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US President-elect Joe Biden has to raise funds to pay for his transition to the White House, as President Trump continues to deny losing the election.
In the US system, the incoming president can only access government funds for his transition if the administrator of the General Services Administration determines the outcome of the election.
Alex Brandon / AP
President-elect Joe Biden continues to select his cabinet, despite having to navigate obstacles imposed by Trump.
Current Trump-appointed official Emily Murphy has so far refused to do this, leaving Biden’s team without the millions of dollars needed to start appointing staff, or important coronavirus response and security reports.
According to two donors familiar with the transition efforts, they have already raised about US $ 8 million (NZ $ 11.5 million) for the transition, reaching their original goal, but without the roughly US $ 6 million in federal funding awarded to the Biden’s transition team, I have been forced to continue raising funds.
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In an email to donors obtained this week by the AP, Chris Korge, chairman of national finance for the Democratic National Committee, warned that Biden’s transition did not have enough money to “fully fund” his efforts and told donors that ” The American people will be the biggest losers if we don’t step up and do something about it. “
Speaking in a call with reporters on Friday, Yohannes Abraham, a Biden transition adviser, warned that the delay is affecting transition planning.
“This is not a game,” he said. “You can’t replace real-time information that can only come from the post-verification environment that we should be in now.”
Meanwhile, Biden was moving quickly to complete his administration and could name top leaders to his cabinet starting next week.
Susan Walsh / AP
President Donald Trump continues to falsely claim that he won the election.
He told reporters on Thursday (local time) that he has already decided who will run the Treasury Department. That election, along with his candidate for secretary of state, may be announced before Thanksgiving (Nov. 26), according to people close to the transition who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Cabinet announcements could run in tranches, with groups of nominees focused on a specific top area, such as the economy, national security or public health, announcing immediately.
Such a move is intended to convey the message that Biden intends to prepare for the presidency even as Trump refuses to budge and attempts to subvert election results in key states.
Trump’s roadblocks have undermined fundamental democratic principles like the peaceful transfer of power and are especially problematic because Biden will take office in January amid the worst public health crisis in more than a century.
“It is a great impact. And every day it gets worse, that is, a week ago, it was not a big problem. This week, it’s starting to be a big problem. Next week will be bigger, ”said David Marchick, director of the Center for Presidential Transition at the nonpartisan Association for Public Service. “Each new day that is lost has a greater impact than the day before.”
Still, Biden’s transition work is progressing, with the president-elect holding frequent virtual gatherings from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and a music venue downtown. At this point, Biden was deeply involved in choosing his cabinet, a process described by one person as akin to fitting puzzle pieces together.
In assembling the 15-person team, Biden faced demands from multiple competing interests, as well as the political realities of navigating a narrowly divided Senate.
