Biden chooses a White House chief who ‘matches this moment’

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In the midst of an economic crisis brought on by a global pandemic, President-elect Joe Biden has chosen as his chief of staff a longtime ally who has experience managing both a massive stimulus package to revive a moribund economy and the government response to a public health catastrophe.

Ron Klain, 59, has been a close member of Biden’s inner circle for more than 30 years, and a top adviser to every Democratic president and presidential nominee since the 1990s. Now, as he ascends to the top rungs of government, he will face a set of crises almost uniquely suited to his expertise.

“He has spent his whole life getting ready for this moment,” said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), for whom Klain worked in the U.S. House. “Ron Klain is a man who matches this moment in terms of the background, the experience and the wisdom we’re going to need.” Continue reading.

Senate GOP calls grow to give Biden access to intelligence briefings

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Several Senate Republicans are joining calls for President-elect Joe Biden to get access to intelligence briefings, in a break with the Trump administration.

Most GOP senators aren’t yet ready to say Trump lost reelection but, in a potential hat tip to the inevitable outcome, they are publicly calling for Biden to get access to the sort of intelligence briefings that will help him hit the ground running in January. 

“I would think, especially on classified briefings, the answer is yes,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Continue reading.

Electoral College Republicans In Wisconsin And Nevada Affirm Biden Victory

President-elect Joe Biden, when all of the vote-counting is completed, might end up with more than 300 electoral votes. But President Donald Trump is still refusing to concede despite Biden’s decisive victory, making baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. BuzzFeed News spoke to 11 members of the Electoral College in battleground states — and most of the interviewees, including some Republicans, expressed confidence that Biden won the 2020 presidential election fair and square.

BuzzFeed reporters Albert Samaha, Amber Jamieson and Rosalind Adams explain, “Biden doesn’t officially secure his spot in the Oval Office until the Electoral College votes on December 14. Normally, this step is mostly ceremonial, as electors vote for the same candidate as their constituents did. But Trump and a growing list of Republican supporters are attempting to undermine and delegitimize Biden’s win after months of attempting to suppress the vote. Trump and his campaign are amplifying baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.”

The journalists continue, “Amid this, some states allow electors to choose any candidate, regardless of vote counts, leaving open the possibility of so-called faithless electors swinging the election at the last minute. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this summer, however, that states could punish electors who do not vote for the winner of the popular vote in their state.” Continue reading.

Biden names Ron Klain as chief of staff

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President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday named Ron Klain as his chief of staff, according to two sources close to the transition.

Klain, Biden’s longtime confidant and chief of staff during his years as vice president, had been considered a favorite for the role.

He served as one of Biden’s main advisers as the former vice president prepared to debate President Trump ahead of the election. 

“Ron has been invaluable to me over the many years that we have worked together, including as we rescued the American economy from one of the worst downturns in our history in 2009 and later overcame a daunting public health emergency in 2014,” Biden said in a statement.  Continue reading.

How To Help Win the 2 Georgia Senate Runoff Elections

Joe Biden has won the presidency, and the Democrats held the House. But if the Republicans keep the majority in the Senate, we all know what Mitch McConnell will do — he’ll obstruct everything.

We know he won’t allow any progressive legislation to pass. We know there is an excellent chance he will block every judge we want to put on the bench and every reason to believe he’ll make confirming Joe Biden’s cabinet a complete nightmare. The only way to prevent this nightmare is to make sure that Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win the runoff elections and become Georgia’s new Senators.

Neither David Perdue nor Kelly Loeffler were able to get more than 50% of the vote on November 3rd, so that’s a good start. But runoff elections are marked by low turnout — its anyone’s opportunity to win these seats. Whichever side is more motivated to get out and vote will win these seats. Continue reading.

The Abnormal Presidency

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Trump dramatically changed the presidency. Here’s a list of the 20
most important norms he broke — and how Biden can restore them.

At a frenetic and freewheeling rally in Macon, Ga., in mid-October, with less than three weeks to go before the election, President Trump turned introspective. He reflected on what sets him apart from every other president in American history: his refusal to be presidential.

“I always said, it’s much easier to be ‘presidential’ than to do what I do. … I’m more presidential if I wanted to be, but I got to get things done,” he said. “I don’t have enough time. … I can be more presidential than any president in our history — with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln when he wore the hat. That was tough to beat.”

What does it mean to be presidential? Article II of the Constitution describes the office in just a handful of paragraphs. To a remarkable extent, the presidency is shaped by unwritten traditions and expectations that historians and political scientists call “norms” — what political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt call the “soft guardrails” of American democracy. Continue reading.

Biden plays it cool as Trump refuses to concede

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President-elect Joe Biden is countering President Trump’s efforts to question the legitimacy of the election by quietly and deliberately going about the business of transitioning into power.

Since media outlets declared him the winner over the weekend, Biden has installed transition teams for dozens of government agencies and outlined how he intends to tackle key policy priorities, beginning with COVID-19. The president-elect is taking calls from world leaders and expects to make announcements about his Cabinet in the next two weeks.

Trump is making the transition as difficult as possible. Continue reading.

In appealing to ‘give each other a chance,’ Biden recalls the democratic charity of Abraham Lincoln

On Nov. 7, in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, Joe Biden delivered his first speech as president-elect. In declaring victory, Biden spoke directly to those who didn’t support him. 

“And to those who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight. I’ve lost a couple of elections myself. But now, let’s give each other a chance. It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric. To lower the temperature. To see each other again. To listen to each other again. To make progress. We must stop treating our opponents as our enemy. We are not enemies. We are Americans.”

I am a scholar of democracy and ethics, and Biden’s words call to mind Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address. Delivered on March 4, 1865, after his reelection and at a time when Union victory was in sight, that speech – like Biden’s – called for a new beginning after a time of extreme division. Continue reading.

Sullivan wins reelection in Alaska, giving Republicans 50 seats in Senate

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Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) on Wednesday was projected to have won a second term representing Alaska, securing 50 seats in the Senate for Republicans in the next Congress.

CNN and NBC News both called the race shortly before 10 a.m. EST.

The projection confirms that control of the Senate will come down to two Jan. 5 runoffs in Georgia, one between Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) and the Rev. Raphael Warnock (D) and the other between Sen. David Perdue (R) and Jon Ossoff (D). Continue reading.

As states press forward with vote counts, Trump advisers privately express pessimism about heading off Biden’s win

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Six states where President Trump has threatened to challenge his defeat continued their march toward declaring certified election results in the coming weeks, as his advisers privately acknowledged that President-elect Joe Biden’s official victory is less a question of “if” than “when.”

Trump began the day tweeting about “BALLOT COUNTING ABUSE” as he and his allies touted unproven claims that fraud had tainted the election in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Vice President Pence gave a presentation to Republican senators on Capitol Hill about new litigation expected in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia — imploring them to stick with the president, according to several Republicans in the room.

But even some of the president’s most publicly pugilistic aides, including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and informal adviser Corey Lewandowski, have said privately that they are concerned about the lawsuits’ chances for success unless more evidence surfaces, according to people familiar with their views. Continue reading.