Forward of the inauguration, President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris attended Mass on the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in downtown Washington on Wednesday morning, joined by congressional leaders from each events in a show of unity after weeks of tumult.
Lawmakers in attendance included Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic chief; Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican chief; Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California; and Consultant Kevin McCarthy of California, the minority chief.
On the nook of 17th Avenue and Rhode Island Avenue, a crowd of journalists, cops and curious onlookers stood behind a waist-high steel fence, straining to see the president-elect as he walked into the church.
The streets had been nonetheless moist after an early morning rain, however the solar was shining, lighting up the dome of the church and its brick purple wall.
“I’m simply right here hoping to get a glimpse,” stated Brittany Rogers, 35, a safety guard from Baltimore who was visiting Washington for the day. “This can be a new starting, a contemporary begin. I really feel actually good.”
Mr. Biden, a Catholic who usually attends Mass, was accompanied by his spouse, Jill Biden. Ms. Harris was joined by her husband, Doug Emhoff.
Mr. Biden is just the second Catholic to carry the presidency — the primary was John F. Kennedy — and swore his oath of workplace on a hefty household Bible accented with a Celtic cross.