Trump refuses to budge, blocks transition cooperation

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration sparked a tumult in the presidential transition on Monday (November 9), when Attorney General William Barr authorized the Justice Department to investigate allegations of voter fraud and President Donald Trump fired the Pentagon chief and impeded that government officials cooperate with the president. elect Joe Biden’s team.

Despite little evidence of fraud, Barr approved investigations into Trump’s repeatedly unsubstantiated claims.

Even as Biden began gathering experts to deal with the growing pandemic, the federal agency that needs to give the green light to the beginnings of the transition of power refrained from taking that step.

And the White House took steps to crack down on those who did not consider themselves loyal enough as Trump continued to refuse to concede the race.

Leading Republicans largely refused to broadly pressure Trump to accept his electoral defeat.

He remained out of sight in the White House, ongoing conversations about how the defeated president would spend the next few days and weeks challenging the people’s verdict.

Some attendees hoped the impeachment of Defense Secretary Mark Esper would be the first of several firings of Trump, now free from having to face voters again and angry at those in his administration who are perceived as insufficiently loyal.

Others are believed to be vulnerable: FBI Director Christopher Wray, CIA Director Gina Haspel, and infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Out of sight, but not unheard, Trump took to Twitter to dispute the election result again, making unsubstantiated allegations of widespread “unthinkable and illegal” voting activity.

Trump is not expected to formally relinquish, but he is likely to reluctantly leave the White House at the end of his term, according to several people around him.

He was in talks with top allies about the possibility of more campaign-style demonstrations as he tries to keep his supporters on fire despite his defeat.

They might introduce their family and leading supporters, but not the president himself.

“WITHIN YOUR RIGHTS”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell provided cover for the president to keep fighting, seen by many in the Republican Party as the one who will eventually need to push Trump out.

“Our institutions are built for this,” McConnell said in inaugurating the Senate on Monday.

“We have the system in place to consider concerns, and President Trump has 100 percent of his right to investigate allegations of wrongdoing and weigh his legal options.”

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer responded that the Republicans’ refusal to accept the election results was “extremely dangerous, extremely poisonous to our democracy.”

“Joe Biden won the fair and square election,” Schumer said.

Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah, said it was time for the transition to go smoothly.

“At this stage, I think the transition should be underway, even if it is not finished,” he said, adding that “we want to make sure that the interests of national security and the smooth transition are met.”

READ: Corporate America says it’s ready to work with Biden

Some other Republican senators sent lukewarm nods toward a transition.

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska congratulated Biden and Senator Susan Collins of Maine highlighted the “apparent victory” for the Democrat.

But many Republican lawmakers were reluctant to speak out about the election, seeing little political incentive to take a firm stance on Trump’s transition from the White House.

Republicans on Capitol Hill have been hesitant to pressure Trump to give in to Biden, knowing it would anger their base of most devoted Trump supporters.

Most also did not openly encourage the president’s unsubstantiated claims of fraud, while allowing unsubstantiated questions about the electoral process to persist.

Adding to the sense of uncertainty, the General Services Administration (GSA) delayed the formal start of the transition, preventing Biden’s teams from gaining access to federal agencies.

A spokesman for the agency said late Monday that a “determination” had not yet been made on the winner of the election.

Citing what the agency did during the extended 2000 electoral recount, he noted that it may not do so until Trump relinquishes or the Electoral College meets next month.

That Florida tally involved a margin of just 537 votes in the only state that would have determined which candidate reached 270 electoral votes.

Biden’s tracks in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, which pushed him over the threshold to win the White House, are far more substantial, with some bigger than Trump’s in the same states in 2016.

GROWING REALIZATION

Across the government, there were signs of a slowdown.

White House officials and Trump’s political appointees informed career administration staff that they would not begin to act on transition planning until approved by the GSA, according to officials familiar with the matter.

READ: How and when will Trump leave office?

In weekly phone calls every Monday morning to employees of the Midwest-based Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), mid-level administrators answered questions about the transition by telling staff they did not yet have information, Nicole said. Cantello, an employee of the agency. and president of the Chicago local union representing EPA workers.

As of Friday at least, EPA employees told agency retirees that the agency’s political appointees refused to discuss any transition, saying they were confident Trump would be re-elected.

A senior administration official said that presidential personnel director John McEntee, a former personal assistant to the president, has sent a message to departments that they should fire any political appointee seeking a new job for now.

Another official said the warning was not seen to result in layoffs, but was intended to reinforce staff that they should not act against Trump while he refuses to budge.

Those officials and others who were not authorized to discuss internal policies or describe private discussions requested anonymity.

But elements of the federal government were already mobilizing to prepare for Biden to take office.

The United States Secret Service and the Federal Aviation Administration extended a flight restriction over Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, until Opening Day.

Biden’s security team has been reinforced with agents from the Presidential Protection Division.

And despite Trump’s public stance, there was a growing awareness in his inner circle that the election result would be impossible to overturn.

READ: Comment: Don’t forget a record number of Americans who voted for Donald Trump

Legal challenges have already been dismissed in battle states like Georgia and Wisconsin, and Trump’s legal challenge took another hit Monday when campaign advisor David Bossie, tasked with leading the effort, tested positive for COVID-19.

Bossie had been to the Election Night Party at the White House now being perceived as a possible “superpreader” event after other attendees, including Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson and other attendees contracted the virus.

Some top officials have tried to argue that Trump should focus his efforts on cementing his legacy, but fear being labeled disloyal for even thinking about it.

WING WEST HOLLOW

At the White House, the attendance of attendees had declined since election night, partly due to the outcome and partly because several are in quarantine after contracting or being exposed to people who contracted COVID-19.

Vice President Mike Pence was due to leave Tuesday for a vacation in Florida.

In the closing days of the election, Trump repeatedly described the campaign as “my job” and constantly shifted his official duties.

Trump’s public program has not included an intelligence briefing since Oct. 1, and the White House has not provided a “reading” of any calls between the president and a foreign leader in weeks.

Trump hasn’t met with members of the White House coronavirus task force in months, nor did he offer public comment on Tropical Storm Eta hitting the Florida Keys.

The protracted resolution of the elections has only added to the culture of suspicion that has permeated the emptied West Wing.

The advisers said there were two camps in the White House: those that have already accepted the result and those that are still working and pressuring Trump to keep fighting.

Employees don’t know which camp their officemates reside in, and those looking to a new job fear being branded as disloyal.

The Trump campaign has claimed that there has been a widespread multi-state conspiracy by Democrats to skew the vote count in favor of Biden, with no hard evidence to back it up.

It would take a test of illegally cast votes or improperly counted ballots on a massive, organized scale to throw out enough ballots to overcome Biden’s sizable multi-state advantage, but that just hasn’t come up.

In fact, election officials from both political parties have publicly stated that the elections went well.

But in every election, there are problems: voting machines break down, long lines force some people to leave, ballots are miscast and lost.

And 2020 has not been an exception.