When is the next presidential inauguration?

Saturday, January 20, 2029, at noon Eastern. The oath is scheduled for the same minute the previous term expires.

The handover is simultaneous

There is no gap. The Twentieth Amendment ends one term at noon on January 20 and begins the next at the same moment. In practice the ceremony is timed so the oath is administered at or about noon — and the oath itself is what the Constitution requires before the powers of the office can be executed.

The oath is thirty-five words, set out in Article II, Section 1: the President swears to faithfully execute the office and to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. The Chief Justice of the United States traditionally administers it, though this is custom rather than a requirement — any authorised officer may do so, which is why oaths have been administered by a federal judge, and once by a notary public, when a president took office unexpectedly.

Why a Saturday matters a little, and not much

January 20, 2029 falls on a Saturday. When the date has fallen on a Sunday, the practice has been to administer the oath privately on the 20th, as the Constitution requires, and hold the public ceremony on Monday the 21st. A Saturday raises no such conflict, so the public ceremony is expected on the day itself.

What happens on the day

• Morning: a service, then the outgoing and incoming presidents travel together to the Capitol — a piece of choreography meant to make the peaceful transfer visible.
• Around noon: the Vice President is sworn in first, then the President.
• After the oath: the inaugural address, a departure ceremony for the outgoing president, a luncheon, and the parade along Pennsylvania Avenue.
• Immediately: the new administration's authority is effective from noon, whatever the ceremony schedule. Staff and agency heads change over the same day.

Who will be inaugurated

Unknown, and not knowable now. The person sworn in on January 20, 2029 will be whoever wins the presidential election on November 7, 2028. The date is fixed; the occupant is not. This site counts the date.