Obama officially begins his second term with oath

Barack Hussein Obama officially began his second term as the nation’s 44th president Sunday, taking the oath of office in a low-key ceremony at the White House.

It was a crisp and flawless 30-seconds of history in the Blue Room between Obama and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. The two flubbed the 35-word oath four years ago, but not Sunday. With Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha standing behind him, Obama quickly repeated the oath from Roberts, who this time carried a note card.

“Congratulations, Mr. President,” said Roberts.

“Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice,” Obama replied. “Thank you so much.”

He then kissed his wife, whom he called “Sweetie,” and told his daughters, “I did it.”

Obama’s hand rested on a Bible that Michelle Obama’s father Fraser Robinson III had given to his mother, LaVaughn Delores Robinson, on Mother’s Day 1958.

Obama and Roberts will repeat the process again Monday in a public celebration at the Capitol. The Constitution mandates that presidential terms begin on Jan. 20, and it is traditional when the day falls on a Sunday that the public ceremony take place the next day.

The brief ceremony — from the family’s entrance to the handshakes and kisses that marked departure took less than a minute and a half — followed a morning where the president took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery and worshiped at a historic African-American church.

Vice President Biden got a jump on the president by taking his oath at an early-morning ceremony at his residence at the Naval Observatory. Justice Sonia Sotomayor swore Biden in, becoming the fourth woman and the first Hispanic to administer the oath to the president or vice president.

Biden was sworn in before a crowd of 120 people, surrounded by his family on a makeshift stage in an alcove.

After the oath was completed, Biden kissed Sotomayor and then hugged and kissed his wife, Jill Biden, who held a massive Biden family Bible.

“Madame Justice, these are some of my friends, and family,” Biden said, grasping Sotomayor’s hand.

The 8:21 a.m. event apparently was prompted by Sotomayor’s need to be at a Barnes and Noble in New York for an afternoon address and signing event for her new memoir, “My Beloved World.”

Biden didn’t get into specifics, but told the crowd: “I want to explain to you what a wonderful honor it was, and how much out of her way the justice had to go. She is due in New York. She has to leave right now. . .so she can catch a train — I hope I haven’t caused her to miss.”

Biden’s ceremony led to speculation about his political future--a wide range of Democratic officials, early primary state officeholders and party strategists were on hand. Among the invited were former White House chief of staff William Daley, Obama’s longtime political strategist David Axelrod, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

“Of course we can always start the political calculations in terms of the number of delegates needed to secure a nomination,” said longtime Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, who was also in the crowd. “But let’s just say I see a number of superdelegates here as well.”

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Japan govt says no confirmation on nine dead in Algeria

TOKYO: Japan's government said Monday it was aware of reports that nine Japanese had died in the desert standoff in Algeria, but had no confirmation of the fate of 10 of its nationals who remain unaccounted for.

In a midnight press conference, chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters vice foreign minister Minoru Kiuchi had arrived at an airport near the gas facility that was over-run by Islamist gunmen last week.

He said Kiuchi would go into the complex and to a hospital in the town of In Amenas in an effort to determine what had happened.

The press conference came after a witness in In Amenas told AFP he knew of nine Japanese people killed during the 72-hour hostage crisis.

"We are aware of such information, but we have not confirmed any such numbers," Suga told reporters.

He said Kiuchi was with the president of contracting firm JGC, which employed 17 Japanese nationals in the area, and would be joined by another team from Japan who would work to confirm what had happened to hostages.

Suga said those known to have made it to safety would be flown back to Japan.

"To help the seven Japanese whose safety was confirmed return home, we plan to dispatch a government aircraft there," he said.

The bodies of 25 hostages have been found in and around the gas plant by Algerian forces as they mopped up at what appeared to be the end of the three-day stand-off.

Thirty-two kidnappers were also killed and the army freed 685 Algerian workers and 107 foreigners, said Algeria's interior ministry. The government in Algiers has warned the death toll could rise.

-AFP/ac

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Congress Jaipur meet: Questions from Amethi and Rae Bareli

LUCKNOW: Reports from the ongoing brainstorming session of the Congress party at Jaipur - aptly named Chintan shivir- suggesting that Rahul Gandhi is set is to play a bigger role as the party's vice president, have given a new perspective to the frequent visits of Rahul Gandhi and his sister PriyankaVadra to Amethi and Rae Bareli in recent months.

Rahul Gandhi was in Rae Bareli on January 14 for a day, while Priyanka was there for a day's visit on January 18. Both, however, did not have any serious agenda for their visits, except meeting people, groups of women, farmers and Congress supporters.

What has stood out from the two leaders' visits is the fact that while they would like to explore the extent of popular support among the people for the Congress, the people are keen on getting answers from them for recent disturbing questions.

Rahul's visit was marked by the incident of a group of youth and ex-servicemen stopping him and demanding that the government take steps to bring back the head of slain soldier Hemraj Singh.

Similarly, Priyanka on her day-long visit to Rae Bareli had to face some uncomfortable questions on women's security from a group of college girls. The girls stopped her car near the Civil Lines locality and asked her what the government was doing for women's security.

The two incidents reflect the growing uneasiness among the people over the government's political response to the recent developments involving women's security as well as the situation on the India-Pakistan border.

Since taking charge of the constituency, Priyanka has been visiting Rae Bareli at regular intervals and has been meeting people and party workers. Although the Congress bagged 21 seats in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, it's performance was very poor in last year's Assembly elections, and it could secure only 29 seats. The defeat in Rae Bareli and Amethi was most humiliating for the party.

The increased frequency of the visit of the members of Gandhi-Nehru family to their Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh is an indication that they are trying hard to prevent any further erosion of the party's support base. If Varun Gandhi - Rahul's cousin -decides to contest from the adjoining constituency of Sultanpur, then the cause of worry for the Congress could become deeper.

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Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")

As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and other companies evacuated personnel from Algeria, it was not immediately clear how widely the peril would spread in the wake of the hostage-taking at the sprawling In Amenas gas complex near the Libyan border.

Map by National Geographic

Algeria, the fourth-largest crude oil producer on the continent and a major exporter of natural gas and refined fuels, may not have been viewed as the most hospitable climate for foreign energy companies, but that was due to unfavorable financial terms, bureaucracy, and corruption. The energy facilities themselves appeared to be safe, with multiple layers of security provided both by the companies and by government forces, several experts said. (See related photos: "Oil States: Are They Stable? Why It Matters.")

"It is particularly striking not only because it hasn't happened before, but because it happened in Algeria, one of the stronger states in the region," says Hanan Amin-Salem, a senior manager at the industry consulting firm PFC Energy, who specializes in country risk. She noted that in the long civil war that gripped the country throughout the 1990s, there had never been an attack on Algeria's energy complex. But now, hazard has spread from weak surrounding states, as the assault on In Amenas was carried out in an apparent retaliation for a move by French forces against the Islamists who had taken over Timbuktu and other towns in neighboring Mali. (See related story: "Timbuktu Falls.")

"What you're really seeing is an intensification of the fundamental problem of weak states, and empowerment of heavily armed groups that are really well motivated and want to pursue a set of aims," said Amin-Salem. In PFC Energy's view, she says, risk has increased in Mauritania, Chad, and Niger—indeed, throughout Sahel, the belt that bisects North Africa, separating the Sahara in the north from the tropical forests further south.

On Thursday, the London-based corporate consulting firm Exclusive Analysis, which was recently acquired by the global consultancy IHS, sent an alert to clients warning that oil and gas facilities near the Libyan and Mauritanian borders and in Mauritania's Hodh Ech Chargui province were at "high risk" of attack by jihadis.

"A Hot Place to Drill"

The attack at In Amenas comes at a time of unprecedented growth for the oil industry in Africa. (See related gallery: "Pictures: The Year's Most Overlooked Energy Stories.") Forecasters expect that oil output throughout Africa will double by 2025, says Amy Myers Jaffe, executive director of the energy and sustainability program at the University of California, Davis, who has counted 20 rounds of bidding for new exploration at sites in Africa's six largest oil-producing states.

Oil and natural gas are a large part of the Algerian economy, accounting for 60 percent of government budget revenues, more than a third of GDP and more than 97 percent of its export earnings. But the nation's resources are seen as largely undeveloped, and Algeria has tried to attract new investment. Over the past year, the government has sought to reform the law to boost foreign companies' interests in their investments, although those efforts have foundered.

Technology has been one of the factors driving the opening up of Africa to deeper energy exploration. Offshore and deepwater drilling success in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil led to prospecting now under way offshore in Ghana, Mozambique, and elsewhere. (See related story: "New Oil—And a Huge Challenge—for Ghana.") Jaffe says the Houston-based company Anadarko Petroleum has sought to transfer its success in "subsalt seismic" exploration technology, surveying reserves hidden beneath the hard salt layer at the bottom of the sea, to the equally challenging seismic exploration beneath the sands of the Sahara in Algeria, where it now has three oil and gas operations.

Africa also is seen as one of the few remaining oil-rich regions of the world where foreign oil companies can obtain production-sharing agreements with governments, contracts that allow them a share of the revenue from the barrels they produce, instead of more limited service contracts for work performed.

"You now have the technology to tap the resources more effectively, and the fiscal terms are going to be more attractive than elsewhere—you put these things together and it's been a hot place to drill," says Jaffe, who doesn't see the energy industry's interest in Africa waning, despite the increased terrorism risk. "What I think will happen in some of these countries is that the companies are going to reveal new securities systems and procedures they have to keep workers safe," she says. "I don't think they will abandon these countries."

This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.

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Obama, Biden Sworn In for Second Term

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden today officially embarked on their second term, taking the Constitutionally mandated oath of office in two separate private ceremonies inside their homes.

Shortly before noon in the Blue Room of the White House, Obama raised his right hand, with his left on a family Bible, reciting the oath administrated by Chief Justice John Roberts. He was surrounded by immediate family members, including first lady Michelle Obama and daughters, Malia and Sasha.

"I did it," he said to his daughters after taking the oath.

Biden was sworn in earlier today by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic to administer a presidential oath, in a ceremony at his official residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory. He was joined by more than 120 guests, including cabinet members, extended family and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden.

Because Jan. 20 -- the official date for a new presidential term -- falls on a Sunday this year, organizers delayed by one day the traditional public inauguration ceremony and parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images

Vice President Joe Biden Sworn in for 2nd Term Watch Video

President Obama's 2nd Inauguration: Hundreds of Thousands to Attend Watch Video

Obama and Biden will each repeat the oath on Monday on the west front of the Capitol, surrounded by hundreds of dignitaries and members of Congress. An estimated 800,000 people are expected to gather on the National Mall to witness the moment and inaugural parade to follow.

The dual ceremonies in 2013 means Obama will become the second president in U.S. history to take the presidential oath four times. He was sworn in twice in 2008 out of an abundance of caution after Roberts flubbed the oath of office during the public administration. This year Roberts read from a script.

Franklin Roosevelt was also sworn in four times but, unlike Obama, he was elected four times.

This year will mark the seventh time a president has taken the oath on a Sunday and then again on Monday for ceremonial purposes. Reagan last took the oath on a Sunday in 1985.

Both Obama and Biden took the oath using a special family Bible. Obama used a text that belonged to Michelle Obama's grandmother LaVaughn Delores Robinson. Biden placed his hand on a 120-year-old book with a Celtic cross on the cover that has been passed down through Biden clan.

The official inaugural activities today also included moments of prayer and remembrance that marked the solemnity of the day.

Obama and Biden met at Arlington National Cemetery for a brief morning ceremony to place a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns, honoring military service members who served and sacrificed. The men stood shoulder to shoulder, bowing their heads as a bugler played "Taps."

Biden, who is Catholic, began the day with a private family mass at his residence. The president and first family attended church services at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, a historically black church and site of two pre-inaugural prayer services for former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore and their families.

The Obamas and Bidens plan to participate in a church service on Monday morning at St. John's Episcopal, across Lafayette Park from the White House. They will also attend a National Prayer Service on Tuesday at the National Cathedral.

Later on Sunday evening, the newly-inaugurated leaders will attend a candlelight reception at the National Building Museum. The president and vice president are expected to deliver brief remarks to their supporters.

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Earl Smith is the man behind a military patch that President Obama prizes

AUSTIN — That February morning in 2008 found Barack Obama decidedly out of sorts.

He was locked in one battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination that showed no signs of ending — and another with a vicious cold that felt the same way.

As he rode the service elevator in the backway of a convention hotel here, the snowy-haired African American operating it turned suddenly. He held out a black-and-gold bit of fabric embroidered with a screaming eagle.

“Senator Obama, I have something I want to give you,” the man said. “I’ve carried this military patch with me every day for 40 years, and I want you to carry it, and it will keep you safe in your journey.” Obama tried to refuse, but the older man persisted.

Big endeavors can find their meaning in small moments.

Later that day, Obama and his aides discussed the encounter. The future president pulled the patch from his pocket, along with about a dozen other items people had pressed upon him.

“This is why I do this,” he said. “Because people have their hopes and dreams about what we can do together.”

Two American stories intersected that morning in that elevator. The more famous, of course, is the one that begins its next chapter on Monday, as the nation’s first black president takes the oath of office for a second term.

But the other story also tells a lot about where this country has been and how far it has come.

No one in Obama’s small party that day noticed the man’s name tag or, if anyone did, the fact that it said Earl Smith was quickly forgotten.

No one knew how much of Smith’s life had been woven into a patch that, over four decades, found its way from the shoulder of an Army private to the pocket of a future commander-in-chief.

It was the only shred of cloth he had saved from the uniform of a nightmarish year in Vietnam. Smith fired artillery with a brigade that suffered 10,041 casualties during the course of the war. The brigade’s soldiers received 13 Congressional Medals of Honor.

The patch was waiting among his possessions when Smith was pardoned by the state of Georgia in 1977 after spending three years in prison for a crime he claimed was self-defense.

Smith kept it close as his lucky charm while he rebuilt his life and his reputation, starting with a job vacuuming hallways and changing sheets in an Atlanta Marriott. He carried it with him as he traveled halfway around the world again, to positions in hotels far from home, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Along the way, as he tended to travelers and made sure VIP gatherings went smoothly, he met three U.S. presidents.

His instincts told him Obama would make it four.

Like just about anyone else who was alive on Nov. 22, 1963, Smith can describe exactly where he was when he heard the horrific news: He was coming off a high school football practice field in his home town of San Benito, Tex.

Though not yet old enough to have voted for the man slain in Dallas, “I was devastated — a lot of us young people were — because John Kennedy was the young president,” recalled Smith, now 68.

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Badminton: Lee Chong Wei reaches Malaysia Open finals

KUALA LUMPUR: World number one Lee Chong Wei dropped his first game of the tournament Saturday as he overcame Denmark's Jan O Jorgensen to secure a place in the finals of the Malaysia Badminton Open.

The home favourite, bidding for record ninth Malaysia Open title, dropped the second game to the determined and energetic 26-year-old emerging Dane, but eventually won through 21-13, 17-21, 21-12.

"It was indeed a tough match and Jan pushed me hard," said Lee, 30, who will now face Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the final.

"I haven't faced him in over a year but he has bounced back from his injuries to break into the top five in the world. So I'm expecting another tough match."

Kuncoro, a three-time Asian champion, was ranked as low as number 79 in the world ten months ago but is now in top form after battling back from back and leg injuries.

The 29-year-old, a bronze medallist in the 2004 Athens Olympics, will move up to number four when the new world rankings are announced next week.

Kuncoro advanced to the final by beating Japan's Kenichi Tago 21-12, 19-21, 23-21.

"I'm delighted to be back in the mix of a Superseries final. A year ago, my career was in jeopardy due to all my injuries but I've buckled down and I'm happy with my progress," he said.

In the women' singles, China's Yao Xue will be in her first Superseries final after beating South Korea's Bae Yeon-Ju 21-15, 21-18 in 34 minutes.

Yao, who turned 22 on Thursday, will take on 18-year-old Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan, who stunned Indian top seed Saina Nehwal 22-20, 21-14.

"I never expected to come this far in this tournament. I had to come through the qualifying rounds and to reach the final is a big bonus for me," Yao said.

Chinese pair Bao Yixin/Tian Qing beat Indonesia's Lejarsar Variella Aprilsasi Putri/Marissa Vita 21-13, 21-17 to book a berth in the women's doubles finals.

The Chinese pair will face Japan's Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi. The Japanese players had earlier defeated Singapore's Shinta Mulia Sari and her partner Yao Lei 22-20, 21-14.

- AFP/de

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A rude awakening for Congress on social media power?

JAIPUR: Rahul Gandhi was literally left awestruck today when a Congress MP showed him hundreds of negative comments on social media on Sonia Gandhi's speech within hours of her address at the chintan shivir (brainstorming meeting).

As concerns over the party's lack of presence on social media was expressed in presence of Gandhi during discussions within the sub-group on organizational issues, party MP Shantaram Naik went up to him with a tablet and showed him that 3,000 odd tweets were posted against Gandhi's speech within hours on a news website.

Gandhi acknowledged that the party needs to address this issue.

AICC general secretary Jagdish Tytler said that there is a need for the partymen to counter the "anti-Congress propaganda" on social media and the cyberspace.

An overwhelming view was that there is an urgent need to increase the party's presence on it.

A demand was also raised to set up a separate cell on social media at the party's headquarters so that the "anti-Congress propaganda" can be countered effectively.

The issue of flash mobs also came up for discussion, wherein the speakers felt that there is a need to devise a proper strategy to meet such challenges.

Congress had to encounter the flash mob phenomena during many recent incidents including the Delhi gang-rape case where the government's handling of the protest came in for sharp criticism.

Some of the leaders also said that there is a need abolish district and block Congress committees and format the party organization as per the election unit set up, which means having a parliamentary congress committee and assembly congress committee instead of having district and block congress committees.

It was felt that this would facilitate better functioning of the party.

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Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")

As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and other companies evacuated personnel from Algeria, it was not immediately clear how widely the peril would spread in the wake of the hostage-taking at the sprawling In Amenas gas complex near the Libyan border.

Map by National Geographic

Algeria, the fourth-largest crude oil producer on the continent and a major exporter of natural gas and refined fuels, may not have been viewed as the most hospitable climate for foreign energy companies, but that was due to unfavorable financial terms, bureaucracy, and corruption. The energy facilities themselves appeared to be safe, with multiple layers of security provided both by the companies and by government forces, several experts said. (See related photos: "Oil States: Are They Stable? Why It Matters.")

"It is particularly striking not only because it hasn't happened before, but because it happened in Algeria, one of the stronger states in the region," says Hanan Amin-Salem, a senior manager at the industry consulting firm PFC Energy, who specializes in country risk. She noted that in the long civil war that gripped the country throughout the 1990s, there had never been an attack on Algeria's energy complex. But now, hazard has spread from weak surrounding states, as the assault on In Amenas was carried out in an apparent retaliation for a move by French forces against the Islamists who had taken over Timbuktu and other towns in neighboring Mali. (See related story: "Timbuktu Falls.")

"What you're really seeing is an intensification of the fundamental problem of weak states, and empowerment of heavily armed groups that are really well motivated and want to pursue a set of aims," said Amin-Salem. In PFC Energy's view, she says, risk has increased in Mauritania, Chad, and Niger—indeed, throughout Sahel, the belt that bisects North Africa, separating the Sahara in the north from the tropical forests further south.

On Thursday, the London-based corporate consulting firm Exclusive Analysis, which was recently acquired by the global consultancy IHS, sent an alert to clients warning that oil and gas facilities near the Libyan and Mauritanian borders and in Mauritania's Hodh Ech Chargui province were at "high risk" of attack by jihadis.

"A Hot Place to Drill"

The attack at In Amenas comes at a time of unprecedented growth for the oil industry in Africa. (See related gallery: "Pictures: The Year's Most Overlooked Energy Stories.") Forecasters expect that oil output throughout Africa will double by 2025, says Amy Myers Jaffe, executive director of the energy and sustainability program at the University of California, Davis, who has counted 20 rounds of bidding for new exploration at sites in Africa's six largest oil-producing states.

Oil and natural gas are a large part of the Algerian economy, accounting for 60 percent of government budget revenues, more than a third of GDP and more than 97 percent of its export earnings. But the nation's resources are seen as largely undeveloped, and Algeria has tried to attract new investment. Over the past year, the government has sought to reform the law to boost foreign companies' interests in their investments, although those efforts have foundered.

Technology has been one of the factors driving the opening up of Africa to deeper energy exploration. Offshore and deepwater drilling success in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil led to prospecting now under way offshore in Ghana, Mozambique, and elsewhere. (See related story: "New Oil—And a Huge Challenge—for Ghana.") Jaffe says the Houston-based company Anadarko Petroleum has sought to transfer its success in "subsalt seismic" exploration technology, surveying reserves hidden beneath the hard salt layer at the bottom of the sea, to the equally challenging seismic exploration beneath the sands of the Sahara in Algeria, where it now has three oil and gas operations.

Africa also is seen as one of the few remaining oil-rich regions of the world where foreign oil companies can obtain production-sharing agreements with governments, contracts that allow them a share of the revenue from the barrels they produce, instead of more limited service contracts for work performed.

"You now have the technology to tap the resources more effectively, and the fiscal terms are going to be more attractive than elsewhere—you put these things together and it's been a hot place to drill," says Jaffe, who doesn't see the energy industry's interest in Africa waning, despite the increased terrorism risk. "What I think will happen in some of these countries is that the companies are going to reveal new securities systems and procedures they have to keep workers safe," she says. "I don't think they will abandon these countries."

This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.

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Inauguration to Cost Millions But Total Price Unclear

How much will all the inaugural events cost? It's hard to say.

While most events that occur in the capital have a hard-and-fast budget, the inauguration's many moving parts, safety concerns and large geographic reach make it hard to quantify – especially before the main event.

In 2009, ABC reported the total cost of Obama's first inauguration was $170 million. While incumbent presidents historically spend less on a second inauguration, it's unclear what the total bill will be this time around. Analysis of some of the known appropriations so far puts the total at $13.637 million, but it will no doubt be a much larger price tag when everything is accounted for.

RELATED: 12 Things You Didn't Know About the Inauguration

One of the main chunks missing from this year's tab is the budget for the Presidential Inaugural Committee – the group responsible for using donated money to put together this year's celebrations, including National Day of Service, the Kids' Inaugural Concert, the Parade and the Inaugural Balls.

In 2009, the PIC collected more than $53 million in donations, according to a report filed with the Federal Elections Commission 90 days after the inauguration.

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Politically Dressed: Inauguration First Daughters Watch Video

While enthusiasm for the inauguration was running higher that year, it is possible the PIC will haul in more money this time around, as they have eliminated some of the self-imposed regulations on the kinds of donations they can accept. For his first inauguration, President Obama did not take money from corporations or gifts that exceeded $50,000.

In 2013, his committee did away with those rules. PIC spokesman Brent Colburn would not say why the change took place, insisting that each committee operates independently from the precedent set by the inaugurations before – even if staff like Colburn are repeats on the committee from 2009.

RELATED: Inauguration Weekend: A Star-Powered Lineup

The PIC also won't say how much they have already collected or even what their goal was. Colburn explained that these are "moving budgets," which won't stabilize until after the inauguration.

They have, however, released the names of donors on their website weekly. As of Friday afternoon, they were up to 993 donors.

Another leg of the costs is covered by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. They take care of the swearing-in ceremony and the Congressional luncheon. For those events they have a total budget of $1.237 million, down by about $163,000 from 2009. Whereas the PIC budget comes from donations, the American taxpayers foot the bill for the JCCIC.

Beyond those two inauguration-focused groups, there are a myriad of broader organizations that spend money on the inauguration as well.

RELATED: Plenty of Room at the Inns for 2013 Inauguration

A Congressional Research Service report from December says the government spent $22 million reimbursing local and state governments and the National Park Service for their participation in the 2009 inauguration, but that figure is low. The D.C. government alone received twice that amount, according to the mayor's office. Officials from D.C., Maryland and Virginia estimated their total need to be $75 million.

NPS got an appropriation from Congress of $1.2 million so far this year, according to communications officer Carol Johnson, and another $1.4 million went to the U.S. Park Police.

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