President Trump is signaling that Election Day could be followed by a stretch of uncertainty and chaos as a purge of top officials, legal challenges to election results and potential resistance to a normal transition cloud the prospects for an orderly post-election period no matter who wins.
Among the possible scenarios is a quick effort to fire or sideline Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, whose prominence and increasingly pointed criticism of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic have angered the president.
Other federal health officials whose approach to the pandemic has frustrated the president also may be targeted, people familiar with the discussions say. That means the team leading the fight against the biggest public health challenge in decades could be reshuffled as Trump or Joe Biden bring in new leadership after the election. Continue reading.