Sen. Blunt, who oversees inaugural ceremony: 'I feel good about where we are on security'
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, said Tuesday that he feels "good" about security at the Capitol for the inauguration on Wednesday.
"I feel good about where we are on security," Blunt told reporters when asked if he has any concerns. "But you know, as I said, four years ago when I chaired this, my — somebody asked me, ‘What was your best moment of the inauguration?’ I said, ‘When everybody got back inside.'"
"I mean, it's clearly always a moment of where our governments is ... at its most vulnerable, but also an important moment where we project our strength as a democracy. So I'm feeling good about it, but I'm staying totally focused on that as much as I can," he added.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., meanwhile, said on MSNBC that she thinks the heightened security measures will have to stay in place for the time being.
"I hate to say this, and here I'm speaking again in my dual role as a resident and as a member of Congress, I think it has to stay in place. But the longer it stays in place, the worse it is for my neighbors and for the residents of the District of Columbia," she said Tuesday. "This is the price we pay for being the nation's capital. We're willing to pay it."
What Trump's doing on his final full day in office
After four turbulent years, Tuesday is President Trump's final full day in office.
The president has not been seen publicly in a week and he has no public events on his schedule. An administration official confirms to NBC News that Trump recorded a farewell video, but the official provided no details about its contents or when it would be released.
After shattering norms and ignoring traditions since he stepped foot in office, the president has been urged by advisers and allies to at least call President-elect Biden or leave him a note in the Oval Office before he leaves Washington, a person close to the president confirms. But a Trump ally says nothing has been written yet. In either case, it would be a downgrade, after advisers, just last week, suggested Trump host Biden at the White House for a meeting, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
On Monday afternoon, Trump met in the Oval Office with advisers, including White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, to discuss the final list of pardons and commutations, a White House official tells NBC News. He’s still expected to release dozens before his terms expires on Wednesday.
Congressional leaders to attend church with Biden tomorrow
The top four congressional leaders, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will be attending church with President-Elect Joe Biden Wednesday morning, the day of his inauguration, according to multiple sources.
This was first reported by Punchbowl News.
FIRST READ: Biden's first task is his most crucial and obvious: Vaccinate America
Facing a pessimistic public, holding middling poll numbers for an incoming president (higher than Trump’s, lower than Obama’s) and dealing with a predecessor who’s yet to concede the election he lost, Joe Biden isn’t getting much of a honeymoon.
But Biden has this going for him after he takes the oath of office on Wednesday: one clear job — to get vaccines into as many American arms as possible.
Nothing he will say in his inaugural address and no executive order he will issue in his first days will be more important than achieving his goal of injecting 100 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days as president.
If he gets that right, he will oversee a less pessimistic American public; he’ll get a stronger economy; and he’ll do something that his predecessor was unable to execute in his final days.
As Trump's top diplomat, Pompeo sought to position himself as the president's successor
In the final days of Donald Trump's presidency, one top deputy has remained steadfastly loyal, even as others have distanced themselves or resigned in protest.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has doubled down on his defense of Trump, criticizing those who have broken ranks and ingratiating himself with Trump's followers, who will be vital for his own presidential ambitions.
"I think history will remember us very well," Pompeo told a group of House Republicans only days after Trump egged on a mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
"While I think we all think the violence that took place in the place where you all work in the Capitol was tragic, I've watched people walk away from this president already. And they are not listening to the American people. Not remotely," Pompeo said.
Pompeo's close alignment with Trump defined his tenure as America's top diplomat. Both his supporters and his critics believe Pompeo worked to place himself in the line of political succession, whether Trump remained king or became kingmaker.
Trump baby blimp enters Museum of London collection
LONDON — The Trump Baby Blimp will live on long after its namesake has left the White House.
The Museum of London said Monday that it had added the giant balloon, which depicts Donald Trump as a screaming orange baby, to its collection as an illustration of the protests that greeted the U.S. president when he visited the city in 2018.
“By collecting the baby blimp, we can mark the wave of feeling that washed over the city that day and capture a particular moment of resistance,” Sharon Ament, the museum's director, said in a statement.
Biden picks transgender woman as assistant health secretary
President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be his assistant secretary of health, leaving her poised to become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
A pediatrician and former Pennsylvania physician general, Levine was appointed to her current post by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in 2017, making her one of the few transgender people serving in elected or appointed positions nationwide. She won past confirmation by the Republican-majority Pennsylvania Senate and has emerged as the public face of the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Dr. Rachel Levine will bring the steady leadership and essential expertise we need to get people through this pandemic — no matter their zip code, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability — and meet the public health needs of our country in this critical moment and beyond," Biden said in a statement. "She is a historic and deeply qualified choice to help lead our administration’s health efforts.”