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Biden inauguration: Donald Trump's last full day as US president - live updates Biden inauguration: Donald Trump's last full day as US president - live updates
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President expected to issue 100 pardons as Covid cases reach 24 millionPresident expected to issue 100 pardons as Covid cases reach 24 million
Joe Biden is set for a flurry of action to combat the climate crisis on his first day as US president by immediately rejoining the Paris climate agreement and blocking the Keystone XL pipeline, although experts have warned lengthier, and harder, environmental battles lie ahead in his presidency.
In a series of plans drawn up by Biden’s incoming administration for his first day in office, the new president will take the resonant step of bringing the US back into the Paris climate accords, an international agreement to curb dangerous global heating that Donald Trump exited.
The Democrat, who will be sworn in on Wednesday, is also set to revoke a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, a controversial cross-border project that would bring 830,000 barrels of crude oil each day from Alberta, Canada, to a pipeline that runs to oil refineries on the US’ Gulf of Mexico coast. The president-elect is also expected to reverse Trump’s undoing of rules that limited the emission of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from oil and gas drilling operations.
“Day one, Biden will rejoin Paris, regulate methane emissions and continue taking many other aggressive executive climate actions in the opening days and weeks of his presidency,” said Paul Bledsoe, who was a climate advisor to Bill Clinton’s White House, now with the Progressive Policy Institute.
Bledsoe said Biden’s nominees to tackle the climate crisis, spearheaded by the former secretary of state John Kerry, who will act as a climate “envoy” to the world, is “by far the most experienced, high-level climate team US history. They intend to hit the ground running.”
The aggressive opening salvo to help address the climate crisis, which Biden has called “the existential threat of our time”, is set to include various executive orders to resurrect a host of pollution rules either knocked down or weakened by the Trump administration.
The US will convene an international climate summit in Biden’s first few months in the White House and is set to join a global effort to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, which are used in refrigeration and air conditioning and contribute to the heating of the planet.
Read more of Oliver Milman’s report here: Biden to ‘hit ground running’ as he rejoins Paris climate accords
Donald Trump is widely expected to mark his final full day in office as US president by issuing around 100 pardons. The recipients of the presidential pardon are expected to include high profile names like that of rapper Lil Wayne.
However, sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters have suggested that neither the president himself, nor Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani or ex-aide Steve Bannon will be on the list. Neither will members of Trump’s family get pre-emptive pardons.
While the constitutional legality of a presidential self-pardon remains untested, aides have cautioned Trump that pardoning himself and members of his family may imply guilt that becomes a liability in future state or civil lawsuits against the Trump family and businesses.
It has also been suggested that a self-pardon could antagonise some Republican Senators who will be voting during the second Trump impeachment trial, expected later this month.
Lil Wayne pleaded guilty last month to possessing a loaded, gold-plated handgun when his chartered jet landed in Miami in December 2019. He faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison at a 28 January hearing in Miami.
The rap star appeared to support Trump during last year’s presidential campaign when he tweeted a photo of himself with the president and said he backed Trump’s criminal justice reform program and economic plan for African Americans.
The New York Times reports that the list of pardons and commutations is expected to include former New York Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, 76, who was convicted of corruption charges in 2015. After a lengthy legal process, Silver was sentenced in July 2020 to 6-and-a-half years in prison and a $1 million fine. He is currently held in the federal prison at Otisville, New York.
Also said to be under consideration for a pardon is Sholam Weiss. Weiss was sentenced to 835 years in prison in 2000 for crimes including racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering. It is frequently described as the longest ever sentence imposed in the US for a “white collar” crime.
Steve Bannon, 66, who has pleaded not guilty to charges that he defrauded donors to “We Build the Wall,” an online fundraising campaign that raised $25 million, is not expected to be on the list. Neither is Rudy Giuliani.
It is reported that Giuliani has fallen out with the president over unpaid legal fees, and the lawyer has already recused himself from defending Donald Trump in his upcoming Senate impeachment trial, since Giuliani was also involved in the rally on 6 January that preceded a pro-Trump mob ransacking the US Capitol.
Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, another name frequently mentioned in connection to a possible Trump pardon, was also not expected to be on the list.
The list of pardons has been prepared over the weekend in a series of meetings involving White House counsel, Pat A. Cipollone, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
It is traditional for US presidents to issue pardons and clemency at the end of their term in office. Barack Obama commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning in 2017, George W. Bush commuted the sentence former staffer Lewis “Scooter” Libby who had been found guilty of perjury, and Bill Clinton controversially pardoned Marc Rich in a move widely criticised as being corrupt after Rich’s ex-wife had made substantial donations to Clinton-related causes.
Amid the heightened security, though, there will still be plenty of traditional show. Here are some of the pictures to come out of yesterday’s rehearsal for Joe Biden’s inauguration.Amid the heightened security, though, there will still be plenty of traditional show. Here are some of the pictures to come out of yesterday’s rehearsal for Joe Biden’s inauguration.
There’s one very obvious and immediate legacy of Trump’s presidency and the 6 January storming of the US Capitol that it inspired. Joe Biden’s inauguration tomorrow will take place amid the tightest security measures in Washington in recent memory.There’s one very obvious and immediate legacy of Trump’s presidency and the 6 January storming of the US Capitol that it inspired. Joe Biden’s inauguration tomorrow will take place amid the tightest security measures in Washington in recent memory.
25,000 National Guard soldiers from across the east coast are stationed in the city. The streets around the Capitol remain eerily empty as all but the most determined protesters have stayed away.25,000 National Guard soldiers from across the east coast are stationed in the city. The streets around the Capitol remain eerily empty as all but the most determined protesters have stayed away.
The FBI has even been forced to vet all troops who are guarding the event because of fears of an insider attack on the president-elect.The FBI has even been forced to vet all troops who are guarding the event because of fears of an insider attack on the president-elect.
In a cold, sombre, damp Washington four years ago this Wednesday, Donald Trump took the oath of office as the 45th president of the United States and delivered an inaugural address now remembered for two words: American carnage.In a cold, sombre, damp Washington four years ago this Wednesday, Donald Trump took the oath of office as the 45th president of the United States and delivered an inaugural address now remembered for two words: American carnage.
He delivered, but not as he promised. Trump pledged to end the carnage of inner-city poverty, rusting factories, broken schools and the scourge of criminal gangs and drugs. Instead his presidency visited upon the nation the carnage of about 400,000 coronavirus deaths, the worst year for jobs since the second world war and the biggest stress test for American democracy since the civil war.He delivered, but not as he promised. Trump pledged to end the carnage of inner-city poverty, rusting factories, broken schools and the scourge of criminal gangs and drugs. Instead his presidency visited upon the nation the carnage of about 400,000 coronavirus deaths, the worst year for jobs since the second world war and the biggest stress test for American democracy since the civil war.
“It’s not just physical carnage,” said Moe Vela, a former White House official. “There’s also mental carnage and there’s spiritual carnage and there’s emotional carnage. He has left a very wide swath of American carnage and that is the last way I would want to be remembered by history, but that is how he will be remembered.”“It’s not just physical carnage,” said Moe Vela, a former White House official. “There’s also mental carnage and there’s spiritual carnage and there’s emotional carnage. He has left a very wide swath of American carnage and that is the last way I would want to be remembered by history, but that is how he will be remembered.”
Trump campaigned for president as a change agent but millions came to regard him as an agent of chaos. His line-crossing, envelope-pushing, wrecking-ball reign at the White House crashed in a fireball of lies about his election defeat and deadly insurrection at the US Capitol. Future generations of schoolchildren will read about him in textbooks as a twice-impeached one-term president.Trump campaigned for president as a change agent but millions came to regard him as an agent of chaos. His line-crossing, envelope-pushing, wrecking-ball reign at the White House crashed in a fireball of lies about his election defeat and deadly insurrection at the US Capitol. Future generations of schoolchildren will read about him in textbooks as a twice-impeached one-term president.
It all began in earnest in June 2015 when the property tycoon trundled down an escalator at Trump Tower in New York and announced a presidential run based on “America first” nationalism and building a border wall. Exploiting white grievance, economic dislocation and celebrity culture, he clinched the Republican nomination and promised: “I alone can fix it.” He lost the national popular vote to Hillary Clinton but lucked his way to victory in the electoral college.It all began in earnest in June 2015 when the property tycoon trundled down an escalator at Trump Tower in New York and announced a presidential run based on “America first” nationalism and building a border wall. Exploiting white grievance, economic dislocation and celebrity culture, he clinched the Republican nomination and promised: “I alone can fix it.” He lost the national popular vote to Hillary Clinton but lucked his way to victory in the electoral college.
The first person elected to the White House with no previous political or military experience, he represented a shock to the system and rebuke to the establishment.The first person elected to the White House with no previous political or military experience, he represented a shock to the system and rebuke to the establishment.
Read more of David Smith’s analysis of Donald Trump’s reign: Lights go out on Trump’s reality TV presidency but dark legacy remainsRead more of David Smith’s analysis of Donald Trump’s reign: Lights go out on Trump’s reality TV presidency but dark legacy remains
Welcome to our live coverage of US politics on the day before Joe Biden becomes president.Welcome to our live coverage of US politics on the day before Joe Biden becomes president.
It is Donald Trump’s last full day in office. At some point we are expecting around a hundred pardons from the president.It is Donald Trump’s last full day in office. At some point we are expecting around a hundred pardons from the president.
His administration haven’t slowed down – there will be a final deportation flight today, bound for Haiti with passengers including a man who is not a Haitian citizen, and who has never been there.His administration haven’t slowed down – there will be a final deportation flight today, bound for Haiti with passengers including a man who is not a Haitian citizen, and who has never been there.
Yesterday the US recorded 137,885 new Covid cases and 1,381 further deaths. That took the total caseload for the US over 24 million.Yesterday the US recorded 137,885 new Covid cases and 1,381 further deaths. That took the total caseload for the US over 24 million.
Experts predict 500,000 Americans will probably be killed by Covid-19 before the end of February, and perhaps before, in an acceleration of deaths expected to crest in March.Experts predict 500,000 Americans will probably be killed by Covid-19 before the end of February, and perhaps before, in an acceleration of deaths expected to crest in March.
Kamala Harris formally resigned from the US Senate. In an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle, she wrote: “This is not goodbye. As I resign from the Senate, I am preparing to take an oath that would have me preside over it.”Kamala Harris formally resigned from the US Senate. In an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle, she wrote: “This is not goodbye. As I resign from the Senate, I am preparing to take an oath that would have me preside over it.”
Thousands of military personnel guarding Joe Biden’s inauguration tomorrow are being vetted by the FBI amid fears of an insider attack.Thousands of military personnel guarding Joe Biden’s inauguration tomorrow are being vetted by the FBI amid fears of an insider attack.
Federal authorities have arrested a woman whose ex-partner says she took a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the riot at the US Capitol.Federal authorities have arrested a woman whose ex-partner says she took a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the riot at the US Capitol.
Donald Trump on Monday issued an executive order directing the building of a National Garden of American Heroes, “to reflect the awesome splendour of our country’s timeless exceptionalism”Donald Trump on Monday issued an executive order directing the building of a National Garden of American Heroes, “to reflect the awesome splendour of our country’s timeless exceptionalism”