This is the fifth day of the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden to lift ban on transgender people serving in military
Multiple people familiar with the matter confirm that President Joe Biden will sign an executive order that will lift the Pentagon’s ban on transgender people serving in the military on Monday.
The controversial ban was put in place by former President Donald Trump in 2017 that reversed the Obama administration’s policy to allow open service by transgender people.
New Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will be on hand at the White House ceremony Monday, where the executive order will be signed.
“The ban will be officially lifted tomorrow,” said one of the individuals familiar with the matter.
-ABC News' Luis Martinez
National Guard troops to drawdown to 5,000 through mid-March
The 7,000 National Guard troops requested for post-inauguration assistance in Washington will draw down to 5,000 through mid-March, a National Guard bureau official told ABC News in a statement Sunday.
And while the current plan is to assist through mid-March, "the National Guard will stay as long as needed at the request of supporting agencies," the statement continued.
The troops will be offering security, communications, medevac and logistical support, according to the statement.
-ABC News' Matt Seyler
Biden attends church with family
Biden continued his weekly routine of attending mass and chose Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown as his place of worship for his first Sunday in office.
A pool report indicated that Biden's son Hunter, and two granddaughters, Maisey and Finnegan Biden attended mass with him. The presidential motorcade also stopped at a bagel shop. The president was not seen getting out, but a reporter was told Hunter Biden went inside to pick up food. The president and his family returned to the White House a few minutes later.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle
Murthy on vaccine supply, distribution: There are lots of challenges
In his appearance on ABC's "This Week" Sunday, Biden’s nominee for Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said that when it comes to meeting the goal for 100 million vaccines in the first 100 days of the president's administration, there are things that could go right or wrong.
"I think President Biden fully understands there's a larger goal here, as we all do, which is that we've got to vaccinate as many Americans as possible. And that's going to take a lot of work, work dispelling this disinformation, working on the supply, increasing distribution channels," he told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos. "And that's some of what the vaccine plan that he announced over the last week is intended to -- to achieve."
Stephanopoulos pressed Murthy on whether there are ways to increase the supply and equitably distribute the vaccines.
"It appears, at least in these first vaccines that have gone out, they've been going largely to wealthier areas of the country, largely to whiter areas of the country," Stephanopoulos said.
"Well, it's the right question, George, because success has to be gauged not just by the number of vaccines we deliver but also by how fairly we deliver those vaccines -- how equitably we deliver them," he said in response. "What we've got to do here is not just, again, increase supply, which we can do using the Defense Production Act ... but we've also got to set up the kind of distribution channels, like mobile units, like strategically placed community vaccination centers, that can reach people who traditionally are hard to reach and don't have access to health care."
He added, "We have got to track our progress. We have got to make sure that we have data on where the vaccine is being administered, so that we can ensure that it, in fact, is being distributed equitably."
.@GStephanopoulos: Vaccines have been going to wealthier and whiter areas in the country: Is there a way to get more equitable distribution and increase the supply?Vivek Murthy: Success is not just number of vaccines, but how “equitably” we deliver them. https://t.co/revKTaAEyP pic.twitter.com/tO4B7Z8Kjz
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 24, 2021
Biden speaks with Boris Johnson
United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson shared details of the phone call he had with Biden Saturday, as the president continues to reach out to U.S. allies and partners in the days after his inauguration.
In a post on social media, Johnson said it was "great to speak" with Biden. "I look forward to deepening the longstanding alliance between our two countries as we drive a green and sustainable recovery from COVID-19," he added, along with a photo of himself smiling on the phone.
Great to speak to President @JoeBiden this evening. I look forward to deepening the longstanding alliance between our two countries as we drive a green and sustainable recovery from COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/Y4P3G74PPz
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 23, 2021
During the call, Johnson "warmly welcomed" Biden's decision to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
"They also discussed the benefits of a potential free trade deal between our two countries, and the Prime Minister reiterated his intention to resolve existing trade issues as soon as possible," the spokesperson said.
President Biden has been making his first calls to foreign leaders as president. On Friday, he spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
In previewing the president's early calls to foreign heads of state, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had said the president would first prioritize close "partners and allies," because the president "feels it's important to rebuild those relationships and to address the challenges and threats we're facing in the world."
-ABC News' Rashid Haddou, Jordyn Phelps and Molly Nagle