The swearing-in of the president and vice president at Monday’s Inauguration Ceremony will bring together top members of the three branches of government in an unusual show of national unity and tradition. New players taking the oath and perhaps some funny hats will also be an integral part of the ceremony.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh will continue a nearly 240-year-old tradition of administering the oath to President-elect Trump and his number two, J.D. Vance. The other seven members of the high court are expected to attend the event in the Capitol Rotunda, all in their vestments.
Whatever your political differences may be, they will not be exposed at this most heartfelt and dignified ceremony. After all, the first person the president will thank is probably the chief justice. But an undercurrent of tension remains.
During his first bid for high office in 2016, candidate Trump took the unusual step of attacking federal law enforcement officials, labeling Roberts an “absolute disaster” among other personal insults. . This will be the “Secretary’s” fifth presidential oath, and the second with Trump.
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President-elect Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)
Kavanaugh’s choice is not surprising. The incoming second lady, Usha Vance, clerked for Kavanaugh when he was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington.
She then took a prestigious law clerkship on the Supreme Court with Roberts. Mr. Kavanaugh particularly encouraged his colleagues currently on the bench to consider Usha Vance for the job, according to people familiar with the matter.
Usha Vance said in an August interview on “Fox & Friends” that Kavanaugh was a “very good boss” and a “decent guy” who “hired people from all political walks of life.” .
“My experience working for him was overwhelmingly positive,” she added.
Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Clarence Thomas are among recent justices who have held similar vice presidential oaths.
Typically, the chief justice administers the oath to the president, but a broader range of officials now assume the role of vice president. Then-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert swore Vice President Dick Cheney into office in 2005.
Thomas was honored in 2017 when Mike Pence became Trump’s vice president during his first term.
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justice has been served
Article VI of the Constitution requires executive officers, including the president, members of Congress, and federal judges to be “bound by oath or affirmation,” but it does not require Supreme Court justices to administer it. do not have. When it comes to presidential inaugurations, that’s almost always the case.
When George Washington took his first oath of office in 1789, the Supreme Court had not yet been established, so New York state’s highest-ranking justices held prestigious trials at Federal Hall on Wall Street. Four years later, Associate Justice William Cushing was sworn in for a second term in Washington, beginning a Supreme Court tradition.
Early oaths were usually taken in the House or Senate chambers. The 1817 inaugural ceremony was held outdoors for the first time, with James Monroe taking the oath in front of the Old Brick Capitol Building. This building was the temporary location of Congress after the original House of Parliament was burned by invading British troops during the War of 1812. This location currently houses the Supreme Court, which opened in 1935.
More than 200 years ago, that mission was carried out by John Marshall, widely considered the most influential chief justice in U.S. history. He took part in a record nine oaths, from Thomas Jefferson to Andrew Jackson. This will be Roberts’ fifth time.
The Constitution sets out the exact words to be used in the 34-word oath of office. “I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and do everything in my power to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” ”
Many judges added four little words: “So help me, God.” Unlike other federal oaths that invoke this language as standard procedure, it is not legally or constitutionally required. Historians disagree as to whether President Washington set a precedent by adding the phrase himself at the time of the original acceptance, but modern accounts make no mention of such an ad-lib.
Abraham Lincoln was reported to have spontaneously said the phrase in 1861, and other presidents have followed suit over the years. The Bible is traditionally used, with presidents placing one hand on the Bible and raising the other hand during the oath of office.
The 16th president and Chief Justice Roger Taney shared a mutual animosity. When the oath was taken just days before the outbreak of the Civil War, many who attended the ceremony noticed the frosty demeanor the two men displayed toward each other, appropriate for the late winter chill. Historians say President Lincoln secretly issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Taney later that year after he tried to block the president’s suspension of the writ of habeas corpus during the conflict. The warrant was never served.
President Barack Obama twice used Lincoln’s Bible for his oath of office.
President Trump is expected to use the Lincoln Bible and home Bible again.
Donald Trump takes the oath of office while placing his hand on a Bible in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2017. (Andrew Haller/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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understand correctly
Roberts, who took his first presidential oath in 2009, slightly deviated from its text and was re-sworn for protective purposes in a private ceremony at the White House the following day.
The ceremony held at the Capitol on January 20 was also long, with the presidential oath not completed until five minutes after noon. Nevertheless, under the 20th Amendment, Mr. Obama was officially sworn in as president at noon.
At the time, California atheist Michael Newdeau objected and sued in federal court to prevent Roberts from urging President Obama to repeat the phrase, “So help me God.” Newdeau, along with several secular groups, argued that the term violates the Constitution’s prohibition on government “recognition” of religion.
The high court ultimately dismissed the case, and no such legal challenge is expected this time.
Four years later, in 2013, Justice Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as vice president for Biden’s second term. She was once again asked to perform the honor by Vice President Harris, and the first female vice president cited the fact that both women had previously served as government prosecutors.
“This is very humbling to me,” Pence said at the time, referring to late President Ronald Reagan’s family Bible. “We are approaching it prayerfully, but I am deeply grateful for the confidence and deep gratitude of the president-elect.” “I’m embracing it,” he said. Thank you to the American people. ”
Trump also broke with tradition four years ago by not attending his successor’s swearing-in ceremony.
Lyndon Johnson’s swearing-in in 1965 marked a change from tradition. His wife Claudia, known as Lady Bird, was the Bible clerk previously held by the Clerk of the High Court. Spouses have since enjoyed the honor, with Melania Trump and Usha Vance expected to continue in their roles.
Let’s hope that the foolish act of 1941, when then-Secretary Elmore Cropley threw out the Bible shortly after Franklin Roosevelt took the oath of office for his third term as president, will not strike a nerve and repeat.
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what to wear and what to say
Spotting justices at inauguration ceremonies is typically not difficult, as they are largely shielded from public view in courtrooms where cameras are prohibited. They are announced as a group, arrive wearing black robes (usually covering bulky winter coats), and are given prominent seats on a specially erected platform on the West Front of the Capitol.
Until Marshall took over the court in 1801, judges wore red robes with fur trim and white wigs in all public appearances. His habit of wearing a simple black silk robe without a wig remains an American judicial standard.
And if you have any doubts about their identity, look for the unusual-looking hats that several judges may be wearing. Large black “skullcaps” have no brim and are made of wool, silk, or even nylon. Perhaps to avoid looking like a Jewish yarmulke, the hats are usually ruffled upwards, which one federal judge said on Fox News made it look like he was wearing a dirty napkin. Officially speaking.
Given that the inauguration ceremony will be held indoors this year due to the frigid weather expected, skull caps may be put on the back burner.
Donald Trump takes the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts in Washington, DC, January 20, 2017 (Joe Radle/Getty Images)
It has been used at the English court since the 16th century, and in the United States for at least a century. Only judges wear it, and only at formal ceremonies, not in court.
Official records on the hat are hazy, but Chief Justice Edward White proudly wore it in 1913, when Woodrow Wilson became president. The “skullcap era” reached its peak in 1961, when seven of the nine justices wore skullcaps at President John F. Kennedy’s frigid inauguration.
Previously worn by Thomas, Anthony Kennedy and the late Antonin Scalia, only now-retired Justice Stephen Breyer had the courage to wear one. Of the six current and former female judges, none have ever used the system.
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Several years ago, Mr. Scalia told an audience why he liked skull caps. “If you’ve ever seen the inauguration, you’ll see me wearing an old hat that judges used to wear. It’s a silly looking hat, but it’s a tradition. Yes, it looks silly.”
Scalia’s headgear was a replica of one worn by St. Thomas More, a gift from the St. Thomas More Society of Richmond, Virginia.
The late Chief Justice William Rehnquist naturally embraced these, given his role as an unofficial historian of court procedure and tradition.
Despite suffering from thyroid cancer in 2005, he made one of the most dramatic appearances in presidential history. There was some speculation that he would not be able to attend due to poor health, but he promised those involved that he would attend and kept his promise.
The ailing 81-year-old chief, who had been away from public life for three months while undergoing chemotherapy, was introduced to the audience just before President George W. Bush took the oath of office. Rehnquist performed the honor by walking slowly, unaided, to the podium while using a cane and wearing a dark baseball cap. His voice was clear but raspy because he had an endotracheal tube in his throat and was hidden by a scarf.
Mr. Rehnquist then wished Mr. Bush well and was quickly escorted out of the cold.
Mr. Rehnquist also served as President Bill Clinton eight years ago. Unbeknownst to Clinton or the public, the justices had held a secret vote on Clinton v. Jones just days earlier. The ruling ruled that the president cannot refuse to testify in the ongoing civil lawsuit against Paula Jones, who alleges sexual harassment. This set in motion a chain of events that led to Clinton’s 1999 impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate, with Rehnquist himself presiding, without the skull cap.
Shannon Bream currently anchors FOX News Sunday. She joined the network in 2007 as a Washington, DC-based correspondent covering the Supreme Court.
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