of his former boss, writing a book about all the ways he believes Trump is unfit to serve as president.

Invited guests are allowed to bring five additional guests, something a former White House official who is not attending the event described as “desperation” and an attempt to “fill seats.” Several former campaign officials and staffers said they were asked by others who were invited to attend as their guests and they are declining. These officials and staffers all said they were not directly invited. 

Trump, who has refused to attend the inauguration that traditionally mark outgoing president's final hours, has planned the airport sendoff for himself, with what sources say will be the pomp and pageantry of an official state visit.

Biden landed at Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday afternoon as he readies to take over the White House after giving a tearful farewell to supporters in his hometown of Delaware ahead of his inauguration. 

The President-elect will be greeted by Col. Stephen P. Snelson, Commander, 89th Airlift Wing, and his wife Catherine Snelson.

In his farewell address to the nation on Tuesday, President Donald Trump attempted to highlight his administration’s successes amid the backdrop of an impeachment trial for inciting an insurrection while also calling on Americans to "pray" for the new administration.

"This week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous," Trump said.

He added, "We did what we came here to do — and so much more," referring to the administration's conservative legislative achievements and record-setting judicial appointments.

As Trump faces a second impeachment trial in the Senate, where a conviction could bar him from holding public office in the future, he said in his speech his "Make America Great Again" movement is "only just beginning."

Click here for the full story

Facebook has no plan in place to lift the indefinite suspension on President Donald Trump's Facebook account following his departure from the White House on Wednesday, sources familiar with the company's plans said.

The ban on Trump's account remains indefinite, the sources said, and there is no current plan in place to lift it. The social media giant said on Jan. 7 that it would "indefinitely" ban the president's account due to his role in inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol a day earlier. The company said the ban would last at least through the end of his term.

Facebook's suspension stopped short of the permanent ban that other social media companies like Twitter and Snapchat lated placed on Trump's accounts.

Small businesses in Washington traditionally see their sales double or triple during inauguration week, as people from around the country travel to the capital to welcome the new president. But after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, restaurants and stores are facing another week of bleak sales amid a punishing pandemic as the city shuts down over threats of violence from supporters of President Donald Trump.

“I always say D.C. pays the price for what happens on the national level,” Angela Franco, interim president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, told NBC News. “Any protest that doesn’t end up well, the city ends up paying the price.”

The city has been hammered by political unrest over the last year as the pandemic closed stores and prohibited indoor dining, gutting some businesses. More than one-quarter of small businesses in Washington were closed by July 2020 and revenues fell by about 50 percent, according to an October report from the D.C. Policy Center. The district’s small businesses had the sixth-largest closure rate of 53 major cities in the United States over the course of the pandemic last year, the report found. Dozens of storefronts shut down over the summer as protests raged over police violence against Black people, costing businesses additional lost sales.

Now, threats of violence during the inauguration mean that roads around the Capitol are blocked and 25,000 National Guard troops are stationed around the city. It’s just the latest blow to Washington’s fragile small-business community.

Read the story.

Pelosi spoke Tuesday about the end of Trump's presidency and the transfer of power Wednesday to Joe Biden.

Speaking about Trump's decision not to greet Biden at the White House, Pelosi said in an interview on MSNBC, "I do think that we're bigger than all of this. Donald Trump was a stain on our country.

The full interview with Joy Reid is set to air at 10 p.m. ET Tuesday. 

"I don't think we could have sustained our democracy if he had two terms in office, for what he was doing to our institution or what he was doing to our Constitution. He dishonored it," Pelosi said.

She added that Trump "in every respect was unworthy to be president, did not respect the office that he held and certainly did not respect the office the rest of us hold as well. I respect the office of presidency, of the president, more than he did for how he mistreated it. So in any event, he's gone. We have to let — we have to — how can I say it? It's not lessons learned because it was so evident all along what a disgrace he was. But to find out how we can bring people together, that's our responsibility and again, nobody better than Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to do that."

President-elect Joe Biden bid a tearful farewell to Delaware on Tuesday, thanking the people of his home state and emotionally reminiscing about his late son Beau in his penultimate speech before his inaugural address.

Speaking at a send-off event in Wilmington, where Biden had headquartered his presidential campaign and, later, his presidential transition, Biden repeatedly broke down weeping as he spoke.

“Excuse the emotion, but when I die, Delaware will be written on my heart. And the hearts of all. We love you all. You've been there for us in the good and the bad. You never walked away. And I am proud, proud, proud to be a son of Delaware," Biden said, with tears streaming down his face.

"And I am even more proud to be standing here doing this from the Major Beau Biden facility. Ladies and gentlemen, I only have one regret. He's not here. Because we should be introducing him as president," added Biden, who continued crying.

Read the story.

After weeks of Republican infighting over President-elect Joe Biden's victory, which culminated in the deadly siege of the Capitol two weeks ago by supporters of President Donald Trump, Democrats are now racing to help Biden get to work on day one.

Democrats will officially capture the Senate on Wednesday when, according to two sources, three new members will be sworn in during the afternoon: Georgia winners Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, and California's Alex Padilla, the appointee to replace Kamala Harris, who resigned on Monday two days before her vice presidential inauguration.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the outgoing majority leader, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who will take over as leader of the chamber, are planning to meet Tuesday to discuss various items, according to multiple sources. They will talk about Covid-19 relief, the logistics of an impeachment trial of outgoing President Donald Trump, Biden's nominations and finalizing how power will be divided in a chamber split 50-50 between the two parties, the sources said.

Read the story.