#46 President Joe Biden
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Factbox: Biden could change these key policies on 'Day One' in the White House
(Reuters) - Democrat Joe Biden has been keeping a long wish list of actions he would take if had a chance to reverse the policies of Republican U.S. President Donald Trump.
Now that Biden is headed to the White House after winning Tuesday’s election, here is a list of the some of the policies the president-elect and his team want to take “on Day One” or early in his four-year term in office slated to start on Jan. 20, 2021.
PANDEMIC
Biden has said his No. 1 focus is getting the coronavirus under control. He will push for masks to be worn nationwide, a change that health experts say could save thousands of lives, but his legal authority to enforce such a mandate is unclear.
He promises a new public-private partnership called a “pandemic testing board” that would be responsible for boosting production of coronavirus testing kits and lab supplies as well as coordinating access to those services. He also promised to make COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccines free for all Americans.
ECONOMY
Biden promised to undo many of the tax cuts Trump signed into law for corporations and wealthy individuals as soon as he takes office, though the changes require congressional approval. He vowed to increase enforcement of tax policies already on the books and also to quickly bolster workers’ unionization rights.
A major plank of Biden’s plan to recover from the coronavirus recession is to force government agencies to buy U.S.-made goods and services to help boost domestic manufacturing. He can do this through spending already authorized by Congress and orders to the agencies soon to be under his control.
CIVIL RIGHTS
Within Biden’s first 100 days, he pledged to work on getting the Equality Act passed, a bill adding vast new anti-discrimination protections based on sexual and gender identity.
He is also expected to issue an executive order promoting diversity and inclusion in the federal government, and create a new White House Council on Gender Equality to coordinate policies relating to women.
And while he pursues gun-control legislation, Biden has promised to use his powers “to ban the importation of assault weapons.”
IMMIGRATION
Biden plans to send an immigration bill to Congress on his first day in office that includes a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally, a goal sought unsuccessfully by many U.S. presidential administrations of both parties.
Apart from the legislation, Biden intends to reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which grants deportation relief and work permits to roughly 644,000 people living in the United States illegally after entering as children, known as “Dreamers.” Trump has reduced protections under the program.
Biden also promised to halt deportations during his first 100 days in office.
He promised to sign an order creating a task force to reunite more than 500 children who were separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border by the Trump administration and whose parents have not been located.
Biden plans to rescind Trump’s travel bans, which placed restrictions on travelers from 13 countries, most of them either majority-Muslim or African nations.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Biden has said that on his first day he would rescind Trump’s decision to abandon the World Health Organization - a move widely criticized internationally amid the pandemic - and quickly rejoin the Paris climate accord, a signature achievement of the Obama-Biden administration. The United States would also re-enter the Iran nuclear deal negotiated under that administration and nixed by Trump.
He has said that on “Day One” he would be on the phone with allies to rebuild U.S. credibility abroad after four years of Trump’s “America First” approach.
Biden has pledged to extend the life of the last U.S.-Russia strategic nuclear arms control treaty, and notifying Moscow of his intention to do so likely would be one of his first acts. The New START pact expires 16 days after his inauguration, ending all restraints on deployments of strategic nuclear warheads and the bombers and missiles that carry them, potentially fueling a new arms race.
Biden would also “immediately” consult with America’s main allies before deciding on the future of U.S. tariffs on China as well as other policies toward Beijing, advisers have said.
He told Univision “as soon as I’m sworn in” he would grant refugee status, known as Temporary Protected Status, for tens of thousands of Venezuelan nationals in the United States after they fled political and economic turmoil at home. Trump had long considered such a move but never approved it.
ENVIRONMENT
In addition to leaving the Paris agreement, Trump reversed a number of other environmental policies under Democratic former President Barack Obama that Biden is set to restore.
Biden will set higher clean-energy targets, and ban coal and natural gas leasing on federal lands while curbing methane emissions from oil and gas production.
He would also establish an environmental and climate justice division within the U.S. Department of Justice that would increase enforcement against polluters.
CONSUMER PROTECTIONS
The Trump administration has weakened consumer protections, relaxing key rules and enforcement at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That could change on Biden’s first day.
In June, the Supreme Court ruled in a case backed by the Trump administration that the agency’s director could be fired by the president at will, allowing Biden to immediately replace current director Kathy Kraninger and appoint an interim progressive pick in her stead.
With a new director in position, the agency could start overnight to crack down on payday lenders, debt collectors, banks, and mortgage firms through tougher supervision and stiffer penalties for wrongdoing, and shelve regulatory initiatives critics say could do more harm to consumers than good.
Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Matt Spetalnick, Ted Hesson, Jonathan Landay, David Brunnstrom and Michelle Price; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jonathan Oatis
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Biden wins U.S. presidency, calls for healing in appeal to Trump voters
WILMINGTON, Del./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Joe Biden declared it was “time to heal” a deeply divided America in his first speech after prevailing on Saturday in a bitter election, even as President Donald Trump refused to concede and pressed ahead with legal fights against the outcome.
Biden’s victory in the battleground state of Pennsylvania put him over the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes he needed to clinch the presidency, ending four days of nail-biting suspense and sending his supporters into the streets of major cities in celebration.
“The people of this nation have spoken. They have delivered us a clear victory, a convincing victory,” Biden told honking and cheering supporters in a parking lot in his home town of Wilmington, Delaware.
The Democrat pledged that as president he would seek to unify the country and “marshal the forces of decency” to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, rebuild economic prosperity, secure healthcare for American families and root out systemic racism.
Without addressing his Republican rival, Biden spoke directly to the 70 million Americans who cast ballots in support of Trump, some of whom took to the streets on Saturday to demonstrate against the results.
“For all those of you who voted for President Trump, I understand the disappointment tonight. I’ve lost a couple times myself. But now, let’s give each other a chance. It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again,” he said.
“This is the time to heal in America.”
He also thanked Black voters, saying that even at his campaign’s lowest moments, the African American community had stood up for him. “They always have my back, and I’ll have yours,” he said.
Biden was introduced by his running mate, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, who will be the first woman, the first Black American and the first American of Asian descent to serve as vice president, the country’s No. 2 office.
“What a testament it is to Joe’s character that he had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exists in our country, and select a woman as his vice president,” Harris said.
Congratulations poured in from abroad, including from conservative British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, making it hard for Trump to push his repeated claims, without evidence, that the election was rigged against him.
Trump, who was golfing when the major television networks projected his rival had won, immediately accused Biden of “rushing to falsely pose as the winner.” Clusters of Biden supporters lined two blocks of his motorcade’s route back to the White House.
“This election is far from over,” he said in a statement.
Trump has filed a raft of lawsuits to challenge the results but elections officials in states across the country say there has been no evidence of significant fraud, and legal experts say Trump’s efforts are unlikely to succeed.
As the news of his win broke, cheers and applause were heard around Washington, with people emerging onto balconies, honking car horns and banging pots. The wave of noise in the nation’s capital built as more people learned of the news. Some sobbed. Music began to play, “We are the Champions” blared.
In the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, some people erupted in screams of joy as word spread. Several residents danced on a fire escape, cheering while others screamed “yes!” as they passed by.
Trump supporters reacted with a mix of disappointment, suspicion and resignation, highlighting the difficult task that Biden faces winning over many Americans, especially in more rural areas, who believe Trump was the first president to govern with their interests at heart.
“It’s sickening and sad,” said Kayla Doyle, a 35-year-old Trump supporter and manager of the Gridiron Pub on Main Street in the small town of Mifflintown, Pennsylvania. “I think it’s rigged.”
Angry pro-Trump “Stop the Steal” demonstrators gathered at state capitol buildings in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona. Protesters in Phoenix chanted “We want audits!” One speaker told the crowd: “We will win in court!”
There were isolated instances of Trump and Biden supporters confronting one another, as occurred between two groups of about 100 each in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, but there were no immediate reports of the violence many had feared. The pro-Trump protests mostly faded as the results sank in.
Before the election, Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost, and he falsely declared victory long before counting was complete.
Former and present political leaders also weighed in, including congratulations from former Democratic President Barack Obama, for whom Biden served as vice president, and Republican U.S. Senator Mitt Romney. Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham called on the Justice Department to investigate claims of voting irregularities.
The networks’ declaration for Biden came amid concerns within Trump’s team about the strategy going forward and pressure on him to pick a professional legal team to outline where they believe voter fraud took place and provide evidence.
Trump’s allies made it clear the president does not plan to concede anytime soon.
One Trump loyalist said the president simply was not ready to admit defeat even though there would not be enough ballots thrown out in a recount to change the outcome. “There’s a mathematical certainty that he’s going to lose,” the loyalist said.
Biden’s win ends Trump’s chaotic four-year presidency in which he played down a deadly pandemic, imposed harsh immigration policies, launched a trade war with China, tore up international agreements and deeply divided many American families with his inflammatory rhetoric, lies and willingness to abandon democratic norms.
On Saturday, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien urged supporters to be ready to attend protests or rallies that the campaign is “propping up around the country,” according to a person familiar with the situation.
DIFFICULT TASK AHEAD
For Biden’s supporters, it was fitting that Pennsylvania ensured his victory. He was born in the industrial city of Scranton in the state’s northeast and, touting his middle-class credentials, secured the Democratic nomination with a promise to win back working-class voters who had supported Trump in 2016.
He launched his campaign in Pittsburgh last year and wrapped it up with a rally there on Tuesday. It was a tight race in industrial states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, but Biden did enough to prevail.
He faced unprecedented challenges. These included Republican-led efforts to limit mail-in voting at a time when a record number of people were due to vote by mail because of the pandemic, which has killed more than 236,000 people in the United States.
When Biden enters the White House on Jan. 20, the oldest person to assume the office at age 78, he likely will face a difficult task governing in a deeply polarized Washington, underscored by a record nationwide voter turnout.
Both sides characterized the 2020 election as one of the most crucial in U.S. history, as important as votes during the 1860s Civil War and the 1930s Great Depression.
Biden’s victory was driven by strong support from groups including women, African Americans, white voters with college degrees and city-dwellers. He beat Trump by more than four million votes in the nationwide popular vote count.
Biden, who has spent half a century in public life as a U.S. senator and then vice president under Trump’s predecessor Obama, will inherit a nation in turmoil over the pandemic and the related economic slowdown, as well as protests against racism and police brutality.
Biden has said his first priority will be developing a plan to contain and recover from the pandemic, promising to improve access to testing and, unlike Trump, to heed the advice of leading public health officials and scientists.
In addition to taming the health crisis, Biden faces a huge challenge remedying the economic hardship caused by COVID-19. Some 10 million Americans thrown out of work during coronavirus lockdowns remain idled, and federal relief programs have expired.
The U.S. economy remains technically in recession, and prospects are bleak for a return to work for millions, especially in service industries such as hospitality and entertainment, where job losses hit women and minorities particularly hard.
Biden also has pledged to restore a sense of normalcy to the White House after a presidency in which Trump praised authoritarian foreign leaders, disdained longstanding global alliances, refused to disavow white supremacists and cast doubt on the legitimacy of the U.S. election system.
Despite his victory, Biden will have failed to deliver the sweeping repudiation to Trump that Democrats had hoped for, reflecting the deep support the president still retains.
This could complicate Biden’s campaign promises to reverse key parts of Trump’s legacy. These include deep Trump tax cuts that especially benefited corporations and the wealthy, hardline immigration policies, efforts to dismantle the 2010 Obamacare healthcare law and Trump’s abandonment of such international agreements as the Paris climate accord and Iran nuclear deal.
Should Republicans keep control of the U.S. Senate, they would likely block large parts of his legislative agenda, including expanding healthcare and fighting climate change. That prospect could depend on the outcome of four undecided Senate races, including two in Georgia that will not be resolved until runoffs in January.
For Trump, 74, it was an unsettling end after an astonishing political rise. The real estate developer who established a nationwide brand as a reality TV personality upset Democrat Hillary Clinton to win the presidency in 2016 in his first run for elected office. Four years later, he becomes the first U.S. president to lose a re-election bid since Republican George H.W. Bush in 1992.
Despite his draconian immigration curbs, Trump made surprising inroads with Latino voters. He also won battleground states such as Florida, where his pledge to prioritize the economy even if it increased the threat of the coronavirus appeared to have resonated.
In the end, though, Trump failed to significantly widen his appeal beyond a committed core of rural and working-class white voters who embraced his right-wing populism and “America First” nationalism.
Duane Fitzhugh, a 52-year-old teacher celebrating Biden’s victory outside the Trump Hotel in Washington, said it was as if an evil enchantment was being lifted.
“It’s like a pall fell over the country four years ago and we’ve been waiting years for it to end,” he said.
Reporting by Trevor Hunicutt, Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Detroit, Michigan; Mimi Dwyer in Phoenix, Arizona; Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia, Nathan Layne in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, Jan Wolfe in Boston, Tim Reid in Los Angeles and Doina Chiacu, Alexandra Alper, Raphael Satter, Makini Brice, Aram Roston, Susan Cornwell and Richard Cowan in Washington; Writing by Sonya Hepinstall and John Whitesides; Editing by Ross Colvin, Daniel Wallis and William Mallard
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Here is a transcript of Mr. Biden’s remarks as they were prepared for delivery.
My fellow Americans, the people of this nation have spoken.
They have delivered us a clear victory. A convincing victory.
A victory for “We the People.”
We have won with the most votes ever cast for a presidential ticket in the history of this nation — 74 million.I am humbled by the trust and confidence you have placed in me.
I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but to unify.
Who doesn’t see red and blue states, but a United States.
And who will work with all my heart to win the confidence of the whole people.
For that is what America is about: the people.
And that is what our administration will be about.
I sought this office to restore the soul of America.
To rebuild the backbone of the nation — the middle class.
To make America respected around the world again and to unite us here at home.
It is the honor of my lifetime that so many millions of Americans have voted for this vision.
And now the work of making this vision real is the task of our time.
As I said many times before, I’m Jill’s husband.
I would not be here without the love and tireless support of Jill, Hunter, Ashley, all of our grandchildren and their spouses, and all our family.
They are my heart.
Jill’s a mom — a military mom — and an educator.
She has dedicated her life to education, but teaching isn’t just what she does — it’s who she is. For America’s educators, this is a great day: You’re going to have one of your own in the White House, and Jill is going to make a great first lady.
And I will be honored to be serving with a fantastic vice president — Kamala Harris — who will make history as the first woman, first Black woman, first woman of South Asian descent, and first daughter of immigrants ever elected to national office in this country.
It’s long overdue, and we’re reminded tonight of all those who fought so hard for so many years to make this happen. But once again, America has bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice.
Kamala, Doug — like it or not — you’re family. You’ve become honorary Bidens and there’s no way out.
To all those who volunteered, worked the polls in the middle of this pandemic, local election officials — you deserve a special thanks from this nation.
To my campaign team, and all the volunteers, to all those who gave so much of themselves to make this moment possible, I owe you everything.
And to all those who supported us: I am proud of the campaign we built and ran. I am proud of the coalition we put together, the broadest and most diverse in history.
Democrats, Republicans and Independents.
Progressives, moderates and conservatives.
Young and old.
Urban, suburban and rural.
Gay, straight, transgender.
White. Latino. Asian. Native American.
And especially for those moments when this campaign was at its lowest — the African-American community stood up again for me. They always have my back, and I’ll have yours.
I said from the outset I wanted a campaign that represented America, and I think we did that. Now that’s what I want the administration to look like.
And to those who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight.
I’ve lost a couple of elections myself.
But now, let’s give each other a chance.
It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric.
To lower the temperature.
To see each other again.
To listen to each other again.
To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemy. We are not enemies. We are Americans.
The Bible tells us that to everything there is a season — a time to build, a time to reap, a time to sow. And a time to heal.
This is the time to heal in America.
Now that the campaign is over — what is the people’s will? What is our mandate?
I believe it is this: Americans have called on us to marshal the forces of decency and the forces of fairness. To marshal the forces of science and the forces of hope in the great battles of our time.
The battle to control the virus.
The battle to build prosperity.
The battle to secure your family’s health care.
The battle to achieve racial justice and root out systemic racism in this country.
The battle to save the climate.
The battle to restore decency, defend democracy, and give everybody in this country a fair shot.
Our work begins with getting Covid under control.
We cannot repair the economy, restore our vitality, or relish life’s most precious moments — hugging a grandchild, birthdays, weddings, graduations, all the moments that matter most to us — until we get this virus under control.
On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as transition advisers to help take the Biden-Harris Covid plan and convert it into an action blueprint that starts on Jan. 20, 2021.
That plan will be built on a bedrock of science. It will be constructed out of compassion, empathy, and concern.
I will spare no effort — or commitment — to turn this pandemic around.
I ran as a proud Democrat. I will now be an American president. I will work as hard for those who didn’t vote for me — as those who did.
Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end — here and now.
The refusal of Democrats and Republicans to cooperate with one another is not due to some mysterious force beyond our control.
It’s a decision. It’s a choice we make.
And if we can decide not to cooperate, then we can decide to cooperate. And I believe that this is part of the mandate from the American people. They want us to cooperate.
That’s the choice I’ll make. And I call on the Congress — Democrats and Republicans alike — to make that choice with me.
The American story is about the slow, yet steady widening of opportunity.
Make no mistake: Too many dreams have been deferred for too long.
We must make the promise of the country real for everybody — no matter their race, their ethnicity, their faith, their identity, or their disability.
America has always been shaped by inflection points — by moments in time where we’ve made hard decisions about who we are and what we want to be.
Lincoln in 1860 — coming to save the Union.
F.D.R. in 1932 — promising a beleaguered country a New Deal.
J.F.K. in 1960 — pledging a New Frontier.
And 12 years ago — when Barack Obama made history — and told us, “Yes, we can.”
We stand again at an inflection point.
We have the opportunity to defeat despair and to build a nation of prosperity and purpose.
We can do it. I know we can.
I’ve long talked about the battle for the soul of America.
We must restore the soul of America.
Our nation is shaped by the constant battle between our better angels and our darkest impulses.
It is time for our better angels to prevail.
Tonight, the whole world is watching America. I believe at our best America is a beacon for the globe.
And we lead not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.
I’ve always believed we can define America in one word: possibilities.
That in America everyone should be given the opportunity to go as far as their dreams and God-given ability will take them.
You see, I believe in the possibility of this country.
We’re always looking ahead.
Ahead to an America that’s freer and more just.
Ahead to an America that creates jobs with dignity and respect.
Ahead to an America that cures disease — like cancer and Alzheimers.
Ahead to an America that never leaves anyone behind.
Ahead to an America that never gives up, never gives in.
This is a great nation.
And we are a good people.
This is the United States of America.
And there has never been anything we haven’t been able to do when we’ve done it together.
In the last days of the campaign, I’ve been thinking about a hymn that means a lot to me and to my family, particularly my deceased son, Beau. It captures the faith that sustains me and which I believe sustains America.
And I hope it can provide some comfort and solace to the more than 230,000 families who have lost a loved one to this terrible virus this year. My heart goes out to each and every one of you. Hopefully this hymn gives you solace as well.
“And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.”
And now, together — on eagle’s wings — we embark on the work that God and history have called upon us to do.
With full hearts and steady hands, with faith in America and in each other, with a love of country — and a thirst for justice — let us be the nation that we know we can be.
A nation united.
A nation strengthened.
A nation healed.
The United States of America.
God bless you.
And may God protect our troops.
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President-elect Joe Biden is planning to quickly sign a series of executive orders after being sworn into office on Jan. 20, immediately forecasting that the country’s politics have shifted and that his presidency will be guided by radically different priorities.
He will rejoin the Paris climate accords, according to those close to his campaign and commitments he has made in recent months, and he will reverse President Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization. He will repeal the ban on almost all travel from some Muslim-majority countries, and he will reinstate the program allowing “dreamers,” who were brought to the United States illegally as children, to remain in the country, according to people familiar with his plans.
Although transitions of power can always include abrupt changes, the shift from Trump to Biden — from one president who sought to undermine established norms and institutions to another who has vowed to restore the established order — will be among the most startling in American history.
Biden’s top advisers have spent months quietly working on how best to implement his agenda, with hundreds of transition officials preparing to get to work inside various federal agencies. They have assembled a book filled with his campaign commitments to help guide their early decisions.
Biden is planning to set up a coronavirus task force on Monday, in recognition that the global pandemic will be the primary issue that he must confront. The task force, which could begin meeting within days, will be co-chaired by former surgeon general Vivek H. Murthy and David Kessler, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner.
There has also been a recognition of those around him that he may have to lean more on executive actions than he had once hoped. He can reorient various federal agencies and regulations, and he can adopt a different posture on the world stage.
But pushing major legislation through Congress could prove to be a challenge.
Although the Democrats will hold a narrowed majority in the House, the final makeup of the Senate is not yet clear. That will be decided on Jan. 5, with two runoff elections in Georgia. Democrats would need to win both races to effectively have control of the Senate — with Vice President Kamala D. Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote — while Republicans would retain a narrow advantage by winning at least one.
“The policy team, the transition policy teams, are focusing now very much on executive power,” said a Biden ally who has been in touch with his team who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. “I expect that to be freely used in a Biden administration at this point, if the Senate becomes a roadblock.”
A Republican-held Senate — or even one with a narrow Democratic majority — probably will affect Biden’s Cabinet picks given the Senate’s power to confirm nominees.
One option being discussed is appointing Cabinet members in an acting capacity, a tactic that Trump also used.
“Just by virtue of the calendar and how many positions are filled, that’s always a possibility,” the person said. “Because the Senate moves so slowly now, so much more slowly than it used to.”
On Saturday afternoon, about two hours after networks called Biden the winner of the election, the president-elect had a brief call with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who called to congratulate Biden on a “tremendous victory,” according to two Democratic officials.
Schumer called while en route to a celebration in Brooklyn, holding his flip phone out the window so that Biden could hear the cheering crowd.
If Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) stays as majority leader, he would be trying to manage a conference torn between two factions with different interests, but neither necessarily eager to help Biden — one with senators running for reelection in swing states in 2022, and another with those seeking the national spotlight as they vie for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“In the old days, the mandate meant that the other side would be more amenable, or feeling they had an impetus to work,” said Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.). “I’m not sure that applies any longer.”
It is unclear whether Biden has communicated with McConnell yet directly; aides have not commented on any conversation.
A closely divided Congress could hamper Biden’s efforts to do sweeping legislative actions on immigration changes. He has also said he would send a bill to Congress repealing liability protections for gun manufacturers, and close background-check loopholes. He has pledged to repeal the Republican-passed tax cuts from 2017, an effort that could be stymied if Republicans hold the Senate majority.
Without congressional cooperation, however, Biden has said that he plans to immediately reverse Trump’s rollback of 100 public health and environmental rules that the Obama administration had in place.
He would also institute new ethics guidelines at the White House, and he has pledged to sign an executive order the first day in office saying that no member of his administration could influence any Justice Department investigations.
Biden has long pledged to rejoin the Paris climate accords by executive order, but he has also said that he would attempt to persuade other nations to adopt higher standards in an attempt to curb the impacts of climate change.
Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.), a longtime Biden ally who holds the seat Biden had for 36 years, offered a broad overview of Biden’s initial agenda: “Get us out of this pandemic that’s been made far worse by Trump’s bungled mishandling of it, rebuild our economy in a way that’s more sustainable and more inclusive, and deal with division and inequality.”
He noted that Biden’s style will be quite different, saying that Trump and Pelosi haven’t spoken in more than a year.
Coons suggested that Biden would promptly begin reaching out to leaders in both parties.
The coronavirus response has been foremost on Biden’s mind, and it is seen inside his campaign as a chief reason for his victory. He has previously said that even before the inauguration he would reach out to Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s top infectious-disease expert, asking him for advice.
Biden also wants to quickly appoint a supply commander to oversee production and distribution of testing — and, when ready, vaccines — as well as materials such as masks and gowns.
The coronavirus — and Biden’s response to it — could also significantly impact the traditional spectacle that surrounds the transfer of power. Inaugural balls could be altered. And while Biden has previously said he wouldn’t envision wearing a mask while being sworn in, he has said they could try to limit the traditional throngs that fill the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
Much of Biden’s early agenda — including which pieces of legislation to prioritize — will be determined in the coming weeks as his transition team begins taking on a far more prominent role.
Biden’s transition effort is being overseen by Ted Kaufman, one of his closest advisers. Kaufman, who was appointed to replace Biden in the Senate when Biden became vice president in 2009, also helped co-write an update to the law governing the transition process, which was passed in 2015 and signed by President Barack Obama.
Biden’s transition team has been given government-issued computers and iPhones for conducting secure communications, and 10,000 square feet of office space in the Herbert C. Hoover Building in Washington, although most of the work is being done virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic. His advisers have been granted temporary security clearances and undergone FBI background checks to fast-track the processing of personnel who can receive briefings on intelligence.
But one important next step is for the head of the General Services Administration to rule that the election results are final, enabling Biden’s transition team to expand its work and gain access to government funds. Biden officials are prepared for legal action if that administrator — Emily W. Murphy, a Trump political appointee — delays that decision, according to officials familiar with the matter.
Trump has so far not conceded defeat, falsely claiming Saturday that he won the election.
Pamela Pennington, a GSA spokeswoman, said that Murphy would ascertain “the apparent successful candidate once a winner is clear based on the process laid out in the Constitution.” Until that decision is made, she said, the Biden transition team would continue to receive limited access to government resources.
The transition from Trump to Biden would have few historic parallels, rivaled perhaps only by 1860-1861, when southern states seceded before Abraham Lincoln took office, and 1932-1933, when Herbert Hoover sought to undermine Franklin D. Roosevelt and prevent him from implementing his New Deal policies.
The last time there was a prolonged delay in a transfer of power was in 2000, when uncertainty over the results in the contest between then-Vice President Al Gore (D) and then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R) stretched out until the Supreme Court ended a Florida recount that gave Bush the victory on Dec. 12.
The Bush administration’s sluggish start and lack of qualified personnel in place was cited by the 9/11 Commission Report as a critical vulnerability to U.S. national security for the attacks that occurred less than eight months after the inauguration. That prompted changes to the law and the granting of access at an earlier date following the political conventions.
“When George W. Bush left he made clear to his Cabinet that this is going to be the best transition of power that’s ever occurred. Because we weren’t treated very well when we came into power,” said Michael Leavitt, who at the time was the outgoing secretary of Health and Human Services. “Barack Obama to his credit said the same thing. There was a spirit of cooperation that went on and needs to continue. Whether it will or not I don’t know. But we’re better prepared.”
Chris Lu, the executive director of the Obama-Biden transition in 2008, said that within two hours of the election being called in 2008 he had a formal letter beginning the transition process.
“We literally at 9 a.m. the next morning walked into a transition office and had access to it,” he said. “It was the model for the smoothest transition of power.”
Making a clear break from the Trump administration's adversarial posture toward the civil service is also a top priority for the Biden transition team.
The Trump administration's suspicion of career officials and early calls for them to “get with the program” or “go” created tensions with incoming political appointees that never dissipated. Biden officials are hoping to create a positive atmosphere by avoiding some of the terminology and labels they think contributed to the mistrust.
The teams of campaign staffers and other aides that first embed themselves into government agencies after an election have historically been called “landing teams” and “beachhead teams,” summoning the memory of the storming of Normandy during World War II.
To avoid any associations with war, some Biden aides are sticking to soberingly bureaucratic terms, referring to landing teams as “ARTs” or Agency Review Teams, and beachhead team members as “temporary employees.”
So far, Trump administration officials have reviewed succession plans for department officials, planning for which civil servants would take on acting roles amid vacancies. Briefing materials are slated to be delivered over the next several days to Biden’s transition team.
Leavitt, who oversaw transition planning in 2012 for Republican nominee Mitt Romney and has worked with Kaufman to change the law governing presidential transitions, said there are a range of moves the Biden team could make even without cooperation from Trump’s campaign. Cabinet members and other top White House staff could be picked, and key priorities for the start of the administration could be lined up.
“The current moment always seems like it’s the extreme, and often they are. But we get through them. The country survives,” he said. “The internal strength of the United States allows us to get through these things.”
John Hudson contributed to this report.
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Bush congratulates Biden, says election was 'fundamentally fair' and 'its outcome is clear'
"The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair, its integrity will be upheld, and its outcome is clear," Bush said.
"The challenges that face our country will demand the best of President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris -- and the best of us all," Bush said. "We must come together for the sake of our families and neighbors, and for our nation and its future.
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
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Sounds reasonable and if he's right, answers some important questions.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Klain, 59, has been a senior adviser to Democratic presidents, vice presidents, candidates and senators. His appointment marks a homecoming of sorts, since Klain served in the late 1980s as a top aide to Biden when he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and ran Biden’s office when he first became vice president.
“Ron has been invaluable to me over the many years that we have worked together, including as we rescued the American economy from one of the worst downturns in our history in 2009 and later overcame a daunting public health emergency in 2014,” Biden said in a statement. “His deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again.”
A strategist with a legal mind and political ear, Klain is the sort of behind-the-scenes Washington hand more common in decades past, an operative who has managed everything from an Ebola outbreak to candidate debates to judicial confirmations.
“This town is brimming with smart people and high school valedictorians,” said Jared Bernstein, an economic adviser to Biden when he was vice president. “Ron brings something extra to the table, which is an ability to quickly process complex, conflicting streams of information and zero in on the optimal solution.”
Often called the second-hardest gig in Washington, the White House chief of staff holds what is traditionally the most important unelected position in government not subject to a Senate confirmation — the person who must wake the president in a crisis and decide who gets to be in the room to shape his views.
The job has often gone to the most talented advisers in both parties — people such as Republican James Baker and Democrat Leon Panetta. Under President Trump, however, the role of the chief of staff has shifted, with the position falling to officials with strained relations and limited sway with Trump. Bucking convention, Trump’s son-in-law, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, established an independent locus of power inside the West Wing.
Choosing Klain reflects Biden’s plan to move beyond that chaos-driven presidency. The internal White House structure probably will revert to form, with a single manager in charge surrounded by senior officials who also have direct relationships with the president. Mike Donilon, who helped write Biden’s campaign strategy, and Steve Ricchetti, the campaign chairman, are well positioned to land influential positions inside the White House, according to people with knowledge of the internal dynamics who spoke on the condition of anonymity to recount private conversations.
Other top campaign advisers, including Anita Dunn, a former White House communications director, and her husband, former White House counsel Bob Bauer, are expected to stay out of government this time around.
Many in Biden’s orbit have long seen Klain as the most obvious pick for chief of staff after more than 30 years of background roles. After a falling-out with Biden’s team when he offered early support to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid, Klain has worked his way back into the upper echelons of Biden’s trusted circle.
He consulted with Biden on general strategy even before the former vice president announced his presidential campaign last year, and since August he has served as an unpaid senior adviser to the campaign and led Biden’s extensive debate preparation.
“He is the logical choice and brings the complete package — universally acknowledged ability, a broad range of experience, chemistry with the president-elect — and he is a strategic thinker that brings results,” said Pete Rouse, who was a top aide to President Barack Obama.
At times Klain appears to have worked with every Democratic leader of the past three decades. As counsel to the Judiciary Committee, Klain advised then-Sen. Biden during Clarence Thomas’s volatile Supreme Court confirmation hearings. He worked in the Bill Clinton White House to confirm Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court, served as chief of staff to Attorney General Janet Reno and was a top policy aide to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).
Klain also served as chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore and led Gore’s legal efforts to force a recount of Florida ballots after the 2000 election; actor Kevin Spacey played him in the 2008 movie “Recount.”
“People frequently tell me that I should ‘get over’ the 2000 election and the recount,” Klain tweeted in 2019. “I haven’t, and I don’t think I ever will.”
Along the way, Klain has developed a specialized role as the Democrats’ preeminent coach for presidential debates. He worked on debate preparations for Bill Clinton in 1992 and Gore in 2000, and he has led the debate prep for every Democratic nominee since — John F. Kerry, Obama, Hillary Clinton and Biden.
Klain’s debate rules for candidates, versions of which long ago became public, have been a mainstay of both party’s strategies for these presidential matchups. “Write your ‘dream’ post-debate headline,” one bullet point says. “Dress so no one will talk about it,” says another.
“A stumble, fumble, or gaffe can cost you a debate, right up to the last second,” he wrote in one memo that became public. “But while you can lose a debate at any point, you can only win a debate in the first twenty minutes.”
But it is Klain’s experience battling both a recession and a pandemic that could come most quickly into play as Biden confronts the nation’s crises. “He knows Biden and he is loyal to Biden, and he absolutely has Biden’s trust,” Dunn said. “There is no one who works harder than Ron, whether it is on a debate book or covid policy.”
As Biden’s vice-presidential chief of staff, Klain oversaw the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a stimulus package that helped ward off a deeper recession after the 2008 economic collapse.
Klain was considered for White House chief of staff during Obama’s second term. That job ultimately went to Denis McDonough, a longtime Obama policy adviser, after Klain withdrew from consideration for personal reasons.
But he returned to the White House to become the point man for the administration’s response to the Ebola outbreak, which has now made him one of the Democratic Party’s go-to experts for responding to the coronavirus.
[Klain: ‘Lockdown vs. reopening’ is a flawed debate]
“It’s hard to prove a counterfactual, but I believe that Ron Klain is the reason we did not have an Ebola epidemic in the United States,” said Valerie Jarrett, a former senior adviser to Obama. “He is well respected by all the people with whom I have worked.”
continues
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
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By Sean Sullivan, Lisa Rein, John Hudson and Laura Meckler
With the Trump White House blocking the administration from formally cooperating with Biden, the members of the Democrat’s transition team are under strict orders not to have any contact with current government officials, even back-channel conversations, according to people with knowledge of the situation, who presented several explanations for the directive.
Biden transition team members are instead making contact with recently departed government officials and other experts to help them prepare for the new administration. And they are relying on a team led by a former senior State Department official to handle an influx of calls from foreign leaders — all without the benefit of a secure government line or language interpretation services provided by the current State Department.
The scramble shows how President Trump’s refusal to accept defeat has become much more than a symbolic stand. His administration’s blockade comes amid a deadly pandemic, an economic downturn and volatility abroad, stoking growing concerns that it will set back Biden’s effort to meet the swirl of crises confronting the nation.
“The problems become much more severe the longer this goes,” said Max Stier, the president of the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, which assists on presidential transitions, including the current one. “Our government is the biggest and most complex organization not only in this country, but probably in the world and probably in history. So, taking it over effectively is a huge task.”
Details about the Biden strategy came from interviews with transition team members, lawmakers and other Democrats with knowledge of the situation. Many spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid or because they were not authorized to talk on the record.
On Tuesday, Biden sought to play down the significance of Trump’s resistance. “We’re already beginning the transition. We’re well underway,” he said. “The fact that they’re not willing to acknowledge we’ve won is not of much consequence.”
The same day, he announced his selection of scores of experts and former government officials to serve as team members who are prepared to go into each agency and begin setting the stage for a Biden agenda.
The agency review teams that Biden announced are filled with experts on a variety of policies who served in the last administration. A majority of the names on the Veterans Affairs team, for example, served under Robert McDonald, President Barack Obama’s second secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
These members normally would gain funding and access to rooms and people inside their assigned agencies such as the Defense Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department. But since the General Services Administration has not recognized Biden as the next president and has not officially started the transition process, they are unable to enter the various agency buildings and receive information.
The Biden team has drawn up lists of recently departed senior officials at key agencies to help transition officials get up to speed on ongoing projects, budgets, trouble spots, technology and personnel, a senior transition official said, describing “a whole plan for this contingency where we don’t have cooperation but have to move forward.” The plan was put in place to anticipate refusals of some agency heads to engage even if the GSA declares Biden the winner, the official said, for example from John Ratcliffe, the Trump-appointed director of national intelligence.
Over a decades-long career in Washington, Biden has cultivated a long list of friends, associates and former aides with deep ties in just about every corner of government. Those connections and that experience are reflected in the team he has assembled. Now, their abilities to prepare for a new administration under extraordinary circumstances are being tested.
“While there are certain things that we can’t do, like be in touch with the people in the federal agencies now, the teams are moving forward as aggressively as they can,” said former Delaware governor Jack Markell, a Biden ally who is involved with the transition.
Among its activities, the Biden team is processing the commitments he made during the campaign and figuring out personnel decisions, including Cabinet secretaries, Markell said. He saw a silver lining in the difficult situation created by the Trump administration: Some of the people Biden is relying on “have not been out of government for so long.”
Other Democrats expressed a similar confidence in the team’s familiarity with the inner workings of the federal bureaucracy, wagering that their experience could help overcome the stonewalling by the current administration.
Democrats have been out of power in Washington for less than four years. Think tanks and nonprofit groups are populated by Obama administration veterans, particularly in the active areas of environmental protection. Several prominent Democrats said the Biden team has workarounds at its disposal, among them the testimony of Trump officials before Congress and insight from congressional Democrats on government operations.
Another recent trend is just as significant: Hundreds of senior civil servants and government leaders appointed by Trump have left the government in frustration or because they were forced out.
Still, Democrats say, there is no substitute for the kind of cooperation that Obama gave to Trump or that other presidents have provided to their successors. “A messy transition is especially dangerous this year, given the state of the pandemic and the number of simmering crises around the world that have been mishandled by Trump,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
The limitations have grown clear to those involved in the process. Transition team members have received some informal outreach from career employees at the Education Department but were told not to engage with the civil servants, according to two transition advisers.
The thinking, one of these advisers said, is that any communication between the administration and the transition groups could undermine possible legal action down the road. If the Trump administration is able to argue that Biden’s transition advisers are getting what they need without the formal process, that could undercut a possible case, the adviser said.
Others offered different explanations, such as a desire to wait for GSA clearance and do the transition by the book, or to protect agency staffers who may be violating the law by working with the Biden team without GSA certification.
The inability to get information could be increasingly problematic in the days ahead, with the transition seeking information about personnel vacancies, pending litigation, contracts and procurement. All of the related questions cannot be answered simply by consulting outside people, the transition adviser said.
Foreign policy also has proved to be a challenge. The Biden team has juggled a flurry of phone calls from the leaders of the most powerful U.S. allies, including Japan, Britain, France, Canada and South Korea since Monday.
Under a normal transition, the State Department would be facilitating those calls on a protected line to avoid surveillance by hostile foreign intelligence services and other malign actors. The department also would be providing government-trained interpreters so that the Biden team does not have to rely on its own people or a foreign government’s interpreters, who can offer a different flavor to a bilateral discussion.
The Biden team has relied on a former senior State Department official to handle the influx of calls from allies seeking to start on the right foot with a new American president, according to foreign diplomats familiar with the discussions.
The order from Trump officials to prohibit contacts with the Biden team also is thwarting Biden’s aides’ ability to receive need-to-know classified information about foreign threats on U.S. adversaries and infectious-disease and vaccine-development issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.
“You only have public information, but what’s classified you don’t have, and that is the single biggest issue you’re not going to get” without access to current government officials, said Jeffrey Neal, who retired from the Department of Homeland Security in 2011 and was a consultant to federal agencies until last year.
The turmoil at many agencies in the Trump era, when key government departments were left with leaders in acting roles, could have benefits for the incoming Biden team, some former government officials said.
Veterans Affairs, left without a Senate-confirmed leader of its massive health system for four years, focused largely on refining some key policies that were priorities under Obama, such as the prevention of veteran suicides and expanding veterans’ medical care outside the VA system.
“There hasn’t been leadership in place in the health system to put in big policy changes or initiatives, so the [agency review] teams will walk into a familiar environment,” said David Shulkin, who served as the head of the health system under Obama before becoming Trump’s first VA secretary. He said he has been in close touch with the Biden transition team.
Annie Linskey, Seung Min Kim and Greg Miller contributed to this report.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
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There are no kings inside the gates of eden
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
February 10
“I think the virus is going to be—it’s going to be fine.”
February 10
“Looks like by April, you know in theory when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.”
February 24
“The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA… Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”
February 25
“CDC and my Administration are doing a GREAT job of handling Coronavirus.”
February 25
“I think that's a problem that’s going to go away… They have studied it. They know very much. In fact, we’re very close to a vaccine.”
February 26
“The 15 (cases in the US) within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero.”
February 26
“We're going very substantially down, not up.”
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
The president’s unprecedented intel should have told him better by that point. But everyone else? Not so much.
yes. that guy. you know we didnt start locking down down til a full month later, right? Pelosi said something similar in fighting back against the bigotry exhibited towards the chinese here in the states. at around the same time too as I recall
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
@brianlux
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14