Donald Trump won’t be crowing about crowd size at his second inauguration. Barely more than 2,000 people will pack into the Capitol Rotunda for a cold-weather inaugural ceremony backup plan not seen since Ronald Reagan.
The call to move the swearing in and inaugural address indoors was made by the Trump team, but the pivot will have to be executed by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and hundreds of workers across Capitol Hill — who have less than 72 hours to pull off a huge pivot.
The have nots: Just a tiny fraction of committed Trump supporters who traveled to Washington will get to see the ceremonies in person. The rotunda crowd will mostly be comprised of lawmakers, other high-ranking officials and Trump’s family. In addition to disappointed ticket holders, a shout out to Republican staffers on Capitol Hill, who watched weeks of work on securing tickets for constituents collapse, with basically no members of the general public able to attend. Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) told constituents in Washington for the festivities to “stay tuned” to email and social media about viewing opportunities.
“The vast majority of ticketed guests will not be able to attend the ceremonies in person,” according to a statement from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. “While we know this is difficult for many attendees, we strongly suggest people who are in Washington for the event attend other indoor events at indoor venues of their choice to watch the inauguration.”
A memo from the House Sergeant at Arms sent to House offices Friday told them to “relay to constituents that their tickets will be commemorative,” with few exceptions.
All lawmakers are expected to be able to attend, though we know some Democrats were already planning not to go. Speaker Mike Johnson sent a memo saying that “updated guidance for members and spouses is forthcoming.”
The irony: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) — whom Trump nicknamed “snow woman” after she famously launched her presidential campaign in a snowstorm — is the chair of the JCCIC and will be tasked with overseeing the move to an indoor inauguration ceremony.
“We respect the decision of the president-elect and his team,” Klobuchar told us on Friday.
In the wake of Trump’s announcement, there was a flurry of activity in the rotunda on Friday. Architect of the Capitol workers assembled a stage platform and other preparations were clearly underway to move an outdoor event that workers started preparing for on Sept. 18 to an indoor setting in three days.
But there is precedent: Almost 40 years ago, during President Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985, a severe cold snap on the East Coast moved the event inside. The inaugural parade was also canceled and Reagan was sworn in from an absolutely packed rotunda. The last inauguration to be moved indoors before Reagan was 76 years earlier than that: William Taft in 1909, when a blizzard hit Washington the night before.
Then there’s the cautionary tale of William Henry Harrison, who is believed to have caught a cold during his chilly inauguration, where he gave a lengthy speech wearing no hat, gloves or coat. That led to pneumonia that was believed to have killed him a few weeks later. (Though, it was actually probably Washington’s lack of a sewer system at the time.)
The security posture on Capitol Hill will remain extremely heightened with miles of fencing and hundreds of law enforcement officers on hand. The two assassination attempts on Trump on the campaign trail last year loomed large as security preparations for the inauguration came together. But an indoor ceremony away from thousands of onlookers presents a significantly reduced threat to Trump — with a tightly controlled guest list.
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
