Obama Inauguration Reportedly $10 Million Behind on Fundraising

Construction workers work on the platforms on the west side of the Capitol ahead of President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. (AP)

President Barack Obama’s inaugural committee is reportedly $10 million shy of its $50 million fundraising goal with just one week to go before he is sworn in for a second term, the New York Times reported.

The Jan. 21 celebration is set to be a much lower-key affair than four years ago, but it’s a striking shortfall coming on the heels of Obama’s billion-dollar re-election campaign.

According to the Times, committee officials told top donors about the fundraising gap in a conference call Thursday. Some donors said the hole is even bigger, revealing that just $30 million had been raised — something inaugural officials disputed.

The newspaper reported the inaugural committee has had particular trouble racking up corporate contributions after Obama announced last month he would accept donations from businesses, a change from 2009.

Finances aside, the inauguration has made plenty of headlines in the last week, including the pastor originally set to deliver the benediction dropping out because of a past sermon he delivered about gays. Obama is also set to take the oath with his hand on not one, but two Bibles — one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln.

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