Stay away: Thumbs down on inauguration crowds for Biden
Stay away
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Stay away.
That's the message from the congressional committee organizing inauguration ceremonies for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris
A day after Biden's own organizing committee announced that the swearing-in would take place on Jan. 20 outside the Capitol Building, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies announced that permitted attendance at the event will be drastically reduced due to COVID-19 precautions.
Instead of the usual 200,000 tickets distributed to members of Congress and passed out to their constituents, organizers will allow just over 1,000 tickets — one for each of the 535 members of Congress and one guest each.
Despite this week’s rollout of the new vaccine, its availability to the general public is still months away. Committee Chairman Sen. Roy Blunt R-Mo., said in a statement that concerns about spiraling virus numbers around the country "warranted a difficult decision to limit attendance at the 59th Inaugural Ceremonies to a live audience that resembles a State of the Union.”
In a way, it’s a fitting culmination for a historic presidential campaign that was conducted almost entirely under pandemic conditions. Biden's own inaugural committee, which works with the congressional committee, had already asked supporters to stay away from Washington and plan safe inaugural celebrations at home.
"We know that many Americans would have wanted to attend the Inauguration in-person. At the same time, safety must be our top priority,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat and member of the committee, said in the statement. “While the pandemic has forced us to limit in-person attendance, it also brings opportunities to honor our democracy in innovative ways so that Americans across the country can experience Inauguration Day from home.”
Biden's team has turned to the same production team that handled the largely virtual Democratic National Convention. Features of that convention, such as the virtual roll call from every state, may be incorporated into a virtual inauguration experience.
Blunt said planners were developing "enhanced opportunities to watch the ceremonies online, in addition to the traditional televised national broadcast.”