Joe Biden presidential inauguration megathread

[brucejoel99]

Any word on who will be administering the oath of office to Kamala Harris yet?

I imagine there may be a desire for a woman to administer the oath to the first woman Vice President. If that's the case either Sonia Sotomayor or Elena Kagan make sense if a Supreme Court justice is chosen. I think we can rule out Amy Coney Barrett.

I was looking back through recent inaugurations and noticed Cheney chose Speaker Dennis Hastert to administer the oath to him in 2005. Perhaps Nancy Pelosi will be asked as there would be great symbolism with the first woman Speaker administering the oath to the first woman Vice President.

Not to mention, a San Francisco political icon administering the oath to another San Francisco political icon. In any event, though, I imagine that it could also be Breyer (who's never had the opportunity to swear-in a VP), as a sort-of hat tip to his presumably impending retirement. However, if they wanna opt for a justice while also taking COVID concerns (i.e. picking a younger justice) into consideration, then I imagine it'll be Kagan (who's also never sworn-in a VP).

Do we know who the Designated Survivor will be? Last time it was Orrin Hatch as prez pro tem, but Grassley loses the position once Harris is sworn in as VP. In 2009, it was  Robert Gates as Defense secretary, whom Obama retained from W. This time, Nancy Pelosi would make most sense.

I would assume this isn't announced in advance.

The person is announced in advance, but their location during the proceedings will obviously remain undisclosed. In any event, Pelosi - as Speaker - actually has somewhat of a role to play in the ceremonial proceedings (being among the many who are with the President-elect when or around the time that they come outside), so it'll probably be Chuck Grassley &/or some uncontroversial outgoing Cabinet secretary like Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette.

[brucejoel99]

With this announcement, it seems like it probably would've been RBG doing this had she still been alive.

[brucejoel99]

Do we know who the Designated Survivor will be? Last time it was Orrin Hatch as prez pro tem, but Grassley loses the position once Harris is sworn in as VP. In 2009, it was  Robert Gates as Defense secretary, whom Obama retained from W. This time, Nancy Pelosi would make most sense.

I would assume this isn't announced in advance.

Although announcing Pelosi would become President in the event of an attack would help dissuade pretty much all would-be attackers.

Some of these people think that preventing Biden's swearing-in will result in Trump becoming the 19th President of the United States because it would somehow nullify the terms of a top-secret 19th-century political conspiracy. Reminding them of Pelosi's place in the line of succession ahead of time would do nothing when they're already that crazy.

[brucejoel99]

Do we know who the Designated Survivor will be? Last time it was Orrin Hatch as prez pro tem, but Grassley loses the position once Harris is sworn in as VP. In 2009, it was  Robert Gates as Defense secretary, whom Obama retained from W. This time, Nancy Pelosi would make most sense.

I would assume this isn't announced in advance.

Although announcing Pelosi would become President in the event of an attack would help dissuade pretty much all would-be attackers.

Some of these people think that preventing Biden's swearing-in will result in Trump becoming the 19th President of the United States because it would somehow nullify the terms of a top-secret 19th-century political conspiracy. Reminding them of Pelosi's place in the line of succession ahead of time would do nothing when they're already that crazy.

That's a new one...

Wait. Rutherford B. Hayes was the 19th President. Does that mean these guys thing the rest of us don't know about the Compromise of 1877? That's one of the few distinguishing things about Hayes' presidency.

Do they really think the end of Reconstruction wasn't public knowledge? Or have they taped another conspiracy on top?

Here you go, don't say I didn't warn you:

[brucejoel99]

When is Biden gonna release the official portraits? I'm sure government workers are eager to change them out ASAP.

They might not have them yet, given COVID protocols. I know ACB still hasn't gotten an official portrait from the Court, for example, & she's been there for nearly 3 months now.

[brucejoel99]

When is Biden gonna release the official portraits? I'm sure government workers are eager to change them out ASAP.

They might not have them yet, given COVID protocols. I know ACB still hasn't gotten an official portrait from the Court, for example, & she's been there for nearly 3 months now.

Congress got there portraits

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[brucejoel99]

Trump is upset that celebrities that shunned his inauguration are set to appear/perform at Biden's.

https://twitter.com/marycjordan/status/1351323845643431939?s=20

It's not surprising that he would be so petty. But then again, why would Trump have expected them to perform at his inauguration? Most celebrities are staunch liberal Democrats, and directly opposed to his administration and its policies, to say nothing of his character issues.

Because Donald "I'm the President of the United States, you can't talk to me like that" Trump believes that the masses should revere him by virtue of his position alone.

[brucejoel99]

As I recall, Nixon's term ended while in flight on the Presidential jet to his San Clemente residence, and he was sent a bill for the cost of the flight attributable to the period he was in the air after he ceased being President.

I'm not aware he was sent a bill, but he ceased to be prez while in the air.

I wonder how this practially works with Trump being in Mar-A-Lago. Will some of his staff and military aide leave town at 12 am? Up to that point, he still has the commanding power over armed forces and the nulcear codes. I assume he keeps latter, but these are worthless at 12 am and Biden gets new codes.

*12pm, but you've got the gist of it: Trump will lose all power at 12pm, & the military aide will fly back to DC the same day:

https://twitter.com/marcambinder/status/1351234809268469761

[brucejoel99]

Ladies & gentlemen, Joe Biden will be President of the United States in less than 24 hours.

[brucejoel99]

https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1351605321727434754

[brucejoel99]

https://twitter.com/Acosta/status/1351636678461546507

[brucejoel99]

I do like how several of the Supreme Court justices (CJ Roberts aside) are wearing their robes like they're on a lunch break. 

"Alright guys, let's walk over to the Capitol in like...fifteen?"

IIRC that was literally Roberts' routine during the 1st impeachment trial: mornings at the Court, then walking over to the Capitol after lunch.

[brucejoel99]

Don't call it a comeback.

[brucejoel99]

Now it's official: President Biden & Vice President Harris.

[brucejoel99]

The first of hopefully many to come: a Clinton-appointed district judge has already sent Biden her retirement notice:

https://twitter.com/davidshepardson/status/1351960347498999810

[brucejoel99]

The president is now heading to the White House. Hope we see his Oval Office very soon and him taking the presidential pen to start undoing Trump's "legacy" and put it on the trash heap of history, where it belongs.

It'll be quite a while before we see any substantive changes to the office's design beyond the curtains, furniture layout, & paintings on the wall. Trump's re-design wasn't completed 'til Sept. 2017 & that was without a raging pandemic that's obviously higher priority than redecorating.

[brucejoel99]

https://twitter.com/PattyTalorico/status/1351946472527433731

[brucejoel99]

https://twitter.com/coolhand_luke88/status/1351995295547224071

[brucejoel99]

Aren't these just the Trump drapes? Because I definitely remember hearing that Trump just reused the Clinton drapes.

[brucejoel99]

https://twitter.com/jeneps/status/1352016112687439872?s=20

Is that a bust of Truman?

Yes, probably the same exact bust that Ford kept in that same spot of his Oval.

[brucejoel99]

Feinstein on the Senate floor with Padilla.

1. Doesn't inspire confidence in me that he may be more in her mold than Harris.

2. I used to can't stand seeing Feinstein on my screen. Now I just feel sad. I really hope she retires in 2024, for her sake.

To be fair, it's tradition for the state's senior Senator to escort the state's junior Senator when they're being inaugurated. Ossoff and Warnock couldn't do that for obvious reasons.

I think the insinuation is that "he may be more in her mold than Harris" because of his having worked for her in the past. She was his mentor & got him into politics, IIRC. So, yeah.

[brucejoel99]

I believe that Biden is the only sitting President to have received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

With Distinction, no less!

[brucejoel99]

Did Biden change the rug? If I recall Trump had a tan one (might've been the same one W and Obama used). The one in the pic looks like the Clinton one.

It's definitely not the Trump rug, yeah.

[brucejoel99]

OK that fireworks show was tight af

None of these people are celebrating the "peaceful transfer of power" or democracy, they are celebrating Orange Man gone. It's so disgusting.

hehe fireworks go brrrr

[brucejoel99]

I know that it's silly to speculate, but can y'all just imagine how big a super-spreader event today would've been had Trump won another term? Because you just know that he wouldn't have limited the audience, held a mostly virtual parade, or outright canceled the balls.