Jill Biden is bringing a new focus to the cause of supporting America's military families.

(David Tulis/Pool Photo via AP)NEW YORK – After Air Force One took Donald Trump out of Washington, an unusual Inauguration Day quickly felt more traditional — even comforting — for people watching at home. "What we're seeing today is an ejection of insurrection.”Trump skipped the inauguration of his successor, the first president to break that tradition since 1869. “If Democrats need thousands of troops to occupy the Capitol on Inauguration Day, then it seems possible that their candidate wasn't actually elected by the people,” Sharp said. “He said that there is truth and there are lies, lies that are told for power and lies that are told for profit,” Wallace said. The Washington Post updated its count of lies and misstatements by Trump: 30,534 heading into his last day as president.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON – Days before Joe Biden becomes president, incoming first lady Jill Biden is taking a step toward fulfilling a campaign promise to revive a support program for military families that she once led with former first lady Michelle Obama. Jill Biden on Thursday was naming an executive director of that program, known as Joining Forces. Rory Brosius, 37, is on the president-elect's transition team and was a senior adviser to Jill Biden during the campaign. “Military families still needed support,” Brosius told The Associated Press in a telephone interview before she was to join Jill Biden for a virtual listening session with organizations that support military families. Jill Biden continued her work with military families through the Biden Foundation after leaving the White House in 2017.

The Pentagon has authorized nearly 50 top civilian and military leaders to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the coming weeks to prove to the shots are safe and effective. Indoor restaurant dining will continue to be barred under the new state health department order that takes effect Monday. Laura Kelly is expressing little concern over a smaller-than-expected second shipment of a coronavirus vaccine for the state. The state also reported total 2,341 COVID-19 deaths, adding 88 to the tally since Wednesday. ___BERN — The Swiss government is ordering the closure of restaurants, bars, cultural venues and sports facilities next week because of increasing coronavirus cases.

Vice President Mike Pence receives a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shot at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, in Washington. Conspicuously absent: President Donald Trump, who has remained largely out of sight five days into the largest vaccination campaign in the nation’s history. Trump did appear at a White House “summit” ahead of the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the Pfizer vaccine last week. “Don’t let Joe Biden take credit for the vaccines,” Trump has told reporters. “It simply isn’t good enough to have Vice President Pence as a proxy."

Trump's appearance at the annual Veterans Day commemoration at Arlington National Cemetery was his first public outing for official business in more than a week. Staff working from the White House thinned out after chief of staff Mark Meadows confirmed last week that he had tested positive for the virus. Outside the White House, one prominent former ally turned Trump critic warned that the president was doing potentially irreparable damage to the Republican Party. White House spokesman Judd Deere said he was “not aware” of any communications between the White House and the GSA administrator on ascertainment. The Biden transition team has published an ethics plan and the Trump administration earlier established a White House Transition Coordinating Council as required by law.

The vice president had a shout-out for supporters who braved what he called “this night of tempest, to stand in the rain and stand firm” for Trump. He and first lady Melania Trump wrapped up the busy weekend by hosting costumed children for a socially distanced Halloween trick-or-treating on the White House grounds. “It’s one standard for the vice president and another for all the rest of us," Gostin said. Trump, campaigning in Londonderry, New Hampshire, said the rising rate of infections was nothing to be concerned about. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation areas,” Meadows said on CNN.

Vice President Mike Pence arrives for the vice presidential debate Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, at Kingsbury Hall on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Trump and Biden are scheduled to debate again on Oct. 15, though the status of that meeting is unclear. Harris, 55, made history by becoming the first Black woman to stand on a vice presidential debate stage. “I want everyone to know who puts on the uniform of law enforcement every day, President Trump and I stand with you,” Pence said. Though the night was about Pence and Harris, the men at the top of the ticket also made their presence known.

(AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool)SALT LAKE CITY – There were three participants in the vice presidential debate: Republican Mike Pence, Democrat Kamala Harris and the plexiglass between them. Sen. Harris' team requested plexiglass be used after President Donald Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19 shortly after his first presidential debate against Democrat Joe Biden last week in Cleveland. Other reminders that these are not normal times for a vice presidential debate: 20 chairs for guests were spaced roughly 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart in the debate hall, a performing arts center on the University of Utah campus. Pence’s guests in the debate hall were meant to convey a “law and order” message that has been a centerpiece of the Trump campaign. Before the debate, dozens of Trump and Pence supporters stood on the street outside waving flags and chanting, some holding anti-abortion signs.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)WASHINGTON – The Latest on President Donald Trump testing positive for the coronavirus and being hospitalized (all times EDT):12:10 a.m.President Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, has tested positive for the coronavirus. Conway attended the Rose Garden announcement Saturday where President Donald Trump announced his nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. He issued the statement as President Donald Trump was being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for the same illness. ___6 p.m.Joe Biden’s campaign is taking down its attack ads in the wake of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus infection. ___11:55 a.m.First lady Melania Trump says she is experiencing “mild symptoms” after she and President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19.

Vice President Mike Pence arrives with his wife Karen Pence to speak on the third day of the Republican National Convention at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON Republicans proceeded with the third night of their national convention, but many Americans particularly those in the path of Hurricane Laura were focused on more immediate concerns. Joe Biden said America is systemically racist, Pence said, criticizing the Democratic challenger as soft on crime. CRISES DRAIN CONVENTION ATTENTIONA political convention is the most scripted, tightly controllable of events, especially when it is mostly virtual and much of it is prerecorded. ANOTHER SPEAKER DOESNT MAKE THE SHOWFor the second consecutive night, Trumps campaign was forced to reshuffle its speaking lineup just hours before the prime-time program began.

Pence, whose future political aspirations could hinge on November, has campaigned aggressively for the president. Pence has helped steer the White House response to the coronavirus, leading a task force and frequently working with the nations governors. The GOP convention has mentioned the virus far less than Democrats did last week, but Pence could throw it back into focus if he speaks about the work hes led. Conway, whose husband has become an outspoken Trump critic, says she is stepping away to spend more time with her family. Clarence Henderson, a civil rights activist from the 1960s, is expected to speak on the true meaning of peaceful protest."

The 2020 Republican National Convention continues Wednesday. The program is expected to start at 8:30 p.m.Vice President Mike Pence will speak at the conclusion of the nights program. Other notable speeches include Second Lady Karen Pence, Kellyanne Conway and Lara Trump. Heres a list of Wednesday nights speakers, not in order of appearance:

President Donald Trump speaks with Terry Sharpe, known as the "Walking Marine" as he arrives to the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 27, 2020. Sharpe has walked from Summerfield, N.C., to Washington to raise awareness of the current veteran suicide rate. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Monday welcomed a Marine veteran to the White House as he completed his 300-mile walk to the nation's capital to raise awareness about the problem of veteran suicide. In 2017, the suicide rate for veterans was 1.5 times the rate for non-veteran adults, after adjusting for population, according to the 2019 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report. Sharpe, along with fellow veteran Allen Brown, completed their first 300-mile walk to the White House in 2014.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)WASHINGTON The federal government launched a broad national campaign Tuesday aimed at reducing high suicide rates, urging the public to reach out to others, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, and acknowledge daily stresses in people's lives. Known as REACH, the government campaign is the core part of a $53 million, two-year effort announced by President Donald Trump to reduce suicide, particularly among veterans. With the coronavirus still raging across communities, officials expressed hope that the message of suicide prevention can aid the public more widely, not just veterans. The website offers information on risk factors for suicide and ways people can get help. By having this conversation, we will save lives, said Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, executive director of the suicide prevention effort.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is unveiling a long-awaited national plan Wednesday to stem a persistently high number of veteran suicides, with wide-ranging initiatives from firearm safety and wellness programs at workplaces to added barriers near railroads and bridges. Still, it remained unclear how much of the plan could result in immediate concrete action, especially in a presidential election year. Much of the effort will need congressional action as well as cooperation from governors and local groups juggling priorities of public safety and health in a pandemic. Currently, about 20 veterans die by suicide each day, about 1.5 times higher than those who havent served in the military. In particular, younger veterans and women generally were more skeptical of Trump, who received multiple draft deferments to avoid going to Vietnam.