Biden’s inauguration program begins at some time after 11 a.m. at the US Capitol.
Father Leo J O’Donovan, an American Jesuit Catholic priest who is a longtime friend of the Biden family, will deliver an invocation at the inauguration.
Kamala Harris, who will become the country’s first female, first Black and first south Asian American vice-president, will be sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor shortly before noon.
President-elected Joe Biden will be sworn in at midday by John Roberts, the chief justice of the supreme court, at midday.
Following officially taking office, Biden will deliver his inaugural speech.
The inauguration of the president of the United States is a ceremony to mark the commencement of a new four-year term of the president of the United States.
The inauguration takes place for each new presidential term, even if the president is continuing in office for a second term.
Since 1937, it has taken place at noon EST on January 20, the first day of the new term, some 72 to 78 days after the presidential election, except for three occasions when January 20 fell on a Sunday. In those years, the presidential oath of office was administered on that day privately and then again in a public ceremony the next day, on Monday, January 21.
The most recent presidential inauguration was held on January 20, 2017, when Donald Trump assumed office. (ILKHA)