'Celebrating America' Inauguration Special

NEXT UP:

• 8:30 p.m. ET – Tom Hanks hosts a 90-minute special featuring remarks by Biden and Harris and performances by Demi Lovato, Justin Timberlake, Ant Clemons, Jon Bon Jovi, and others.
• 8:48 p.m. ET: Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris deliver remarks at the “Celebrating America” inaugural program.
• 9:55 p.m. ET: Biden and the first lady will appear on the White House's Blue Room balcony.

Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday in a ceremony that will honor tradition while also being unlike any transfer-of-power in history.

Same as before: pomp, circumstance, parades, former presidents, A-list performers, parades, and a tribute to troops.

Break from tradition: The above will take place before a small, socially-distanced audience in a District of Colombia locked down from the double-threats of the COVID-19 pandemic and possible domestic terrorism after the deadly riots at the Capitol.

Most of Congress and the Supreme Court and Vice President Mike Pence are expected to be in attendance. They'll be joined by former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton and former first ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, and Hillary Clinton. Jimmy Carter - the country's oldest living former president, at 96 - and former first lady Rosalynn Carter won't make the festivities, but have sent their "best wishes."

President Donald Trump will not be in attendance. This makes Trump the first president to skip his successor's inauguration since Andrew Johnson in 1869.

The Inauguration Day & Night schedule

• 11 a.m. – Joe Biden arrives at the U.S. Capitol.
• 11:15 a.m. – The inauguration program begins.
• Invocation – Father Leo J. O'Donovan leads
• Pledge of Allegiance – Delivered by Andrea Hall
• National Anthem – Lady Gaga sings
• Poetry Reading – Amanda Gorman, who became the country's first Youth Poet Laureate in 2017, will read a poem she wrote for the occasion entitled "The Hill We Climb."
• Musical Performance – Jennifer Lopez does what she does
• 12 p.m. – Biden is sworn in as 46th president.
• 2:30 to 3p.m. – Biden lays a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, President George W. Bush and Laura Bush and President Bill Clinton and Secretary Hillary Clinton.
• 3:15 to 3:30 p.m. – Joe and Jill Biden receive a presidential military escort to the White House.
• TBD – The virtual "Parade Across America" commences once the Bidens enter the White House.
• 8:30 p.m. – Tom Hanks hosts a 90-minute special featuring remarks by Biden and Harris and performances by Demi Lovato, Justin Timberlake, Ant Clemons, Jon Bon Jovi, and others.

-Josh Herman