DC seeks funds for Joe Biden's inauguration as Donald Trump's swearing-in bills still remain unpaid: Report
The Congress typically provides money to Washington DC to manage the security and other operations that are required for staging the inauguration of the incoming president. The events generally include handling of people on the National Mall, conducting a city-wide parade and other programs. The US is set for yet another presidential inauguration next month and this time, the DC is requesting the Congress for cash to handle the event because it has run out of emergency funds.
The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, December 15, that despite a moderate crowd (Trump's team though claimed it was huge) attending the inauguration ceremony of President Donald Trump in 2017, the swearing-in cost $7 million more than what Trump or the Congress paid and the city managed it from its emergency funds hoping that the Congress would reimburse it. The bills are still left impending.
“That funding hole has only grown over the past four years as the city routinely spent more money than Congress had appropriated to manage national events and demonstrations,” the report said.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, wrote to President-elect Joe Biden explaining that “the use of local revenue to cover expenses related to protecting the federal presence severely limits our ability to fund necessary support for our residents and businesses as we face what are anticipated to be dire winter months,” the Post report added.
Trump reportedly known for not paying campaign bills
Trump is apparently also known for not paying his campaign bills. In November end, Newsweek reported that several cities across the country still owed payments from the outgoing president’s campaign for the rallies he held. The impending bill is totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The city of El Paso, Texas, for example sought to hire outside legal counsel to get back more than $500,000 from Trump’s team to cover the security and other costs from a rally that was held there in February 2019. Despite raising millions for the presidential election, the incumbent still owes more than $2 million in unpaid security bills to cities in states like Michigan, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Arizona, Pennsylvania and others.
“I fully expect them to stiff Greensburg and Westmoreland County taxpayers with the bill for this rally,” Pennsylvania’s Democratic state Representative Austin Davis said about a rally in his city. According to the Business Insider, “Trump’s excuse is that his campaign isn’t legally required to pay,” because he said the Secret Service bears the responsibility to pay.
In fact, Trump has reportedly not cleared the dues that date back to January 2016 when he was a year away from becoming the president. The Newsweek report cited the city of Burlington in Vermont confirming that Trump’s team is yet to settle $8,464.27 they are owed from a campaign rally he held there in January 2016.
“Mr Trump's failure to cooperate with local law enforcement officials and lack of communication with the public and ticketholders put undue strain on the City's police, and unnecessarily hurt downtown businesses,” Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said in June 2016. Biden is set to take oath as the 46th president of the US on January 20 even though Trump is yet to concede that he has lost the November 3 presidential election, alleging a massive electoral fraud stole the poll from him.