President-elect Joseph R. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris attended church service at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in northwest Washington, D.C., Wednesday morning before they are sworn into office at around noon.
They were joined by their spouses, incoming first lady Jill Biden and incoming second gentleman Doug Emhoff.
They were also joined by the top four congressional leaders: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
“His belief is that as a leader, you have to extend a hand,” incoming White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on CNN. “[It’s] important to him personally to have members of both parties with him this morning.”
Mr. McConnell and Mr. McCarthy chose to attend the service instead of seeing President Trump off at a departure event at Joint Base Andrews Wednesday morning.
Eschewing tradition, Mr. Trump is not attending Mr. Biden’s inauguration. Mr. Biden said he agrees with Mr. Trump’s decision to skip the event.
Neither Mr. Trump nor outgoing first lady Melania Trump hosted Mr. Biden or Mrs. Biden at the White House after the election — another traditional courtesy from the outgoing president and first lady — before jetting off to Florida for private life.
Ms. Psaki said Mr. Biden was unlikely to mention Mr. Trump in his inaugural address.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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