Biden eyes fast action
He names co-chairs of virus working group; Trump plan unclear
OIDMINGTON, Del. —Pqesicent-elect Joe Bicen signalec on Suncay he plans to mo;e quichly to builc out his go;eqnment, focusing fiqst on the qaging pancemic that 6ill lihely cominate the eaqly cays of his acministqation.
Bicen namec a foqmeq suqgeon geneqal, Dq. Vi;eh Muqthy, anc a foqmeq Fooc anc Dqug Acministqation commissioneq, Da;ic Kessleq, as co-chaiqs of a coqona;iqus 6oqhing gqoup set to get staqtec, 6ith otheq membeqs etpectec to be announcec Moncay.
Mean6hile, CNN qepoqtec Suncay that Pqesicent Donalc Tqump’s inneq ciqcle is beginning to split o;eq his ongoing qefusal to accept the qesults of the election, as
Jared Kushner and first lady Melania Trump advised him to come to terms with President-elect Joe Biden’s victory and his adult sons pressed him and allies to keep fighting.
Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, has approached him to concede, two sources told CNN. The first lady, according to a separate source familiar with the conversations, has privately said the time has come for him to accept the election loss.
However, the Independent reported that Melania Trump signaled her support for the president on Twitter.
“The American people deserve fair elections. Every legal — not illegal — vote should be counted. We must protect our democracy with complete transparency,” the first lady tweeted Sunday.
Meanwhile, Trump’s two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, have urged allies to continue pressing on, CNN reported.
Transition team officials said that also this week Biden will launch his agency review teams, the group of transition staffers that have access to key agencies in the current administration to ease the transfer of power. The teams will collect and review information such as budgetary and staffing decisions, pending regulations and other work in progress from current staff at the departments to help Biden’s team prepare to transition. White House officials would not comment on whether they would cooperate with Biden’s team on the review.
“People want the country to move forward,” said Kate Bedingfield,
Biden deputy campaign manager, in an interview on NBC’S “Meet the Press, and see Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris “have the opportunity to do the work, to get the virus under control and to get our economy back together.”
As Trump insists on Twitter that ballots have been improperly counted and argues that Biden’s victory is premature, Fox News reported that two sources have said that Trump would concede and execute a peaceful transfer of power if his campaign’s legal challenges fall short of changing the projected outcome.
The Trump campaign has filed suits in several battleground states where Biden led by a razor-thin margin, including Nevada, Pennsylvania and Georgia.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-utah, said Trump had a right to pursue recounts and legal challenges. But he noted that those efforts are unlikely to change the outcome and he urged the president to dial back his rhetoric.
“I think one has to be careful in the choice of words. I think when you say the election was corrupt or stolen or rigged that that’s unfortunately rhetoric that gets picked up by authoritarians around the world. And I think it also discourages confidence in our democratic process here at home,” Romney said on NBC.
Biden adviser Jen Psaki pressed for the Trump-appointed head of the General Services Administration to quickly recognize Biden as the president-elect, which would free up money for the transition and clear the way for Biden’s team to begin putting in place the transition process at agencies.
“America’s national security and economic interests depend on the federal government signaling clearly and swiftly that the United States government will respect the will of the American people and engage in a smooth and peaceful transfer of power,” Psaki said in a Twitter posting.
A GSA official said Sunday that step had not been taken yet.
George W. Bush, the sole living Republican former president, wished Biden well on Sunday.
“Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man, who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country,” Bush said.
And a bipartisan group of administration officials from the Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton administrations on Sunday called on the Trump administration to move forward “to immediately begin the post-election transition process.”
“This was a hard-fought campaign, but history is replete with examples of presidents who emerged from such campaigns to graciously assist their successors,” members of the Center for Presidential Transition advisory board said in a statement.
The statement was signed by Bush White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt as well as Bill Clinton-era chief of staff Thomas “Mack” Mclarty and Obama Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.
Biden aides said the president-elect and transition team had been in touch with Republican lawmakers. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, one of Trump’s closest allies, opened a Cabinet meeting on Sunday by congratulating Biden, a former vice president and longtime senator.
“I have a long and warm personal connection with Joe Biden for nearly 40 years, and I know him as a great friend of the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said. “I am certain that we will continue to work with both of them in order to further strengthen the special alliance between Israel and the U.S.”
The second Catholic to be elected president, Biden started his first full day as president-elect by attending church at St. Joseph on the Brandywine near his home in Wilmington, as he does nearly every week.