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

9:34 PM

Joe Biden inauguration LIVE updates: Mike Pence left a note for Kamala Harris, reports CNN

Outgoing Vice-President Mike Pence left a letter for his successor Kamala Harris, according to the CNN. Trump too has left a note for Biden at White House. 

9:32 PM

Keep doing what you do without bothered by others: Kamala Harris' uncle

9:30 PM

Top Congress leaders attend Mass ahead of inauguration

Joe Biden, who will become the second Catholic to be the US President after John F. Kennedy, attended mass at the Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle on Wednesday, ahead of his inauguration.

 

In a show of unity, the Bidens, and Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff, were joined by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, House of Representatives Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, as well a Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer.

 

"Through all the activity of this wonderful day, we quiet ourselves, and ground ourselves," the priest said at the Mass.

9:24 PM

Joe Biden thanks wife Jill ahead of swearing-in ceremony

9:22 PM

LIVE updates: Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives at the US Capitol for Joe Biden's inauguration

Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives for Joe Biden's inauguration. 

9:14 PM

Inauguration Day LIVE updates: Joe Biden, Kamala Harris arrive at US Capitol to take oath

9:05 PM

I’m here today because of the women who came before me: Kamala Harris

9:01 PM

Inauguration Day LIVE updates: Joe Biden, Kamala Harris arrive at US Capitol

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris arrived at the US Capitol for the inauguration. Congressional leaders greet them.

8:50 PM

LIVE: VIPs arrive at US Capitol for Biden inauguration

VIPs including the Obamas, Clintons and Mike Pence have arrived for Biden's inauguration. "This is your day" Obama told Biden ahead of the inauguration, according to multiple reports in US media.

8:42 PM

In one of his final official acts as president, Trump pardoned 73 people including Steve Bannon

8:06 PM

It’s a new day in America, tweets Biden

8:03 PM

Ex-boyfriend of deported Russian agent pardoned by Trump

Paul Erickson, a former conservative operative once romantically linked to Russian agent Maria Butina who was convicted in investment schemes, has been pardoned by President Donald Trump as part of a flurry of clemency action in the final hours of his White House term.

 

A White House statement early Wednesday said that Erickson's conviction was based off the Russian collusion hoax, even though Erickson was convicted in schemes that had nothing to do with Butina or Russia. Butina was deported in 2019 after serving time for failing to register as a foreign agent.

 

Erickson, of Sioux Falls, was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2020 for defrauding investors in a proposal to develop land in the North Dakota Bakken oil field by persuading people to buy real estate and build single-family homes.

8:00 PM

Biden to revoke Keystone XL pipeline permit after swearing-in

US President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday will revoke the presidential permit needed to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline, one of 15 executive actions he will undertake after being sworn into office, aides said, dashing Ottawa's hopes of a last-minute change of heart.

 

Biden will sign executive orders and memorandums to address the "crises" of the pandemic, climate change and racial inequity, said incoming press secretary Jen Psaki.

 

Keystone XL, owned by TC Energy Corp, is already under construction in Canada, and would carry 830,000 barrels per day of Alberta oil sands crude to Nebraska. Opposition from US landowners, Native American tribes and environmentalists has delayed the project for the past 12 years, but outgoing Republican President Donald Trump had revived the project.

7:44 PM

Bidens attend mass in Washington with Congress leaders

7:39 PM

LIVE: Outgoing President Trump left a letter at the White House for Joe Biden

President Trump reportedly left a letter at the White House for President-elect Joe Biden. After leaving the White House for one final time, Trump wished good luck for Biden administration and said, he will be back in some form or the other.

President Donald Trump speaking in the East Room of the White House in Washington. File Photo: Reuters