It is a hero story, that part of American History that we can be proud of, and Biden is choosing his Cabinet people with this in mind.
Read this moving story…
End of thread
It’s time for T to set up the Biden transition funds. Opinion piece written by Sen Rob Portman (R-OH)
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) wrote in an op-ed for The Cincinnati Enquirer that while he supports legal checks on the 2020 presidential election, the General Services Administration should provide the funds and infrastructure for a Biden transition to begin.
Why it matters: Portman was a co-chair of Trump’s re-election campaign in Ohio and rarely steps out of line with party leadership. He wrote in the op-ed that “there is no evidence as of now of any widespread fraud or irregularities that would change the result in any state.”
What he’s saying: “Based on all the information currently available, neither the final lawful vote counts nor the recounts have led to a different outcome in any state. In other words, the initial determination showing Joe Biden with enough electoral votes to win has not changed,” Portman wrote.
- " I voted for President Trump … But I also believe that there is no more sacred constitutional process in our great democracy than the orderly transfer of power after a presidential election. It is now time to expeditiously resolve any outstanding questions and move forward."
- “[T]he Biden team should receive the requested intelligence briefings and briefings on the coronavirus vaccine distribution plan. This is only prudent.”
The state of play: A handful of Republicans have broken rank with President Trump and fully acknowledged Joe Biden as the president-elect. Others are calling for Biden to receive transition resources, but have stopped short of referring to him as the winner of the election.
Despite moves by Republicans to subvert the results of the presidential election, Michigan is set to consider certifying its vote count on Monday, and individual counties in Pennsylvania are scheduled to do the same.
The certifications, which would come amid a string of legal losses for the Trump campaign, would all but ensure the futility of President Trump’s challenges to the election results. > President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s electoral vote count — 306 to Mr. Trump’s 232 — mirrors the total by which the president defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016.
The electors will meet in their respective states and the District of Columbia to formally cast their votes on Dec. 14.
Georgia on Friday became the first contested state to certify Mr. Biden’s victory, after a hand recount of the results, technically an audit, confirmed Mr. Trump’s defeat by more than 12,000 votes. It was the first time a Democratic presidential candidate had won the state since 1992.
A federal judge dismissed a Trump campaign challenge to Pennsylvania’s results on Saturday, eliminating the last major effort to delay certification there. The campaign and the case’s other plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal on Sunday.
Other key states, including Michigan and Nevada, also have to certify their results. The Board of State Canvassers in Michigan is scheduled to meet on Monday to consider the certification of results that have already been certified by county canvassing boards. The state board is made up of two Republicans and two Democrats.
Mr. Trump invited Michigan Republican leaders to the White House last week, as members of the party sought to stop the certification process. After the meeting, the state’s top two Republican lawmakers — Mike Shirkey, the leader of the State Senate, and Lee Chatfield, the speaker of the State House — said they had not “been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election.”
The leaders of the Republican National Committee and the Michigan Republican Party have asked the Michigan board to delay the state’s certification for two weeks.
Mr. Shirkey and Mr. Chatfield said in a statement that they “will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan’s electors.”
Even without Michigan’s electoral votes, Mr. Biden would surpass the 270-count threshold to win.
And the controversy surrounding the MI canvassers’ vote
The people have spoken. They delivered Joe Biden a decisive electoral victory, including a 150,000-vote margin in Michigan. Yet Republican Party officials have asked the Michigan Board of State Canvassers to delay certification on Monday. These calls follow last week’s tumultuous Wayne County meeting where, after improper interference by a candidate, Republican appointees tried to recant their decision to certify.
This is unduly chaotic, but we shouldn’t bet against democracy. A canvassing board may not legally refuse to certify an election where no legitimate evidence undermines valid ballots. Michigan courts have repeatedly rejected wild claims of election fraud or improprieties as “incorrect and not credible.” The votes, at this point, speak for themselves. Should a member of the state canvassing board seek to misuse their authority, that obstruction won’t actually deliver a different result. First, understand what state canvassers do: certification just involves adding county tallies and declaring a winner. Michigan law provides a separate space to review the election process — a post-election audit, which does not delay or stop certification. The canvassers have one job. State courts can step in to make sure it gets done. Canvassers failing to do their duty may delay the inevitable for a moment — but not much more than that.
Michigan - Here’s the Board of Canvassers - Will they certify the votes today or will the requests for delay win out? T’s last stand perhaps
LIve 11:30 am PST
At an event in Wilmington, Del., Mr. Biden will announce plans to nominate Alejandro Mayorkas to be his homeland security secretary, his transition office said, and Avril Haines to be his director of national intelligence. He intends to name Mr. Kerry as a special presidential envoy on climate. The transition office also confirmed reports on Sunday night that Mr. Biden will nominate Antony J. Blinken to be secretary of state and Jake Sullivan as national security adviser.
Mr. Biden will also nominate Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be ambassador to the United Nations and restore the job to cabinet-level status, giving Ms. Thomas-Greenfield, who is African-American, a seat on his National Security Council.
Janet Yellen will be nominated for Treasury
BIden uses this promo piece to introduce his new cabinet picks.
In Michigan, the vote for Certification on the total votes is about to be certified, barring any problems…
But here’s a comment from a local RNC chair who acknowledges all the disenfranchisement going on on behalf of the R’s. Clear as day…he knows, they know that there was NO evidence of fraud, just a whole lot of R interference, suggesting that there was.
Remarkable.
MI certifies the votes!!11
GM just flipped from Trump to California in Trump’s lawsuit against California fuel emissions regs.
Finally! GSA has gone ahead and moving along with transition.
Trump just unblocked the transition process by tweet.
The President’s lawyer…
ARRGH. Not only is the Trump regime pulling us out of the Open Skies Treaty illegally, they’re junking the unique, irreplaceable planes we use for it so that when Biden tries to re-enter it, he won’t have the equipment to do so.
AP reporting and PA is untouchable for Trump.
Bob Bauer, the Biden’s campaign senior legal advisor, in a statement said, “It’s readily apparent to everyone besides Donald Trump, [Trump campaign lawyers] Rudy Giuliani, and Jenna Ellis that this election is over and that Joe Biden won resoundingly.”
“Trump did everything he could to disenfranchise voters and stop the results from being certified in Pennsylvania, including filing over 15 unsuccessful lawsuits — most recently producing one of the more embarrassing courtroom performances of all time, with the judge in the case ruling that their arguments were ‘without merit’ and ’unsupported by evidence,” Bauer said.
“Trump did not succeed in Pennsylvania and he will not succeed anywhere else. Trump’s lawsuits will continue to fail, as they have in over 30 cases since election day, states will continue to certify their results, and Joe Biden will be sworn in as President on January 20, 2021.”
Stripping away unused CARES/Relief funds by Treasury Secretary Munchin to keep away from Biden’s group is another setting of a fire to keep the new Administration on it’s heals.
Here’s a statement from the US Chamber of Commerce.
Thursday, November 19, 2020 - 7:30pm
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Chamber Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley today issued the following statement after the Treasury Department requested that the Federal Reserve return unused funds from facilities that used CARES Act funding, including the Main Street Lending Program:
“With the coronavirus surging in communities around the nation and American businesses facing mounting challenges, we need the government’s full support by providing the resources necessary for broad-based economic recovery. A surprise termination of the Federal Reserve’s emergency liquidity programs, including the Main Street Lending Program, prematurely and unnecessarily ties the hands of the incoming administration, and closes the door on important liquidity options for businesses at a time when they need them most.
“American businesses and workers are weary of these political machinations when they are doing everything in their power to keep our economy going. We strongly urge these programs be extended for the foreseeable future and call on Congress to pass additional pandemic relief targeted at the American businesses, workers and industries that continue to suffer. We all need to unite behind the need of a broad-based economic recovery.
Link to www.Bloomberg. /2020-11-24/mnuchin-to-put-455-billion-in-funds-out-of-yellen-s-easy-reach
Biden Treasury pick will need lawmaker approval to use funds
Democrats question legality of Mnuchin’s shift of money
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will put $455 billion in unspent Cares Act funding into an account that his presumed successor, former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, will soon need authorization from Congress to use.
The money will be placed in the agency’s General Fund, a Treasury Department spokesperson said Tuesday. Most of it had gone to support Federal Reserve emergency-lending facilities, and Mnuchin’s clawback would make it impossible for Yellen as Treasury secretary to restore for that purpose without lawmakers’ blessing.
Democrats swiftly criticized the move, with Bharat Ramamurti, a member of the congressionally appointed watchdog panel overseeing Fed and Treasury Covid-19 relief funds, saying “the good news is that it’s illegal and can be reversed next year.”
A Treasury spokesperson rejected that analysis, saying Mnuchin’s move was legal under the Cares Act stimulus law that originally provided the funding. Republicans and Democrats similarly clashed on Friday over whether the outgoing Treasury chief’s reading of the law required the phasing out of a welter of Fed facilities at year’s end.
President-elect Joe Biden has selected Yellen as his nominee for Treasury secretary. His transition team last week called Mnuchin’s demand for the return of funds from the Fed “deeply irresponsible,” but Mnuchin has denied that he was attempting to limit Biden’s options for reviving the economy.
Looks like some talented women coming aboard in key positions. Progressives are not happy with Neera Tanden…but she’s got strong credentials.
Jennifer Psaki, a veteran Democratic spokeswoman, will be Joe Biden’s White House press secretary,
Kate Bedingfield - Campaign communications director
Neera Tanden as director of the influential Office of Management and Budget
Cecilia Rouse as chair of the three-member Council of Economic Advisers, economists Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey serving as the other members
And Karine Jean-Pierre is part of the Communications team too. (see below)
WILMINGTON, Del. — Jennifer Psaki, a veteran Democratic spokeswoman, will be Joe Biden’s White House press secretary, one of seven women who will fill the upper ranks of his administration’s communications staff. It is the first time that all of the top aides tasked with speaking on behalf of an administration and shaping its message will be female.
Biden’s press team will be led by Kate Bedingfield, a longtime Biden aide who served as his campaign communications director and will hold the same title in his White House.
Biden will also break several barriers on key economic policy positions, including the nomination of Neera Tanden as director of the influential Office of Management and Budget. Tanden, the chief executive of the left-leaning Center for American Progress, would be the first woman of color to oversee OMB.
Biden also is expected to appoint Princeton University labor economist Cecilia Rouse as chair of the three-member Council of Economic Advisers, with economists Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey serving as the other members. Rouse would be the first woman of color to chair the council.
“Communicating directly and truthfully to the American people is one of the most important duties of a President, and this team will be entrusted with the tremendous responsibility of connecting the American people to the White House,” Biden said in a statement.
And VP Kamala Harris has chosen Symone Sanders to work with her.
In a truly hilarious moment, the GOP has become the GOP’s worst enemy in Georgia, as fired lawyer Sidney Powell claims Kelly Loeffler and Brian Kemp rigged the election against Doug Collins, and thus Trump, to get her into the runoff.