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On Monday, Biden’s transition team announced Tony Allen, who previously served as a speechwriter for the president-elect, as executive director of the Presidential Inaugural Committee. The ceremony takes place on January 20.
Allen, who will lead the team in a personal capacity while serving as president of Delaware State University, said in a statement that the inauguration will be reduced amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“This year’s inauguration will look different amid the pandemic, but we will honor American inaugural traditions and engage Americans across the country while keeping everyone healthy and safe,” Allen said.
According to a monitoring project organized by Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 13.3 million people who have tested positive for coronavirus in the US The death toll has reached 266,887.
Biden’s transition team also announced Maju Varghese, who served as the chief operating officer and senior advisor for Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, as the committee’s executive director.
While Erin Wilson and Yvanna Cancela were announced as deputy executive directors of the committee on Monday.
Wilson served in Biden’s primary and general election campaigns as the national political director, while Cancela is a Democratic state senator in Nevada who joined the president-elect in several of his election campaigns.
The event is likely to be much smaller this year, with fewer than 1,600 people expected to be able to attend the opening, amid the pandemic.
There is also an ongoing discussion about whether those who will be close to Biden will have to test negative for Covid-19 before attending the event, according to CNN.
During the presidential campaign, Biden said he did not want to have to wear a mask for the ceremony, but the Congressional Joint Committee on Opening Ceremonies recently determined that all attendees will have to adhere to mask and social distancing guidelines.
The Marine Band, which has played every opening ceremony since 1801, is still scheduled to be a part of the event, while the choir normally located behind the president may not be in attendance, according to CNN.
It is currently unclear if President Donald Trump will attend the January 20 inauguration, despite Republicans urging him to be there for Biden’s inauguration.
Senator Roy Blunt, the Missouri Republican who is responsible for overseeing the inauguration, told CNN’s Dana Bash on State of the union Sunday: “I hope the president will be there on inauguration day.”
However, Trump has yet to admit and has repeatedly falsely claimed that there was widespread fraud in the elections, while White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said earlier this month that he will “attend his own inauguration.” .
