Joe Biden inauguration LIVE: Biden signs 17 orders to undo Trump's legacy

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris take oath: Trump departs White House, leaves a letter for Joe Biden. Stay tuned for US President inauguration live updates

5:43 AM

Intel chief first Biden nominee to get Senate approval

5:42 AM

The time to move forward is now: President Biden

5:38 AM

US President Joe Biden signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House

US President Joe Biden signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, after his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States

US President Joe Biden signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, after his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States

5:37 AM

In pictures: Joe Biden's inauguration

President Joe Biden greets Lady Gaga during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol, in Washington

Former President Barack Obama greets Vice President-elect Kamala Harris ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration,

Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington

Kamala Harris is sworn in as vice president by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as her husband Doug Emhoff holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington

Vice President Kamala Harris bumps fists with President-elect Joe Biden after she was sworn in during the inauguration

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, right, applauds as President-elect Joe Biden arrives for the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington

Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington

US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk toward the North Portico of the White House, in Washington

3:58 AM

President Biden says Trump wrote him a very generous letter

US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that former President Donald Trump wrote a very generous letter to him.
 

"The president wrote a very generous letter," Biden told reporters at the White House. "Because it was private, I won't talk about it until I talk to him. But it was generous."

3:58 AM

With passion and fashion, Lady Gaga delivers powerful anthem

A full-throated, supremely confident Lady Gaga belted out the national anthem at President Joe Biden's inauguration in a very Gaga way — with flamboyance, fashion and passion.
 

The Grammy winner wore a large dove pin and an impressively billowing red sculpted skirt as she sang into a golden microphone, delivering an emotional and powerful rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” She was followed at Wednesday's ceremony by Jennifer Lopez, dressed all in white, with a moving medley of “This Land is Your Land” and “America the Beautiful,” throwing in a line in Spanish.
 

And country star Garth Brooks, doffing his black cowboy hat, sang a gospel-tinged, soulful a capella rendition of “Amazing Grace,” his eyes closed for much of the song. He asked the audience to sing a verse with him: “Not just the people here, but the people at home, to work as one united.” Leaving the podium, he donned his cowboy hat again, shook hands and hugged former President Barack Obama.
 

The three superstars were among a slew of glittery celebrities descending on Washington — virtually or in person — to welcome the new administration of Biden and Kamala Harris, a duo popular in Hollywood, where former President Donald Trump was decidedly not.
 

But Brooks was careful to call his decision to perform on Wednesday non-political, and in the spirit of unity. Brooks performed during the inaugural celebration of Obama in 2009, but turned down a chance to play for Trump in 2017, citing a scheduling conflict.

Lady Gaga sings the National Anthem during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington

 

3:55 AM

Trump global broadcasting chief quits amid VOA staff

Former President Donald Trump's hand-picked chief of US international broadcasting has quit amid a burgeoning staff revolt and growing calls for his resignation.
 

Michael Pack resigned as the chief executive office of the US Agency for Global Media just minutes after President Joe Biden was inaugurated on Wednesday. The agency runs the Voice of America and sister networks.
 

Pack had created a furor when he took over the agency last year and fired the boards of all the outlets under his control along with the leadership of the individual broadcast networks.
 

The actions were criticised as threatening the broadcasters' prized editorial independence.
 

Biden had been expected to make major changes to the agency's structure and management but Pack's early departure signaled those may be coming sooner rather than later.
 

Though many presidential appointees resign when a new administration comes in, Pack was not required to so. His position was created by Congress is not limited by the length of a particular administration.
 

In resigning, Pack cited the incoming administration's desire for new leadership at the agency.
 

3:48 AM

Biden takes sweeping Day One action on energy, climate, immigration

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday began signing 15 executive actions addressing the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and racial inequality, and undoing some policies put in place by his predecessor Donald Trump.
 

The actions, fulfilling his promise to move quickly on Day One of his presidency, initiate the process of the United States rejoining the Paris climate accord and include the revocation of the presidential permit granted for the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline.
 

The steps Biden is taking will end a travel ban Trump put in place on some majority-Muslim countries. He is also calling upon his administration to strengthen the DACA program for immigrants brought to the United States as children.
 

The new president is also ordering the wearing of masks and social distancing in all federal buildings and on all federal lands and is ending a national emergency declaration that was the basis for diverting some federal funds to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.

Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington

 

2:44 AM

Biden hugs First Lady Jill Biden as they arrive at the White House

2:41 AM

Amazon offers to help Biden administration with vaccinations

Amazon.com Inc. is offering to help the Biden administration accelerate the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, including to its own employees.
 

In a letter dated Wednesday, Dave Clark, the incoming chief executive officer of Amazon’s retail unit, offered his congratulations to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. He reiterated a request Amazon made to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month asking that the company’s more than 800,000 US frontline workers receive vaccines at the “earliest appropriate time.”
 

Clark said Amazon has a contract with an occupational health provider to administer vaccines at its facilities. “We are prepared to move quickly once vaccines are available,” he wrote.
 

Reuters reported on the letter earlier Wednesday.
 

“Additionally, we are prepared to leverage our operations, information technology and communications capabilities and exerptise to assist your administration’s vaccination efforts,” Clark went on. “Our scale allows us to make a meaningful impact immediately” in the fight against the disease, he wrote.
 

2:14 AM

'We must end this uncivil war,' Biden says, taking over a US in crisis

Joe Biden was sworn in as president of the United States on Wednesday, offering a message of unity and restoration to a deeply divided country reeling from a battered economy and a raging coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 400,000 Americans.
 

Standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol two weeks after a mob of then-President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the building, Biden called for a return to civic decency in an inaugural address marking the end of Trump's tempestuous four-year term.
 

"To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America, requires so much more than words.
 

It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity," Biden, a Democrat, said after taking the oath of office.
 

"We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this - if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts." The themes of Biden's 21-minute speech mirrored those he had put at the center of his presidential campaign, when he portrayed himself as an empathetic alternative to the divisive Trump, a Republican.  Read more
 

 

12:53 AM

Empty streets, thousands of troops in Washington as Biden becomes US president

Joe Biden became the 46th US president on Wednesday in a barricaded city, guarded by more than 25,000 troops and emptied of the spectators who usually throng to the quadrennial ritual. The unprecedented precautions, which fenced off much of downtown Washington, ensured that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took their oaths of office at 11:48 a.m. EST free of incident. Some right-wing extremist groups had vowed to disrupt Biden's inauguration in the wake of a Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol that left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer. 

12:51 AM

Rahul Gandhi congratulates US President Joe Biden

12:50 AM

Israel PM Netanyahu congratulates US President Joe Biden on his inauguration

12:50 AM

Joe Biden takes over @POTUS Twitter account after inauguration

Joe Biden on Wednesday took over the official @POTUS Twitter account of the President of the United States after his inauguration.

 

The 78-year-old veteran Democratic leader's Twitter account @PresElectBiden transformed into @POTUS after he took the oath of office at the West Front of the US Capitol as the 46th President of the United States in a historic but scaled down ceremony under the unprecedented security umbrella of thousands of security personnel.

 

POTUS is the official acronym for President of the United States; FLOTUS refers to the First Lady.

 

Twitter transferred institutional accounts such as @POTUS, @FLOTUS, @VP and @WhiteHouse to the Biden administration after the inauguration.