Category: Joe Biden

‘Part of the election coup’: Fox News viewers blow up at Chris Wallace for calling Biden ‘president-elect’

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Fox News viewers expressed outrage at Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace on Sunday after he repeatedly insisted that Joe Biden is the rightful president-elect.

Wallace made the remarks during an interview with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who referred to Biden as a former vice president.

“He’s president-elect,” Wallace told Azar multiple times.

On Twitter, some Fox News viewers said that Wallace was part of an “election coup.” Others falsely argued that Wallace was wrong because there has not yet been meeting of the Electoral College, where electors will cast their votes for president. Continue reading.

Biden unveils health team with Becerra, Murthy, Walensky in top roles

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President-elect Joe Biden officially unveiled his health team early Monday, naming California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) as secretary of Health and Human Services.

Vivek Murthy was selected to return to his role as surgeon general, and Rochelle Walensky was picked as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Biden also announced that Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious diseases expert, will remain as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Continue reading.

Trump is leaving press freedom in tatters. Biden can take these bold steps to repair the damage.

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When Donald Trump first started accusing the mainstream media of dealing in “fake news,” it was impossible to know the long-term effects of this rhetoric. It seemed like just another of his trademark insults.

But the term — and the bad will behind it — quickly morphed into a political weapon, with ruinous effects both here and overseas.

Officials with an autocratic bent around the globe snatched up the idea to mock the press or to deny ugly truths. By late 2017, for instance, a state official in Myanmar was using the term to deny not only the shameful persecution of a Muslim minority group, but that population’s very existence: “There is no such thing as Rohingya. It is fake news.” Continue reading.

How Biden’s Team Is Building Back Government, Better

With the Biden-Harris transition in full gear, I can’t help but be reminded of my time working on the Obama-Biden transition in late 2008 and early 2009. A quote from the mega-hit musical “Hamilton” keeps popping into my head. There’s a scene in which Alexander Hamilton and George Washington are going back and forth during a Cabinet meeting, and Washington says to Hamilton, “Ah, winning was easy, young man. Governing’s harder.”

President Barack Obama had just won a decisive electoral victory, but we were now faced with governing a country that was experiencing the greatest recession in 100 years, two wars abroad, a broken health care system, and a Republican Party whose No. 1 priority was making sure we failed.

As head of personnel for the transition, it was my job to make sure we had qualified people ready to go on Day 1. It was no easy task then, and now, with a pandemic raging, it’s an even harder job. Continue reading.

Pentagon spy agencies to meet with Biden transition team

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Pentagon officials said Saturday that leaders of the military’s intelligence services will begin meeting with members of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team Monday, ending what some current and former officials said was an impasse that undermined the transfer of control.

Officials said that advisers to the incoming Biden administration are scheduled to meet with officials at the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other spy services at their headquarters.

The Defense Department and acting defense secretary Christopher Miller issued statements Saturday denying that the Pentagon had resisted giving the Biden team access to the agencies or information about their operations and budgets. Continue reading.

Senate GOP brushes off long-shot attempt to fight Biden win

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Senate Republicans are shooting down a long shot effort to challenge the Electoral College vote early next year. 

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, grabbed headlines when he announced that he would challenge the votes when Congress officially certifies President-elect Joe Biden‘s victory on Jan. 6.

But GOP senators are dismissing the effort, even as President Trump publicly praised Brooks. Continue reading.

Rachel Maddow offers a terrifying theory that explains Trump’s Pentagon moves

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The host of “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Friday offered her audience a theory that may explain some of President Donald Trump’s actions concerning the Pentagon in his final months in office.

Maddow built her case off of a new Washington Post story titled, “Pentagon blocks visits to military spy agencies by Biden transition team.”

“The Trump administration has refused to allow members of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team to meet with officials at U.S. intelligence agencies that are controlled by the Pentagon, undermining prospects for a smooth transfer of power,” the newspaper reported, citing “current and former U.S. officials.” Continue reading.

Pentagon blocks visits to military spy agencies by Biden transition team

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The Trump administration has refused to allow members of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team to meet with officials at U.S. intelligence agencies that are controlled by the Pentagon, undermining prospects for a smooth transfer of power, current and former U.S. officials said.

The officials said the Biden team has not been able to engage with leaders at the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other military-run spy services with classified budgets and global espionage platforms.

The Defense Department rejected or did not approve requests from the Biden team this week, the officials said, despite a General Services Administration decision Nov. 23 clearing the way for federal agencies to meet with representatives of the incoming administration. Continue reading.

Biden officially secures enough electors to become president

California certified its presidential election Friday and appointed 55 electors pledged to vote for Democrat Joe Biden, officially handing him the Electoral College majority needed to win the White House.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s formal approval of Biden’s win in the state brought his tally of pledged electors so far to 279, according to a tally by The Associated Press. That’s just over the 270 threshold for victory.

These steps in the election are often ignored formalities. But the hidden mechanics of electing a U.S. president have drawn new scrutiny this year as President Donald Trump continues to deny Biden’s victory and pursues increasingly specious legal strategies aimed at overturning the results before they are finalized. Continue reading.

Dozens Of Trump’s Political Hacks Will Remain In Office After Biden Takes Over

Christopher Prandoni was just 29 when he joined President Donald Trump’s administration as associate director for natural resources at the Council on Environmental Quality. Last year, he hopped over to the Interior Department and became a close adviser to Secretary David Bernhardt, sometimes attending multiple meetings a day with the agency head.

In April, Bernhardt named Prandoni, only three years out of law school, to a $114,000-a-year position that’s part of the career civil service. His appointment as a judge in the Interior Department’s Office of Hearings and Appeals, which arbitrates land-use disputes, drew sharp criticism from environmental groups concerned that Prandoni would infuse ideology into decisions and undermine the panel’s integrity.

“The job that Prandoni was given was a gift; it was payment for time served,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “He never in a thousand years would have gotten this job if he hadn’t worked directly with David Bernhardt for months at a time implementing the Trump agenda.” Continue reading.