Biden sought to unify the nation with his speech, calling for healing and cooperation between political opponents as President Donald Trump has continued to refuse to concede.

He also laid out his first priorities, announcing he would assemble a group of scientists to come up with a plan to tackle the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and be ready to deploy it on the day of his inauguration.

“This is democracy’s day, a day of history and hope, of renewal and resolve. Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested anew. And America has risen to the challenge,” Biden began. “Today we celebrate the triumph, not of a candidate, but of a cause – the cause of democracy.”

“We’ve learned again that democracy is precious,” Biden said from the steps stormed, two weeks before, by a pro-Trump mob. “Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.”

Speaking directly to the nation, Biden called the country’s current state a “historic moment of crisis and challenge” but said “unity is the path forward” and asked Americans to “start fresh” and “begin to listen to one another again.”

“Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war. And we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated, and even manufactured,” he said.

“My fellow Americans, I close the day where I began, with a sacred oath before God and all of you. I give you my word, I will always level with you. I will defend the Constitution. I’ll defend our democracy. I’ll defend America,” Biden said.

“I do in your service, thinking not of power but of possibilities, not of personal injuries but the public good. And together we shall write an American story of hope, not fear. Of unity, not division. Of light, not darkness. A story of decency and dignity, love and healing, greatness and goodness,” Biden continued.

Biden received over 81 million votes in the election, but throughout his remarks he reached across the aisle, asking those 74 million who didn’t vote for him to measure him by his heart, saying he would fight for them just as much as for those who supported him — repeating a promise Biden made on the campaign trail.

Invoking his Catholic faith, Biden went on to say, “May this be the story that guides us, the story that inspires us, and the story that tells ages yet to come that we answered the call of history, we met the moment.”

“With purpose and resolve, we turn to those tasked of our time, sustained by faith, driven by conviction, and devoted to one another and the country we love with all our hearts. May God bless America and may God protect our troops,” he said to finish his first speech as president.

It is not clear at this time if the two are connected or what incident triggered their removal but the news comes as there are now approximately 25,000 National Guard troops on the ground in Washington, DC, according to spokesman Major Aaron Thacker.

The Army official and the intelligence official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity due to Defense Department media regulations. They did not say which fringe group the Guard members belonged to or what unit they served in.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Tuesday that National Guard members must be vetted.

“It’s prudent to make sure that they are being vetted, and anyone who cannot pledge allegiance to their mission and may be pulled by other views needs to not only be removed from this duty, they need to be removed from the Guard.”

Contacted by the AP on Tuesday, the National Guard Bureau referred questions to the U.S. Secret Service and said, “Due to operational security, we do not discuss the process nor the outcome of the vetting process for military members supporting the inauguration.”

The Secret Service told the AP on Monday it would not comment on if any National Guard members had been pulled from securing the inauguration for operational security reasons.

It is not clear at this time if the two are connected or what incident triggered their removal but the news comes as there are now approximately 25,000 National Guard troops on the ground in Washington, DC, according to spokesman Major Aaron Thacker.

The Army official and the intelligence official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity due to Defense Department media regulations. They did not say which fringe group the Guard members belonged to or what unit they served in.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Tuesday that National Guard members must be vetted.

“It’s prudent to make sure that they are being vetted, and anyone who cannot pledge allegiance to their mission and may be pulled by other views needs to not only be removed from this duty, they need to be removed from the Guard.”

Contacted by the AP on Tuesday, the National Guard Bureau referred questions to the U.S. Secret Service and said, “Due to operational security, we do not discuss the process nor the outcome of the vetting process for military members supporting the inauguration.”

The Secret Service told the AP on Monday it would not comment on if any National Guard members had been pulled from securing the inauguration for operational security reasons.

The “football,” which contains the equipment that Trump would use to authenticate his orders and launch a nuclear strike, is carried by a military aide who accompanies the President at all times up to the second, he officially leaves office on January 20.

Typically, the football would be handed off to another military aide standing on or nearby the inauguration viewing stand as Biden takes his oath of office.

But on Wednesday, that exchange will happen a bit differently as Trump is currently expected to depart Washington, DC, for Florida before Biden’s inauguration ceremony.

The nuclear football will likely travel with him, experts say, meaning there will be at least two briefcases in different locations, presenting a unique challenge of ensuring the transfer of authority goes smoothly.

While that process may play out slightly differently than it has in years past, there are safeguards in place to ensure a seamless transition of nuclear control from one president to the next, regardless of circumstance, according to Stephen Schwartz, a nonresident senior fellow at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Contrary to popular belief, nuclear football does not contain a button or code that can automatically launch a nuclear weapon but instead has the equipment and authorities that Trump would use to order a strike.

Trump will no longer have such authority and the nuclear codes he carries will automatically be deactivated, he added. Meanwhile, Biden will automatically inherit the power to launch a nuclear strike at exactly the same time.

That means if Trump attempted to order a strike at 12:01 pm on Wednesday, the order would be considered illegal and military commanders tasked with carrying out the launch are obligated to refuse.

Under the legislation, those living in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2021, without legal status would have a five-year path to temporary legal status, or a green card, if they pass background checks, pay taxes and fulfill other basic requirements. From there, it’s a three-year path to naturalization, if they decide to pursue citizenship.

For some immigrants, the process would be quicker. So-called Dreamers, the young people who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children, as well as agricultural workers and people under temporary protective status could qualify more immediately for green cards if they are working, are in school or meet other requirements.

Biden is expected to take swift executive actions to reverse other Trump immigration actions, including an end to the prohibition on arrivals from several predominantly Muslim countries.

The legislation puts Biden on track to deliver on a major campaign promise important to Latino voters and other immigrant communities after four years of President Donald Trump’s restrictive policies and mass deportations. It provides one of the fastest pathways to citizenship for those living without legal status of any measure in recent years, but it fails to include the traditional trade-off of enhanced border security favored by many Republicans, putting the passage in a narrowly divided Congress in doubt.

Expected to run hundreds of pages, the bill is set to be introduced after Biden takes the oath of office Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the legislation and granted anonymity to discuss it.

As a candidate, Biden called Trump’s actions on immigration an “unrelenting assault” on American values and said he would “undo the damage” while continuing to maintain border enforcement.

The bill is not as comprehensive as the last major immigration overhaul proposed when Biden was vice president during the Obama administration.

For example, it does not include a robust border security element but rather calls for coming up with strategies. Nor does it create any new guest worker or other visa programs.

It does address some of the root causes of migration from Central America to the United States and provides grants for workforce development and English language learning.

During the Democratic primary, Biden consistently named immigration action as one of his “day one” priorities, pointing to the range of executive powers he could invoke to reverse Trump’s policies.

Biden allies and even some Republicans have identified immigration as a major issue where the new administration could find common ground with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and enough other GOP senators to avoid the stalemate that has vexed administrations of both parties for decades.

That kind of major win even if it involves compromise could be critical as Biden looks for legislative victories in a closely divided Congress, where Republicans are certain to oppose other Biden priorities that involve rolling back some of the GOP’s 2017 tax cuts and increasing federal spending.

The words “Rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit” appear on a list of executive actions likely scheduled for the first day of Biden’s presidency, according to an earlier report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

President Donald Trump, a Republican, had made building the pipeline a central promise of his presidential campaign. Biden, who will be inaugurated on Wednesday, was the vice president in Democrat Barack Obama’s administration when it rejected the project as being contrary to its efforts to combat climate change.

Biden had promised to scrap the oil pipeline’s presidential permit if he became president.

Canada’s ambassador to the US said she would continue to promote a project she says fit with both countries’ environmental plans. “There is no better partner for the US on climate action than Canada as we work together for the green transition,” Ambassador Kirsten Hillman said in a statement.

The project, which would move oil from the province of Alberta to Nebraska, had been slowed by legal issues in the United States.

It also faced opposition from environmentalists seeking to check the expansion of Canada’s oil sands by opposing new pipelines to move its crude to refineries.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said on Twitter that cancellation would eliminate jobs, weaken U.S.-Canada relations and undermine American national security by making the United States more dependent on OPEC oil imports.

TC Energy Corp., which operates the pipeline, said it would achieve net zero emissions by 2023 when it enters service. The company also pledged to use only renewable energy sources by 2030 in a bid to win Biden’s support.

Construction is well underway in Canada, with the international border crossing complete. In the United States, TC has started construction on pump stations in each of the states the line will pass through, but legal setbacks cost it much of the 2020 construction season.

Former Democratic President Barack Obama axed the project in 2015, saying Canada would reap most of the economic benefits, while the project would add to greenhouse gas emissions.

Trump issued a presidential permit in 2017 that allowed the line to move forward, and several environmental groups sued the U.S. government.

Cohen served as the No. 2 at the CIA from 2015 to 2017 in the Obama administration. The position does not require Senate confirmation.

“Cohen is a national security, finance and legal expert,” Biden’s transition team said in a statement, noting his work leading “special projects on new technologies and how best to work with companies to advance the CIA’s mission.”

Earlier this week, Biden tapped veteran American diplomat William Burns to be the agency’s director. Since Burns would be the first leader in the CIA’s history whose experience comes from the State Department, Cohen, as Burns’ deputy, has the more formal experience in the intelligence field.

During his first stint as deputy CIA director, Cohen helped oversee the intelligence agency’s strategic modernization and led foreign intelligence collection. He ended his tenure in 2017 by being awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the CIA’s highest honor.

Before joining the CIA, Cohen served in the Treasury Department as the undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, where he played a vital role in combating illicit finance and developing economic sanctions against foreign governments, including Russia, Iran and North Korea.

His office also developed the Obama administration’s blueprint for targeting ISIS and other terrorist organizations in the financial realm, which earned him the nickname in the Obama White House the “financial Batman.”

In forming his administration, Biden has tapped many former Obama-era officials with whom he has worked closely or who have years of experience in government.

Biden’s transition team also said New York City’s emergency coordinator Deanne Criswell would lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees the federal government’s response to wildfires, hurricanes, and other disasters.

It also separately announced several more top leaders to help with Biden’s COVID-19 response, including former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler to lead the vaccine effort.