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.

How Trump’s 2024 candidacy could hurt GOP chances in 2022

Midterm would normally be a referendum on Biden’s party

ANALYSIS — After President Donald Trump boosted down-ballot Republicans in 2020, the GOP might be excited about his reported plans to avenge his loss by immediately beginning a race for the presidency in 2024. But while he delivered the White House once before and has shown a unique ability to consistently outperform the polls, his candidacy could jeopardize GOP gains in the 2022 midterm elections.

Even though the president fell short of former Vice President Joe Biden in the popular vote and in the Electoral College, Republicans are generally grateful that he kept the race close, in the right places, for the party to come within a handful of seats of a majority in the House and be in prime position to maintain their majority in the Senate. The fact that this combination of outcomes flew in the face of expectations of Democrats and most of the media is just more fuel for their partisan fire.

The results give Republicans little incentive to back away from Trump or try to steer the party in a different direction, even though he lost. But his future public profile, including another run for president, is going to make things complicated for the GOP. Continue reading.

World leaders urged to refuse to meet with Mike Pompeo after he denies Biden’s win

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Responding to alarming remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denying the results of the 2020 presidential election, the head of an international health organization on Wednesday urged world leaders to refuse to meet with Pompeo until he acknowledges President-elect Joe Biden’s legitimate victory.

A day after the White House directed federal agencies to refuse cooperation with Biden’s transition team, Pompeo raised eyebrows and ire on Tuesday after asserting that “there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”

In response, Serra Sippel, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), issued a statement accusing the secretary of state of “undermining the democratic legitimacy of the United States, ignoring [Biden’s] decisive victory in the 2020 general election, and encouraging political violence by spreading disinformation.” 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.

Legal experts fear the White House will violate the Presidential Records Act during the transition

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With 70 days until the presidential inauguration, there is growing concern over President Donald Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. Trump has spent the last week (and months, to years, frankly) publicly discrediting the United States’ electoral systems.

Behind closed doors, there is another area of Trump’s governing that is raising alarms. The president has replaced several top government officials with his own loyalists and now, there are concerns about the damage his administration could cause between now and Inauguration Day.

A new report released by Just Security breaks down the basis of the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and what is included under it. Under the PRA, government employees are only allowed to take personal records when leaving positions. Continue reading.

Why this retired general says Trump loyalists want to stage a coup: ‘Crazy thing going on inside that White House’

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A four-star United States retired general is sounding the alarm on key national security concerns after President Donald J. Trump shakes up the Pentagon staff less than one week after losing the election to President-elect Joe Biden.

“I have been shot at a lot and nearly killed a bunch of times,” said Gen. Barry Richard McCaffrey (ret.). “I’m not an alarmist. I stay cool under pressure. Mark me down as alarmed. I just listened to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) — wonderful, experienced, mature guy — say this is just payback to [Mark] Esper not being a loyalist. I don’t believe it. We’re watching a setup of some people who are unqualified for office to be in control of the 2.1 million men and women of the armed forces.”

McCaffrey said, “And I remind our viewers, the only one who can give orders to the armed forces is the president and the secretary of defense. This acting secretary Chris Miller is a perfectly good, experienced combat soldier. He is unqualified for this office. The other three, one of them, a retired one-star, is a dangerous man. That team moving in, no one in his right mind would have accepted an appointment for 90 days. These people are in there to control a coercive institution of U.S. democracy. Watch out.” Continue reading.

GOP leaders’ embrace of Trump’s refusal to concede fits pattern of rising authoritarianism, data shows

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Research by a team of international scholars shows the Republican Party’s shift away from democratic norms predates Donald Trump but has accelerated since

Taking a cue from President Trump, several leading Republican lawmakers and officials have refused to acknowledge Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential contest and indulge Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud.

In Georgia, two GOP senators called on the state’s Republican secretary of state to resign, alleging irregularities and mismanagement without offering evidence. Only four of 53 Senate Republicans have congratulated Biden on his projected victory. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin recently told reporters “there’s nothing to congratulate [Biden] about,” while Missouri’s Roy Blunt said the president “may not have been defeated at all.”

It’s the latest sign of the party’s lurch away from democratic ideals and practices, a shift that predates Trump but one that has accelerated precipitously since. Now, according to data released by an international team of political scientists just before the Nov. 3 election, it’s possible to quantify the extent to which the Republican Party no longer adheres to such principles as the commitment to free and fair elections with multiple parties, the respectful treatment of political opponents and the avoidance of violent rhetoric. 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.

Of course Republicans are doing this. It’s who they are.

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No. Not this time. Not again.

We knew that President Trump had no respect for democracy or the Constitution. So we’re not surprised that he’s lying, and lying, and lying again to claim he prevailed in the election that President-elect Joe Biden won decisively, fair and square.

What we did not know for certain was whether the Republican Party would once again bow before Trump’s corruption and his indifference to the fate of our republican institutions. Continue reading.