Obama's inauguration set to be the most expensive in US history
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Wed 14 Jan 2009 11.46 EST
President Barack Obama's inauguration next week is set to be the most expensive ever, predicted to reach over
$150m (£102m). This dwarfs the $42.3m spent on George Bush's inauguration in 2005 and the $33m spent on Bill Clinton's in 1993.
Part of the spending includes emergency funding announced by the White House on Tuesday to help with the soaring costs. Most of this new federal funding will be to deal with the huge influx of people, estimated 1.5 million to 2 million. A White House statement said that President Bush "declared an emergency exists in the District of Columbia".
If there is snow, the costs will grow higher. The long-term forecast suggests there is a chance of snow on Sunday and again on the day of inauguration, on Tuesday.
Carole Florman, spokeswoman for the joint congressional committee on inaugural ceremonies, told the New York Daily News, which estimated the cost at $160m: "We're always very budget conscious. But we're sending a message to the entire world about our peaceful transition of power, and you don't want it to look like a schlock affair. It needs to be appropriate to the magnitude of events that it is."
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Biden's was less than 1/2 of Obama's 2009 one because most of it was "virtual" due to the pandemic -
Pfizer, unions, others donated $61.8 mln for Biden's inaugural
April 21, 20211 2:01 PM EDT Updated 4 years ago
WASHINGTON, April 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden raised
$61.8 million for his inauguration events, receiving large contributions from corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals, according to a financial disclosure.
The Democratic president's inaugural committee took in $1 million in contributions each from about 10 big companies, including Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), the maker of one of the COVID-19 vaccines being deployed in the United States, as well as from AT&T Services Inc (T.N), Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), and Boeing Co (BA.N).
Corporations making $1 million donations also included Uber Technologies Inc (UBER.N) Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), and Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O), according to the filing submitted on Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.
The committee also received $1 million from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, a major labor union.
About a dozen individuals donated $500,000 each, according to the filing.
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