Our live coverage has ended. Read more about the Biden transition here.
In response to news that election results have been certified in Arizona and Wisconsin, two White House advisers say President Trump sees the scoreboard and understands he has no chance of hanging on to the presidency despite what he has been tweeting and saying publicly.
“Yes he does,” a close adviser who has been in contact with Trump about his legal strategy said of the President’s awareness that he’s been defeated.
One adviser said Trump will continue to pursue his legal challenges until they are exhausted. But the adviser pointed to the certification in Wisconsin and said “the writing is on the wall.”
Without the ability to override the results in a combination of states, not to mention even one state, the adviser said Trump’s election challenges are obviously doomed.
Trump is still sounding as if he could still win because he wants to believe it, the adviser said. But the adviser added Trump is fully aware that he has lost, despite his ranting and raving on Twitter and on conservative media.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, is calling on President Trump to concede.
“I think he should concede, I think the race is over,” she just told CNN’s Manu Raju.
Asked if she voted for Trump, Murkowksi wouldn’t say.
“I don’t think that’s the pertinent question of the day,” she added
The Trump administration’s former special envoy for Syria and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, James Jeffrey, participated in a briefing call Monday with President-elect Joe Biden’s team about the state-of-play in the battle against ISIS and America’s presence in Syria and Iraq, according to a current administration official and a Biden adviser.
Jeffrey offered his assessment of the political and security situation in Syria, some of the competing national interests gripping the country, as well as a broad overview of the role of US troops in the country, one of the sources said.
Jeffrey retired earlier this month after 45 years in public service in the Army and Foreign Service.
The call is one of several in-person and virtual national security briefings taking place ahead of Inauguration Day to get Biden’s team up to speed on some of the ongoing conflicts where US troops have been deployed.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for confirmation hearings for President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees immediately after the Georgia runoff elections on Jan. 5.
Schumer said the hearings should take place before Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20 and that staff should begin preparing for the proceedings as the President-elect chooses who he intends to nominate. Biden has already named his picks for several top administration roles, including Secretary of State and Treasury secretary.
Schumer praised many of Biden’s choices, including Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary and Neera Tanden as director of the Office of Management and Budget. He slammed some of his Republican colleagues for their outcry over Biden’s choice of Tanden, who has been a frequent critic of the GOP on Twitter.
“Honestly, the hypocrisy is astounding. If Republicans are concerned about criticism on Twitter, their complaints are better directed at President Trump, who has made a hobby out of denigrating Republican senators on Twitter,” he said.
The top Senate Democrat said his Republican colleagues had “lined up to confirm” Trump’s nominees, whom he called, “manifestly unqualified, played by ethical complaints or swimming in conflicts of interest.”
“I would hope the same deference will be extended to President-elect Biden’s nominees, especially considering the obvious gulf in quality, experience, ethics…” he said.
Schumer said it will be “impossible to take [Republicans’] overblown complaints” over Biden’s nominees seriously, considering Trump and his party’s past actions.
Senate Majority Whip John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, was asked today why he won’t call Joe Biden the President-elect.
Here’s how he responded:
When pressed if the President Trump was undermining Americans’ faith in democracy with his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, Thune deflected, following a Republican pattern of not criticizing the President.
“Well my concern again is that the we have a transition, which is, I think, at least now you can describe as underway, and hopefully orderly and well that’s, that’s what’s important in my view,” he said.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission finalized the state’s presidential results on Monday, affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory after a recount in the state’s two most populous counties.
Wisconsin Elections Commission chairwoman Ann Jacobs signed the official paperwork stating that Biden “received the greatest number of votes” and was entitled to Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes.
It is now up to Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, to sign the paperwork formally awarding those electoral votes to Biden. It’s unclear how fast he will act. His team has not answered CNN’s inquiries.
President Trump’s campaign has pledged to further challenge the state’s results in court.
President-elect Joe Biden’s State Department transition team electronically gained access over the weekend to all of the unclassified briefing materials prepared for them by the State Department during the last few months, according to a senior State Department official familiar with the transition process.
Today a handful of people on Biden’s transition team came into the State Department offices in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood in Washington, DC, to look at the office space provided to them there, the official said.
They are still figuring out how much of the transition process will be done virtually and how much of it will be done in person in the building. As of now, it appears that it will be some kind of a hybrid model. Classified briefings will need to take place in Foggy Bottom in the sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) setup for the transition team.
Antony Blinken, who Biden has named as his pick for Secretary of State, has not come into the building yet, the official said. It is expected that he will come in for briefings in the coming weeks – which will be important to get him up to speed, and to re-establish relationships with career officials.
Biden’s State Department transition team has given State a long list of briefings they would like and those will be scheduled in the coming weeks, the source said. They will largely be carried out by assistant secretaries and the Deputy Secretary Steve Biegun.
The State Department career transition team will not have a role in vetting the political picks for ambassadors, that process will go through the Biden White House team, which it always does. State will have a role in suggesting career foreign service officers for the posts that do not go to political appointees but that process has not yet begun.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro urged the Supreme Court on Monday to let stand a state high court decision that allowed ballots that arrived three days after the election to be counted.
Shapiro told the justices that the dispute is now moot and that the ballots in question had no impact on Joe Biden’s victory.
The petition is in response to a claim from the Pennsylvania Republican Party that the state’s high court exceeded its authority in extending ballot deadlines during the pandemic.
The Republicans asked the justices to reverse the lower court before the election, but the Supreme Court declined to expedite the case.
In addition, the justices have declined to act on a petition from the Trump campaign seeking to become an official party to the dispute. The court has also taken no action on an emergency petition urging the justices to order the counties to take no action on the ballots.
Shapiro said that the number of challenged ballots is insufficient to change the outcome of the presidential election — or any other federal election in the state.
He charged that the pending petition comes at a time when Trump is alleging “baseless claims of fraud and illegality in elections nationwide” that threaten to “impugn the integrity of the democratic process and aim to cast doubt on the legitimacy of its outcome.”
He urged the court not to “plunge itself into the political thicket by granting a case that will not affect the outcome of any election.”
Entering the chamber, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ignored a question on whether he considers Joe Biden the President-elect of the United States.
McConnell typically ignores questions in the halls but occasionally engages.
He has been mostly quiet amid President Trump’s constant conspiracy theories and lies about the election results.
Former CIA Acting Director Mike Morell may have lost his strongest competition to lead the agency when Tom Donilon decided not to join Joe Biden’s administration but others are still in the mix for the remaining intelligence seat in the President-elect’s Cabinet.
David Cohen, a former deputy director of the CIA under former President Barack Obama, is being considered by the Biden transition team, two sources familiar tell CNN.
Also in the pool of candidates are Vincent Stewart, a former leader of the Defense Intelligence Agency and Marine general, Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security under Obama (who is also being considered for defense secretary), former Obama senior adviser Lisa Monaco and Sue Gordon, the former principal deputy director of National Intelligence under President Trump who spent decades at the CIA.
They have emerged as stronger contenders while Morell’s status as a frontrunner has been tested with a barrage of attacks from Senate Intelligence Committee Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden for being a “torture apologist.”
Gordon’s name had already been floated by the Biden transition team to Democrats on Capitol Hill, two Democratic senate aides said, but since Wyden’s attacks senior transition officials have spoken with other Democratic senators, including members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to discuss possible candidates.
The committee is the first gauntlet on the path to confirmation and Gordon “would be very popular if nominated,” one of the aides told CNN, suggesting she may have an easier time being confirmed than Morell if he starts taking more fire from progressives. Monaco is also in the running, multiple sources familiar with the discussions say.
Gordon resigned from her post as the intelligence community’s No. 2 in August 2019 after it became clear Trump wanted her out. “You should have your team,” Gordon told Trump in a farewell note.
During the 2020 campaign the fiercely apolitical Gordon advised the Biden team on a range of intelligence issues but never officially joined the campaign or transition team. Her ability to sail through confirmation may be appealing to the incoming administration, though there’s no indication that Wyden’s attacks on Morell would block his confirmation.
The Biden transition team has kept candidates for intelligence roles in the dark as to where they stand, several people familiar with the process said.
Those being considered – like Morell and Gordon – have had such lengthy careers and track records that they’re known quantities for Biden officials helping the incoming president make his decision.
Arizona certified its election results on Monday, awarding the state’s eleven electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden and clearing the way for Senator-elect Mark Kelly, a Democrat, to be sworn in this week.
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, certified the election results Monday morning, saying the elections process was the most secure in recent history, “despite unfounded claims to the contrary.”
The state’s Gov. Doug Ducey and Attorney General Mark Brnovich along with Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Brutinel, witnessed the certification, as required by state law. These three officials are Republicans.
Ducey, who echoed Hobbs’ comments and praised the integrity of Arizona’s election system, also said he would sign official documentation today and have it hand-delivered to the secretary of the US Senate, so that Kelly, “Arizona’s newest senator can be sworn in as swiftly as possible.”
Kelly, who defeated Republican Sen. Martha McSally in a special election, will be sworn in at noon on Wednesday, according to a senior Democratic aide. That will reduce the current Republican advantage in the US Senate to 52-48.
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny reports:
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is receiving her first Presidential Daily Briefing at the Department of Commerce today in Washington, DC, a source familiar with the situation tells CNN.
This is Harris’ first time receiving the PDB, as it is also known, as Vice President-elect. As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Harris received twice-weekly intelligence briefings but those lacked the depth of details and information that the PDB has, CNN reported earlier this month.
The PDB contains the daily collection of analysis and information that the intelligence community believes the President and his most senior national security staff need to start the day — it’s been called the newspaper with the world’s smallest circulation.
More on this: CNN’s Jeff Zeleny and Alex Marquardt reported earlier today that President-elect Joe Biden will receive his intelligence briefing at his own house outside Wilmington, Delaware, a sign that his house has been retrofitted once again to receive classified information. Unlike Biden, Harris lives in a large apartment complex in DC.
The head of President Trump’s Federal Communications Commission announced Monday that he intends to leave the agency at the end of Trump’s term.
Ajit Pai, the FCC chair, said he will step down from the agency on Jan. 20. He is the first Asian-American to lead the telecom regulator.
In a statement, Pai praised the work of the FCC’s staff during the pandemic, and said that after four years, America’s communications networks are “faster, stronger and more widely deployed than ever before.”
“Together, we’ve delivered for the American people over the past four years: closing the digital divide; promoting innovation and competition, from 5G on the ground to broadband from space; protecting consumers; and advancing public safety,” Pai said.
Why this matters: It is traditional for the FCC’s chairman to step aside when a new presidential administration arrives in Washington. Pai’s official announcement clears the way for President-elect Joe Biden to nominate his own chair to the independent agency.
Under his tenure, the FCC completed several important auctions of wireless airwaves and loosened regulations on media ownership. But Pai was also criticized by consumer advocacy groups for rolling back the FCC’s net neutrality rules for internet providers and for agreeing to move forward with Trump’s request for unprecedented regulations that would apply to social media platforms.
President-elect Joe Biden is receiving his first intelligence briefing from his home outside Wilmington today, people familiar with the matter tell CNN.
This is the first sign we have that his house has been retrofitted — again — for classified briefings.
It’s the first time Biden is receiving the briefing, known as the PDB, in nearly four years. He routinely received the briefing as vice president.
The PDB contains the daily collection of analysis and information that the intelligence community believes the President and his most senior national security staff need to start the day — it’s been called the newspaper with the world’s smallest circulation.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will get the same briefing on Monday with Biden, the transition team said Wednesday, ending the strange situation where she, as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, had access to more classified intelligence than the President-elect.
President Trump, who has refused to concede the election, relented only last week on his initial refusal to allow Biden access to the nation’s most vital intelligence.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Monday that “the truth matters,” and pushed back against the “massive” spigot of election disinformation being spread by President Trump and Republicans.
Taking aim at his fellow Republicans, Raffensperger said at a news conference at the Georgia Capitol that “massive amounts of misinformation” about the election were “being spread by dishonest actors.”
Raffensperger also rebutted numerous lies that Trump has pushed about massive election fraud in Georgia and elsewhere, and said that the post-election audit and ongoing recount prove that the election was fair.
“Once this recount is complete, everyone in Georgia will be able to have even more confidence in the results of our elections,” he said, adding that the recount is on track to finish by the Wednesday night deadline.
Raffensperger also said his office will continue to investigate any credible claims of illegal voting and any violations of state election law.
According to Raffensperger, there are currently over 250 open cases of election irregularities still being investigated from 2020. Nearly 5 million votes were cast statewide.
Remember: There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Georgia, which Biden won by more than 12,000 votes.
Separately, during the recount, a software problem slowed things down in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta. Election officials said Monday that this was no proof of any improprieties and that the mishap with the Dominion Voting Systems software was caused by local officials who did not follow instructions.
The incident fueled conspiracy theories online because Trump himself and GOP lawyers have perpetuated false conspiracy theories that Dominion orchestrated a nationwide vote-rigging scheme to help Biden.
CNN’s KYUNG LAH REPORTS:
Janet Yellen, who was nominated by President-elect Joe Biden this morning to become the Secretary of Treasury, just reacted on Twitter to the news.
“As Treasury Secretary, I will work every day towards rebuilding that dream for all,” she continued.
If confirmed, the former chair of the Federal Reserve would be the first woman to serve as Treasury Secretary.
Yellen will be tasked with helping lead Biden’s economic response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has wreaked havoc on the economy and led millions of Americans to lose their jobs.
She will also be asked to make good on the former vice president’s campaign promise to narrow the economic disparities between the rich and middle class and poor Americans.
When President Trump lost this year’s election to Joe Biden, almost nobody around him said they could envision the losing incumbent attending his successor’s inauguration.
The image remains implausible for a President who will likely never concede and said Sunday that nothing would convince him he lost.
Yet Republicans and aides to Trump are encouraging him to at least consider attending Biden’s swearing-in, hoping his presence will both reflect well on his character and help preserve his future influence but also convince Americans the election was fair.
Blunt, who declined to call Biden the president-elect, still said it was “likely” the former vice president would be sworn in on January 20. He said he was “continuing to work to see what we can do to have both the President there and have Vice President Biden there, likely sworn in on that day.”
Like others around Trump who are worried his ever-devolving conspiracies about the election could damage both his own standing and the position of Republicans going forward, Blunt appealed to the prospect that Trump could retain more influence if he departs the White House with dignity.
“I think there’s a big role for President Trump,” Blunt said. “I hope he embraces that and looks at how you move to whatever comes next for him assuming that this election works out the way it appears it will.”
Whether the outgoing president takes that advice remains unknown. Trump has performed none of the traditional steps of an outgoing commander-in-chief, including inviting Biden for a meeting in the Oval Office or even phoning him with any kind of conciliatory message.
Speaking in an interview on Sunday, Trump declined to offer a timeline for when he might ease up his losing battle to overturn the election results. And he admitted that even if Biden enters office, he will remain unconvinced he lost.
WATCH SEN. BLUNT SPEAK WITH CNN’S DANA BASH:
President-elect Joe Biden has just announced the key members of his economic team, rounding out another diverse group of nominees.
Janet Yellen will become the Secretary of Treasury, if confirmed, and Neera Tanden would become the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, according to a release from the transition. Yellen, if confirmed, would be the first woman to serve as Treasury Secretary.
They also announced Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo as deputy secretary of the Treasury, Cecilia Rouse for Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers and Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey to become members of the Council of Economic Advisers. If confirmed, Adeyemo would be the first Black deputy Treasury Secretary.
This release confirms CNN’s reporting that Biden would tap Yellen for the Treasury position and Adeyemo for the number two spot.
Senator-elect Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona, will be sworn in as a US senator at noon ET on Wednesday, according to a senior Democratic aide.
Kelly defeated Republican Sen. Martha McSally in Arizona’s special election.
Outside President Trump’s bedroom window on the north side of the White House is the sound of building: hammers, drills, the beep-beep of trucks backing up and metal planks clanking into place.
Construction of the parade platform for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration festivities is well underway. The viewing stand and bleachers are almost complete and each day they get closer to being done — all within Trump’s view —as it becomes clearer his days in the White House are coming to a close.
Despite the uncertainty of the coronavirus and Trump’s waning attempts to overturn the election, the structure is a growing reminder of the transition now in motion.
Whatever else must change to accommodate the pandemic, people are getting ready for Biden’s inauguration come January, which will likely reflect the President-elect’s cautious, science-driven approach to the pandemic.
What’s more, the outgoing president may not even go to the incoming president’s swearing-in. Three White House officials familiar with Trump’s moods and patterns speculate he won’t be there for the hand-off.
“I can’t foresee a scenario where he goes and that tradition carries on as normal,” one of the officials tells CNN.
No doubt, the pomp and circumstance will be noticeably different this time around, according to interviews with multiple aides and administration officials, from the White House to Capitol Hill to the DC mayor’s office. The future of the traditional luncheon in Statuary Hall is up in the air, and it’s unlikely a choir behind the new President will be feasible.
The expectation is the inauguration will be smaller, too, and attendees will have to wear masks and maintain social distance within the ticketed parameters.
The congressional committee tasked with choreographing the festivities at the Capitol has tried to map out plans for a range of scenarios with consultation from medical experts, aides say.
The committee has been in an awkward limbo since Election Day, as Trump’s refusal to accept his loss mounted. While unable to dive-in exclusively with Biden’s team, the committee has spent the last several months making plans for whoever won the election. Aides maintained neutrality in recent weeks as Trump’s denial dragged on, communicating with both his and Biden’s teams as to what the options could be for Jan. 20.
Read more here.
