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President Joe Biden is pledging to restore dignity to the US government, telling his new staff members that they will have to find another line of work if he finds them treating others poorly.

"I'm not joking when I say this: If you're ever working with me and I hear you treat another with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot," Biden said Wednesday. "On the spot. No if, ands, or buts."

The president's remarks came during a virtual swearing-in ceremony for hundreds of new government employees.

"You're engaged in and you're working with the most decent government in the world," Biden said earlier. "And we have to restore the soul of this country, and I'm counting on all of you to be part of that.

US President Donald Trump left the White House for the last time early on Wednesday morning.

Donald Trump is skipping the inauguration of his successor, Joe Biden, thus breaking a century-old tradition.

His term ends at 12 noon (US time).

Accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, Donald Trump flew from the White House lawn on Marine One, a presidential chopper, to the Joint Base Andrews where a small farewell ceremony has been planned before he uses the presidential jet for one final time – to fly home to Florida’s Palm Beach.

Kamala Harris, US Vice President-elect officially resigned from her Senate seat on Monday less than two days before the inauguration. On a parting note, Harris released a video message in which she thanked her team for managing her affairs in the upper chamber of the United States Congress during her four-year term.

Having served as a senator from California from 2017 until now, US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was also California's attorney general from 2011 to 2017. Describing herself as a "proud daughter of California", Harris spoke in detail about the work her Senate office did for the people of the state during her four-year term.

Once sworn in as Vice President, Kamala Harris will return as the speaker of the US Senate.

"Of course, I am not saying goodbye. In many ways, I am now saying hello as your vice president. But I do want to thank you, for the honour of representing the place of my birth, as a proud Daughter of California. Thank you," she added.

Two days ahead of US President Elect Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony, the US Capitol was temporarily put on lockdown on Monday due to an 'external security threat'.

Participants in a rehearsal for Biden's inauguration ceremony were evacuated from the West Front of the US Capitol on orders of security officials after a fire in a homeless encampment, officials said.

Those who had gathered for a walk-through, including a military band, were directed to head indoors and moved in the directed of a secure location inside the US Capitol complex.

People involved in the rehearsal said security officials yelled "this is not a drill."

Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates owns the largest chunk of private farmland in the US across 18 states, a new report has revealed.

Bill and Melinda Gates amassed 242,000 acres of land in the US, with the largest holdings in Louisiana (69,071 acres), Arkansas (47,927 acres) and Nebraska (20,588 acres), according to The Land report.

Bill Gates also owns a stake in more than 24,800 acres of transitional land outside of Phoenix.

Research indicated that the lands across the US is held by Cascade Investment LLC, Gates' private investment vehicle.

"Gates also backs online used-car seller Vroom through Cascade as well as the Canadian National Railway Company," Geek Wire reported.