WASHINGTON (ABC4 Utah) Donald Trump is scheduled to be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States Friday. Utahns will have big influence in the celebration.
Notable names attending include Governor Gary Herbert, Speaker of the House Greg Hughes and the two General Authorities from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
On the entertainment front, The Piano Guys and Mormon Tabernacle Choir are scheduled to perform. Utah’s Senior Senator Orrin Hatch, who is third in line to the presidency will also be prominently displayed.
The celebration begins Friday morning, but Thursday Utahns took the chance to mingle with members of our state’s congressional delegation. The reception was hosted in the House Oversight Committee. A few hundred people shuffled through. The feeling was optimistic as the clock ticks closer and closer to the inauguration.
Representatives Jason Chaffetz and Chris Stewart say they look forward to the next few years especially now that their party is in control of both chambers and the White House.
“So many of the people in the Trump Administration are people we know and that we have worked with. I don’t have to introduce ourselves, we already know them. From the Chief of Staff, to the Secretary of Interior, to the Secretary of Health and Human Services this is a really good thing for Utah,” said Chaffetz, R-Utah.
“I’m surprisingly optimistic. I think this is a moment like 1980, I really do. This isn’t George Bush in 2000, this is more like an opportunity with Ronald Reagan in 1980 where we really can change some things here in Washington,” said Stewart, R-Utah.
When asked if Chaffetz will use his position as Chair of the Oversight Committee to investigate the new president, he said in time it will be inevitable, but for now Trump hasn’t even taken the oath of office yet and there will be no investigation.
