The fortress around downtown D.C. is being dismantled. But heightened security may remain. Emily Davies, Michael Brice-Saddler, Peter Hermann Officials have begun to dismantle the fortress of fences and barricades that took over downtown Washington for Inauguration Day, but remnants of a heightened security presence will remain in the nation’s capital far beyond the tense transition of power. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) requested that the D.C. National Guard be on “standby” until Jan. 30 as part of an ongoing effort to present an “enhanced posture to deal with the threat of white extremism” in the city, she said at a news conference Thursday.
Fauci disputes reports vaccine distribution efforts have to start from scratch
From CNN s DJ Judd
Dr. Anthony Fauci seemed to contradict reports that the Trump administration had no plan for widespread Covid-19 vaccine rollout, telling reporters in the briefing room, “we’re certainly not starting from scratch, because there is activity going on in the distribution.”
He touted plans for community vaccine centers, pharmacy buy-in, and targeted use of the Defense Production Act, adding, “it s taking what s going on, but amplifying it in a big way.”
Earlier today, CNN’s MJ Lee reported that in the immediate hours following Biden being sworn into office Wednesday, sources with direct knowledge of the new administration s Covid-related work told CNN one of the biggest shocks the Biden team had to digest during the transition period was what they saw as a complete lack of a vaccine distribution strategy under former President Donald Trump, even weeks after multiple vacci
The inauguration of Joe Biden will be the most secure inauguration in recent history. Here's how I know, especially after watching the failure in policing during the riots at the Capitol.
More than 40 Guard troops in DC for Biden inauguration test positive for COVID; up to 25,000 troops now authorized
Interviews: National Guardsmen in U.S. capital for inauguration National Guard troops in Washington in the wake of a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6 talk about the experience of being mobilized to the city in the midst of potential unrest around the inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden. With more than 7,000 National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., and thousands more on the way to help protect the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden during a pandemic, it was only inevitable that some would be affected by COVID-19.
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Any chance of a normal security environment for the president-elect evaporated during the Capitol siege.
For the first time in modern American history, the possibility of a peaceful transfer of power is in doubt. Extremists swarmed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, and at least some of them intended to hunt down and kill elected officials. During their riot, they left bloodstains on the inauguration grandstands.
Now, in the final hours of the Trump presidency, security forces have turned Washington, D.C., into a fortified encampment in an attempt to prevent further violence. The transformation of the U.S. Capitol into a Baghdad-style Green Zone is unlike anything Washington has seen since 9/11. Joe Biden, already physically isolated by COVID-19, will be further distanced from the American people, who have traditionally crowded onto the National Mall by t