It’s an inaugural week like no other — the Capitol is on lockdown, the Senate could begin an impeachment trial, and the nation is grappling with a pandemic and an economic crisis.
This all falls onto soon-to-be President Joe Biden’s plate, whose inauguration is set for Wednesday.
“Joe Biden has his work cut out for him; that is a gross understatement,” said Barbara Perry, presidential studies director at University of Virginia’s Miller Center for Politics.
President Donald Trump is getting ready to leave Washington, D.C. for Florida Wednesday and will not be at the inauguration.
He will join a short list of former presidents who did not participate in the ceremonial transfer of power.
Trump is expected to hold his own departure ceremony before boarding Air Force One.
He is leaving office with his worst approval rating at 34 percent, according to a new CNN poll.
Matt Dallek, political historian professor at George Washington University, says Biden could turn things around.
“I think Biden has a chance to be a 50-plus percent president,” he said. “Trump never broke 50 percent popularity. Biden has a chance to be a president for a majority of the country.”
Inheriting a divided nation, Biden will call for unity in his inauguration speech.
“That’s gonna be a message of moving this country forward. A message of unity. A message of getting things done. That’s what he’ll be talking about January 20th,” incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said.
In his first days in office, Biden is expected to use executive powers to reverse Trump Administration policies and take new steps in the pandemic.
He has also laid out a nearly $2 trillion pandemic relief package, which he says will provide direct aide to Americans, speed up vaccine distribution, and get kids back in school.
That will likely require cooperation from both sides of the aisle.
“We have to find ways to work across the aisle to get many of these things across the finish line,” Rep. Seth Moulton said. “I think what you will see out of the Biden Administration is a unifying agenda.”
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