There’s a lot of outrage right now in the blogosphere over Rick Warren being tapped to give the invocation at Inauguration Day. Most of the blame seems to be lying on Obama, so I think it is time to look into some not so well known facts. The actual Inauguration events are held on the west lawn of the U.S. Capital. This means that Congress is in charge of the inauguration – specifically the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. This committee has been handling the organization of inaugural events since 1901, but Congress has pretty much always had the mantle, since the Constitution does say that Congress picks when and where the inauguration happens.

This year’s JCCIC is chaired by Diane Feinstein. The other members are; Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, John Boehner and Bob Bennett. They were the ones who picked out the lineup for the inauguration. Here is a link to the press release they issued on it.