U.S. capital on edge for tense swearing-in

Preparations are made prior to a dress rehearsal for the 59th inaugural ceremony for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Monday, January 18, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Preparations are made prior to a dress rehearsal for the 59th inaugural ceremony for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Monday, January 18, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

PHILADELPHIA -- Two days from the presidential inauguration, a militarized and jittery Washington, D.C., on Monday prepared for a swearing-in that will play out under extraordinary security.

Washington has become a fortress city of roadblocks and barricades before Wednesday's ceremony, as security officials work to avoid more violence after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Five people died, including a police officer.

In a measure of how nervous the city has become, Capitol Police on Monday briefly locked down the Capitol complex and paused inaugural rehearsals after fire broke out at a nearby homeless encampment.

Transition officials for President-elect Joe Biden, including incoming Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall and the nominee for deputy attorney general, Lisa Monaco, held a videoconference with acting heads and career staffers of national security agencies to discuss the security situation surrounding the transition day.

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Meanwhile, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris took a break from inauguration preparations to pitch in on Martin Luther King Jr. Day service projects.

Biden and his wife, Jill, joined an assembly line in the parking lot of Philabundance, a Philadelphia organization that distributes food to people in need, and helped fill about 150 boxes with fresh fruit and nonperishables.

As Biden and Harris honored the civil-rights hero Monday, outgoing President Donald Trump remained out of public view at the White House for the sixth straight day. In past years, he has marked the holiday with visits to the King memorial in Washington, but there was no such outing this year.

Harris played down any personal security concerns, saying she's "very much looking forward to being sworn in."

"I will walk there, to that moment, proudly, with my head up and my shoulders back," Harris told reporters after volunteering at a food bank.

Still, Washington residents were on high alert and much of the city felt desolate, with large swaths of the area around the Capitol, White House and National Mall sealed off from all but authorized personnel.

'LEGITIMATELY SCARY'

Katie Henke, 40, a southwest Washington resident, said the city felt on edge. She said she's concerned enough that she packed a bag with clothes and other personal items in case she feels she must flee her neighborhood.

"This is legitimately scary," she said. "Between the pandemic and Trump, I feel like our country is at a weak and vulnerable point. And we know there are forces inside and outside the country that see that vulnerability as an opportunity to do something."

Camille Johnson, 54, who immigrated three decades ago from Uganda, stood before a line of soldiers while pouring out his heart about the state of America. Uganda's president of 35 years had just been reelected amid accusations of vote-rigging with U.S. election observers in place, an irony that Johnson could not shake.

"We came from overseas. We know. Trump has all the signs of being a dictator," said Johnson, an executive in the hotel industry. "It makes me sad Americans are not seeing where they are going."

Some 25,000 National Guard troops were being dispatched across the city to bolster security. Monuments -- including the King memorial -- are closed to the public until after Wednesday's inaugural events.

Inaugural organizers on Monday finished installing some 200,000 small U.S., state and territorial flags on the National Mall, a sobering display intended to honor the nearly 400,000 Americans killed in the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden and Harris plan to take part in an event today, after the president-elect arrives in Washington, at the reflecting pool near the Lincoln Memorial to honor American lives lost to covid-19.

Even before the insurrection at the Capitol, inauguration festivities were expected to be muted because of the virus. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser urged residents to stay away on Inauguration Day.

David Hill, general manager of the Phoenix Park Hotel near the Capitol, working his seventh inauguration, said that for a typical inauguration week, the hotel would be booked solid months ahead, with guests who want to witness history willing to pay higher rates and stay a four-night minimum.

This year, bookings started to pick up only in the past week or so -- mostly journalists, National Guard troops and other security officials dispatched to the city amid the growing concerns about violence. Hill said he's now "close to full," but guests aren't paying the typical premium.

The German Federation of Journalists, meanwhile, warned foreign correspondents covering the inauguration to take precautions and be "particularly careful and alert on Wednesday" after journalists were attacked in the riot at the Capitol.

"It is appalling that such an appeal is even necessary in the USA, once the model democracy," said Frank Ueberall, the association's head.

ORDERS SIGNED

While Trump stayed out of view, the White House announced he had signed several executive orders, including an amended version of an order calling for the creation of a "National Garden of American Heroes."

Trump wants more figures to be honored in his proposed garden, including the late pop singer Whitney Houston; game-show host Alex Trebek; and Grover Cleveland, the only U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms. They join a list that already included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Frederick Douglass and dozens more.

First lady Melania Trump posted a farewell video in which she thanked Americans for the "greatest honor of my life," but she made no mention of the incoming administration. Donald Trump has already announced that he will not attend the inauguration -- he's the first outgoing president to skip the ceremony in 152 years -- and will depart for Florida hours before the swearing-in.

Other former presidents will be there, as will Vice President Mike Pence.

Biden, meanwhile, continued to build his administration. His transition team announced Monday that he will nominate Rohit Chopra to direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, tapping a liberal ally of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to lead the agency whose creation she championed.

Chopra, a commissioner for the Federal Trade Commission, helped launch the agency after the 2008 financial crisis and served as deputy director, sounding the alarm about skyrocketing student loan debt. The pick comes as Democrats are eyeing ways to provide student loan relief to millions of Americans as part of a covid-19 aid package.

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Biden also announced his intent to nominate Gary Gensler, former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CAPITOL LOCKDOWN

Monday's temporary lockdown of the Capitol complex came during a rehearsal for the inauguration, after a fire in a homeless encampment roughly a mile away sent a plume of smoke into the air and caused security concerns.

The false alarm briefly interrupted the rehearsal for Wednesday's ceremony, a quadrennial exercise in which stand-ins take the roles of the new president and other VIPs and the U.S. Marine Corps Band goes through its paces -- including this year practicing "The Star-Spangled Banner" as sung by Lady Gaga. Rehearsal resumed not long afterward, accompanied by frequent passes by a helicopter patrolling above the Capitol.

Firefighters put out the blaze quickly. The evacuation of some participants and the lockdown were ordered by the acting chief of the Capitol Police out of an abundance of caution, officials said.

But the quick decision to lock down underscores the fear that has gripped Washington since the deadly insurrection at the Capitol prompted extraordinary measures. Armed protests planned for the past weekend around the country mostly did not gain traction, but anxiety is still skyrocketing.

The U.S. Secret Service tightened security in and around the Capitol a week early in preparation, and the city center is essentially on lockdown with streets blocked, high fencing installed and tens of thousands of National Guard troops and law enforcement officers stationed around the area.

U.S. defense officials, worried about a potential insider attack or other threat from service members involved in securing the event, pushed the FBI to vet all of the 25,000 National Guard troops arriving in the area. Authorities have launched a process to subject the troops to additional security screening for links to extremist or other violent groups.

Concern has intensified as investigators have identified a growing list of individuals with law enforcement and military ties, including at least two service members, among the rioters who stormed Congress in their effort to overturn Trump's electoral loss.

The Defense Department, assisted by the FBI, will conduct special vetting, said acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller.

"While we have no intelligence indicating an insider threat, we are leaving no stone unturned in securing the capital," Miller said. While law enforcement vetting typically occurs before major security events, he added, "in this case the scope of military participation is unique."

An FBI official said the bureau was conducting "name checks" for the guardsmen in addition to vetting done by the Defense Department. It was not immediately clear whether the military or state national guards are doing any new or additional screening of the guardsmen, who were vetted as part of their recruitment and security clearance process.

The heightened scrutiny highlights the Pentagon's concerns about growing extremism, including support for white nationalism and anti-government groups, among veterans and serving troops. Authorities acknowledge that rooting out the problem has proved challenging, which they say reflects larger trends across American society.

Before the riot, as part of the military's reckoning with its legacy of racism and discrimination, Miller ordered a review of how the military handles extremism in the ranks. Officials are hoping to determine whether existing steps to identify and address extremist affiliations and actions are adequate.

"The Army does not tolerate racism, extremism or hatred in our ranks," a spokesman for Army Reserve Strategic Communications said.

HARRIS' SEAT

Also on Monday, Harris officially became the former U.S. senator from California, after resigning from her seat two days before her swearing-in as the No. 2 official in the executive branch.

"Today, as I resign from the Senate, I am preparing to take an oath that would have me preside over it," Harris wrote in a farewell post to the residents of her state before handing in her resignation paperwork.

"As Senator-turned-Vice-President Walter Mondale once pointed out, the vice presidency is the only office in our government that 'belongs to both the executive branch and the legislative branch.' A responsibility made greater with an equal number of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate," she added.

Harris is transitioning into a far more important role in the upper chamber than she ever occupied as a representative of California -- she has the tie-breaking vote in a Democratic-controlled Senate deadlocked with Republicans at 50-50.

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a fellow Democrat, chose a successor to Harris -- Alex Padilla, California's secretary of state. The Senate term will expire in 2022, and Padilla could seek reelection.

Harris continued to attend Senate sessions after her November election, and she was in the Capitol for the certification of the election results when the building was stormed by the violent mob.

She will be sworn in as vice president by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a ceremony in which the first woman of color to become vice president will take her oath from the first woman of color to sit on the high court.

​​​​​Information for this article was contributed by Bill Barrow, Ashraf Khalil, Alexandra Jaffe, Andrew Taylor, Colleen Long, Eric Tucker, Zeke Miller, Aamer Madhani, David Rising and Michael Balsamo of The Associated Press; by Missy Ryan, Spencer Hsu, Matt Zapotosky, Carol D. Leonnig and Devlin Barrett of The Washington Post; and by Michael Crowley, Glenn Thrush, Dionne Searcey and Matthew Rosenberg of The New York Times.

Flags are placed on the National Mall ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Flags are placed on the National Mall ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Joe Biden participates in a National Day of Service event at Philabundance, a hunger relief organization, with his daughter Ashley Biden, right, and his granddaughter Finnegan Biden, left, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President-elect Joe Biden participates in a National Day of Service event at Philabundance, a hunger relief organization, with his daughter Ashley Biden, right, and his granddaughter Finnegan Biden, left, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Marine Corps. stand in the doorway between damaged Capitol doors during a rehearsal for the 59th inaugural ceremony for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
U.S. Marine Corps. stand in the doorway between damaged Capitol doors during a rehearsal for the 59th inaugural ceremony for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
Flags are placed on the National Mall, looking towards the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial, ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Flags are placed on the National Mall, looking towards the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial, ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Preparations are made prior to a dress rehearsal for the 59th inaugural ceremony for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Monday, January 18, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)
Preparations are made prior to a dress rehearsal for the 59th inaugural ceremony for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Monday, January 18, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)
State flags including the Tennessee state flag, in front, are placed on the National Mall ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
State flags including the Tennessee state flag, in front, are placed on the National Mall ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
On the East side of the U.S. Capitol, a piece of tape marks the name McConnell as people participate in a rehearsal for the 59th inaugural ceremony for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Washington. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
On the East side of the U.S. Capitol, a piece of tape marks the name McConnell as people participate in a rehearsal for the 59th inaugural ceremony for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Washington. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
President-elect Joe Biden waves as he leaves after participating in a National Day of Service event at Philabundance, a hunger relief organization, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President-elect Joe Biden waves as he leaves after participating in a National Day of Service event at Philabundance, a hunger relief organization, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President-elect Joe Biden participates in a National Day of Service event at Philabundance, a hunger relief organization, with his daughter Ashley Biden, and his granddaughter Finnegan Biden, left, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President-elect Joe Biden participates in a National Day of Service event at Philabundance, a hunger relief organization, with his daughter Ashley Biden, and his granddaughter Finnegan Biden, left, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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