President-elect Mr George Bush, wearing the accolade of Time magazine's "Person of the Year", has arrived in Washington to meet congressional leaders, talk to President Clinton, and interview prospective cabinet members. It is his first visit to Washington since the presidential election six weeks ago. Mr Gore has flown to the Virgin Islands for a break from Washington for a few days.
Today is also the day when the 538 members of the Electoral College meet in 50 state capitals and in Washington's District of Columbia to cast their votes for President. Following his narrow win in Florida, Mr Bush can expect to receive 271 electoral votes - one more than the required majority.
There has been speculation that some of Mr Bush's electors might try to switch their votes to Mr Gore, who beat Mr Bush by over 300,000 in the popular vote. Some of the voting will be held in secret. The electoral votes are counted by the new Congress on January 6th.
Mr Bush, who on Saturday formally named retired Gen Colin Powell as his Secretary of State dealing with foreign policy, yesterday named Ms Condoleezza Rice as his National Security Adviser. Both are African Americans.
Also named was Alberto Gonzalez as White House counsel and thus chief legal adviser to Mr Bush. He is Hispanic.
The fact that the three are from minority communities sends the message that Mr Bush wants to practise inclusiveness and diversity in his administration. He performed poorly among minorities in the election.
Gen Powell at the weekend emphasised that the Bush administration would not retreat into quasi-isolationism but would work towards "a uniquely American internationalism" and remain "engaged in the world".
Asked about the situation in Iraq - against which he was involved in the planning of the Gulf War while serving in the administration of Mr Bush's father - he said: "Saddam Hussein is sitting on a failed regime that is not going to be around in a few years' time." The Iraqi leader, he said, had not fulfilled his agreement to account for all weapons of mass destruction and "we will work with our allies to re-energise the sanctions regime".
Gen Powell said the new administration would be reviewing the deployment of US troops around the world, including in Bosnia and Kosovo. "Our armed forces are stretched rather thin and there is a limit to how many of these deployments we can sustain."
On missile defence, the general said that "a national missile defence is an essential part of our overall strategic force posture".