A day before he is sworn into office, Biden plans to make his way to the nation’s capital on a family train ride that will be part of the festivals leading up to the inauguration on January 20, people familiar with the plans tell CNN.
While plans for consecration were shaken this week by the violent attack on the Capitol, coupled with unsustainable complications from the coronavirus pandemic, Biden and top advisers have instructed their team to continue go, unhindered by the steep challenges.
“He was elected at the time of a pandemic. He will be established at the same time,” Biden’s relative said. “We will have a safe and historic establishment and will not be hindered.”
But it will be anything but normal, given how President Donald Trump refused to attend the inauguration ceremony. None of Biden’s transition or start-up teams have commented on Trump’s decision to stay away, but two people close to the plan say they are relieved to know their intentions, without surprising sight at the last minute.
With 12 days left until it is set up, planning for the event is underway immediately.
The traditional parade, which is designed in a form similar to the roll call at the Democratic convention that became the main focus of the event back at the scale level, will be replaced by a virtual event.
But for Biden, the train ride to Union Station in Washington – from Joseph R. Biden Jr. Wilmington Railroad Station – this will be the start of the shows. These plans, aides, are not expected to change, despite last week’s events in the country’s capital.
It would be a fitting moment for the man who took about 8,000 trips around that same path during his time as grandfather and vice president – earning him the moniker “Amtrak Joe” – and who left Washington on a train four years ago on his train on his last day as vice president.
Biden plans to spend the night before being set up in a hotel in Washington, people familiar with the plans say, and will move to the White House after it has been thoroughly cleaned, with the following strict coronavirus protocols e.
His official transfer date to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has not yet been set. It could be the night of January 20 or in the days immediately following.