Biden inauguration: Trump has departed White House for the final time as president

Joe Biden is set to become the nation’s 46th president today. He is slated to take the oath of office around noon, which is when Donald Trump’s term as president ends.

Set against a backdrop of a locked-down Washington, D.C., and a socially distanced ceremony, Biden, in his inaugural address, is expected to plead for national unity as political, economic and health care crises grip the nation. He will take over the presidency two weeks after a deadly pro-Trump riot at Capitol Hill and as deaths from Covid-19 continue to surge. Since the pandemic began early last year, the disease has killed more than 400,000 people in the United States.

Kamala Harris will make history as the country’s first Black, female and South Asian vice president.

The first members of Biden’s Cabinet are slated to be sworn in over the next few days, as well, including Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary. Biden’s Democratic Party, likewise, will assume a bare majority in the Senate after three new lawmakers – Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia, and Alex Padilla of California – also take their oaths of office.

Trump, meanwhile, faces his second impeachment trial in the Senate, even though he will be out of power. The Democratic-controlled House, with the help of 10 Republicans, charged Trump with inciting the insurrection at the Capitol. The trial could begin this week.

Trump, in his farewell address, glossed over the Capitol riot, which resulted in five deaths. He did not mention Biden by name in the speech.

[CNBC]