Story by Matthew Parks, Staff writer
Despite Hillary Clinton earning 2.8 million votes more than her opponent, Donald Trump won the 270 electoral college votes to grab hold of the presidency. On Saturday, he will officially become the 45th President of the United States.
The inauguration events will begin early Friday morning on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, with the inauguration ceremony taking place at noon EST on a specially-built stage capable of holding 1,600 people, according to the city of Washington’s official website.
The event will be covered by every major media network, and will be live streamed online on inaugural.senate.gov – the website of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.
Performers at the event include the Talladega Marching Tornadoes, the Rockettes, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Jackie Evancho, as well as invocations by six members of the clergy.
The event has drawn controversy from critics of the president-elect. Petitions have been aimed at the Rockettes, one of the performing teams, demanding that the Madison Square Garden Company not force team members to participate who don’t wish to.
Another petition has garnered more than 21,000 supporters against the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which is part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as many members of the church are in disagreement about the decision to let their group perform.
Trump has also drawn criticism in response to the lack of any major musicians or celebrities agreeing to perform, and for his decision to drop Charles Brotman as the inauguration announcer who has filled the role for the past 60 years.
In response to performance criticisms, Trump tweeted, “The so-called ‘A’ list celebrities are all wanting tixs to the inauguration, but look what they did for Hillary, NOTHING. I want the PEOPLE!”
Trump’s 100-day Plan
Trump proposed his initial 100-day plan during a campaign speech in October in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and later released it as a written “contract” to voters to show his commitment to the plan. He plans to carry out all of the proposed actions within his first 100 days of office.
Trump broke down his plan into three main categories: cleaning up Washington, protecting American workers and restoring rule of law.
- A proposed Constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all Congress members
- A hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce the federal workforce
- A requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated
- Renegotiate or withdraw from North American Free Trade Agreement
- Withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership
- Labeling China as a currency manipulator
- Lifting restrictions on the production of energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal
- Lift the roadblocks to allow infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward
- Cancel payments to U.N. climate change programs
- Canceling every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Barack Obama
- Replace Justice Antonin Scalia’s position in the Supreme Court
- Cancel all federal funding to ‘sanctuary cities’
- Remove illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back
- Suspend immigration from ‘terror-prone’ regions where vetting cannot safely occur – “All vetting of people coming into our country will be considered extreme vetting,” Trump said.
Click here for a comprehensive list of Trump’s 100-day plan.
Trump’s Cabinet Picks
Ben Carson: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
The former Republican candidate accepted Trump’s nomination after several months of deliberation. He has received criticism both for backing Trump, who attacked him with fairly-heated rhetoric during the primaries, and for his lack of experience in the area.
Andrew Puzder: Secretary of Labor
Puzder is the head of CKE Restaurants, which includes major chains such as Hardee’s and Carl Jr’s. He is a staunch opponent of minimum wage increases for employees.
Rex Tillerson: Secretary of State
Tillerson is currently the CEO of ExxonMobil and has no diplomatic or political experience. He has faced scrutiny over his possible ties to Russia and the Middle East. His time as head of a large oil company and the potential for restriction manipulation for personal gain are at the forefront of critics concern.
James Mattis: Secretary of Defense
“Mad Dog” Mattis is a former Marine Corps general, who is known for his outspoken style, tough policies towards the Middle East and self-proclaimed love of war. The appointment of Mattis will require a waiver from Congress since he retired from the military just three years ago.
Betsy DeVos: Secretary of Education
DeVos, billionaire and head of the American Federation for Children, backed Marco Rubio but accepted Trump’s nomination after he won the election. DeVos and her foundation are advocates for charter schools and school vouchers.