If you plan to watch Donald Trump get sworn in, look for Alaska Congressman Don Young on your screen. The Congressman said he’ll likely have a high-profile seat.
“If everything works out.,” Young said. “It goes on seniority. And I’ll be up there, right next to the president. Or right behind him as he gives his speech.”
Both of Alaska’s senators will also attend.
Young will be witnessing his tenth inauguration. Since 1973, when he took office, Young has missed just one presidential swearing-in: Ronald Reagan’s second.
“It’s always a marvel to me that you can transfer power, as large and as powerful as this country is, from one to another person, with a lot of civility and a positive direction,” Young said. “Now some people don’t say that’s going to happen this time. I think it will. The American people are better than that.”
But there is some pre-transfer discord. Young’s moving up a place in the seating hierarchy because the only House member more senior to him, Democrat John Conyers of Michigan, is skipping the ceremony in protest. Conyers announced he’s not attending after Trump tweeted harshly about another congressman, civil rights legend John Lewis. The Washington Post reports that at least 60 Democratic House members have announced they’re not going.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
