Biden to attend Mass with congressional leaders

WASHINGTON (AP): Joe Biden will strike a unity theme before his inauguration as president on Wednesday by worshipping with Congress’ top four Republican and Democratic leaders.

The Democratic president-elect has talked throughout the campaign and the post-election period about his goal of uniting a sharply divided country.

Biden’s incoming chief of staff, Ron Klain, on Tuesday retweeted a post that said Biden had quietly extended invitations to Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and to Republicans Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy to accompany him to a Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral.

Spokespeople for Pelosi, Schumer, McConnell and McCarthy confirm they are accompanying Biden.

Sen. Chris Coons tells CNN the church service is “an important part of respecting tradition.”

Coons is a Democrat from Biden’s home state of Delaware. He says the service is a “reminder of who Joe is and who we are as a nation that’s hopeful and optimistic.”

When Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts leads President-elect Joe Biden in the oath of office, security will be unusually tight following the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, and inaugural events will be curtailed because of the coronavirus pandemic.