--- title: One Week to Inauguration description: Inauguration Day is one week away and there is a flurry of activity from both the incoming and outgoing administrations. canonical: https://time.com/4634340/one-week-to-inauguration/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-13T16:05:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:43:08.171Z article:section: Politics og:title: One Week to Inauguration og:description: Inauguration Day is one week away and there is a flurry of activity from both the incoming and outgoing administrations. og:url: https://time.com/4634340/one-week-to-inauguration/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: One Week to Inauguration twitter:description: Inauguration Day is one week away and there is a flurry of activity from both the incoming and outgoing administrations. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # One Week to Inauguration > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jan 13, 2017 4:05 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jan 13, 2017 4:05 PM UTC Inauguration Day is one week away and there is a flurry of activity among both the incoming and outgoing administrations. The Obama Administration Thursday announced the end of the “wet foot, dry foot” policy for Cuban migrants, but maintained a humanitarian exception. It marks the latest, and likely final, step in Obama’s rapprochement with Cuba—and one that has an uncertain legacy under the Trump administration. Also Thursday, in a moment created for GIFs and aviator jokes, Obama surprised Vice President Joe Biden with a Presidential Medal of Freedom in an emotional ceremony in the East Room. Biden was told the event was a toast to staff, and entered to see close family and friends from his long career in Washington. Mid-way through his speech, Obama summoned a military aide to present the medal, surprising even some of the White House staffers organizing the event. Obama had personally orchestrated the surprise with a handful of aides. President-elect Donald Trump is at work filling out the rest of his West Wing team, with aides saying they hope to have most jobs filled by January 20th. A flurry of personnel announcements are expected in the coming days. Meanwhile, his Cabinet nominees are facing a grilling on Capitol Hill—and in several key instances are creating distance between themselves and some of Trump’s most controversial policy positions. Gen. John Kelly, his nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security, came out against a Muslim ban or registry, and Gen. James Mattis, his nominee to head the Pentagon, took a tough tone on Russia, just to name a few. The GOP threatens to investigate the top government ethics official. Biden says he was briefed on unsubstantiated allegations against Trump. And Dreamers face uncertain future after confirmation hearings. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [How Donald Trump’s Cabinet Nominees Contradicted Him ](http://time.com/4632952/donald-trump-cabinet-confirmation-hearings-splits/)TIME’s Tessa Berenson on how his nominees have broken with the president-elect [Joe Biden: Intelligence Officials Told President Obama and I That Donald Trump Allegations Might Leak ](http://time.com/4633907/joe-biden-intelligence-donald-trump/)Biden said there were “no conclusions drawn” from the uncorroborated dossier \[Associated Press\] [President Obama Gives Joe Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom ](http://time.com/4633555/joe-bien-presidential-medal-freedom/)Surprise award marks their “bromance” \[TIME\] [Dreamers Face Uncertain Future After Confirmation Hearings ](http://time.com/4632293/donald-trump-cabinet-dreamers-confirmation-hearings/)TIME’s Maya Rhodan on the unanswered questions [G.O.P. Lawmaker Hints at Investigating Ethics Chief Critical of Trump ](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/13/us/politics/rep-jason-chaffetz-ethics-monitor-investigation-threat.html?smid=tw-share)Partisan payback? \[New York Times\] [Justice Department Watchdog to Probe FBI’s Handling of Clinton Email Case ](http://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-department-watchdog-launches-internal-probe-into-fbi-s-handling-of-clinton-email-case-1484246116)Inquiry follows public debate over FBI director’s pre-election statements \[Wall Street Journal\] **Sound Off** “There were big stretches, while governing, where even though we were doing the right thing, we weren’t able to mobilize public opinion firmly enough behind us to weaken the resolve of the Republicans to stop opposing us or to cooperate with us. And there were times during my presidency where I lost the PR battle.” — President Obama to “60 Minutes. “Ricchetti, You’re fired.” — Vice President Joe Biden joking to his chief of staff, who was in on President Obama’s plan to surprise him with the Medal of Freedom. **Bits and Bites** [The Bush Sisters Wrote the Obama Girls A Letter](http://time.com/4632036/bush-sisters-obama-sisters/?xid=fbshare) \[TIME\] [Read the Full Transcript of President Obama Surprising Joe Biden With the Medal of Freedom](http://time.com/4633826/joe-biden-obama-presidential-medal-freedom/) \[TIME\] [Look Back at Barack Obama’s First Week in Office](http://time.com/4631909/barack-obama-photos-first-week/) \[TIME\] [Donald Trump’s Pick for Pentagon Chief James Mattis Says Russia Is Trying to ‘Break’ NATO](http://time.com/4632996/james-mattis-senate-confirmation-russia-nato/) \[Associated Press\] [Anthony Scaramucci is hired for a top job in Trump’s White House](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/01/12/anthony-scaramucci-is-hired-for-a-top-job-in-trumps-white-house/?utm%5Fterm=.4d44852f0b82) \[Washington Post\] [Trump tweet on L.L.Bean would break White House rule](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-llbean-tweet-white-house-rule-233566) \[Politico\] [Trump raises millions to cover inauguration’s steep costs](https://apnews.com/aa6f547f15a64e74866e1b813629eb46/Trump-raises-millions-to-cover-inauguration%27s-steep-costs) \[Associated Press\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4634340/one-week-to-inauguration/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4634340/one-week-to-inauguration/"},"headline":"One Week to Inauguration","datePublished":"2017-01-13T16:05:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:43:08.171Z","description":"Morning Must Reads: January 13","url":"https://time.com/4634340/one-week-to-inauguration/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4634340/one-week-to-inauguration/","name":"One Week to Inauguration"}}]}] ```