Biden vows to ‘get to work’ despite Trump resistance

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – Vowing “to get to work”, President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday ignored President Donald Trump’s staunch refusal to accept election result as “inconsequential,” even as Democrats warned elsewhere that the Republican President’s actions were dangerous.

Raising unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud, Trump blocked the new president from receiving briefings and withheld federal funding intended to facilitate the transfer of power. Trump’s resistance, backed by senior Republicans in Washington and across the country, could also prevent background investigations and security clearances for potential staff and access to federal agencies to discuss transition planning .

While some Democrats and former Republican officials have warned of serious consequences, Biden has sought to lower the national temperature by speaking to reporters from a makeshift transitional seat near his home in downtown Wilmington.

He described Trump’s stance as nothing more than an “embarrassing” mark on the legacy of the incumbent president, while predicting that Republicans on Capitol Hill would eventually come to terms with the reality of Biden’s victory. Republican resistance, Biden said, “doesn’t change the dynamic at all in what we’re able to do.”

Additional briefings on the intelligence “would be helpful,” Biden added, but “we don’t see anything slowing us down.”

The measured comments come as Biden prepares to face dueling national crises that actively threaten the health, safety and economic security of millions of Americans, regardless of the political debate. Coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths are rising, the economy faces the prospect of long-term damage, and the country’s political and cultural divisions may worsen.

Biden is betting his low-key approach and bipartisan outreach – a clear reversal from the current president’s style – will help him govern effectively on day one. But just 71 days before his inauguration, Trump and his allies appeared determined to make Biden’s transition as difficult as possible.

From his Twitter account on Tuesday, Trump again raised unsubstantiated allegations of “massive ballot counting abuse” and predicted that he would ultimately win the race he has already lost. His allies on Capitol Hill, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have encouraged the president’s baseless accusations. Trump’s tweets were quickly flagged by the social media network as disputed allegations of voter fraud.

America’s allies began to recognize what Trump didn’t want.

French President Emmanuel Macron met Biden by video conference. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, among the six world leaders, congratulated Biden on his election.

“I look forward to strengthening the partnership between our countries and working with him on our common priorities – from tackling climate change, to promoting democracy and rebuilding better after the pandemic,” Johnson wrote on Twitter. “Build back better” is a slogan Biden and the UK government have in common.

Meanwhile, Biden has tried to stay focused on healthcare amid the worst health crisis in over a century. One of Biden’s top coronavirus advisers, former surgeon general Vivek Murthy, briefed Senate Democrats on Tuesday by phone during their weekly virtual lunch.

The closed-door meeting marked the first time that a Biden transition official has addressed the Democratic Senate caucus since last week’s election.

In an afternoon speech, Biden made a strong defense of the Affordable Care Act, just hours after the Supreme Court heard arguments on the merits. The High Court ruled eight years ago to leave essential elements of the law known as “Obamacare” intact, but Trump and his Republican allies are seeking to have it overturned.

If the conservative 6-3 court ultimately agrees with the GOP, millions of Americans could lose their health care coverage. Although Tuesday’s arguments indicate the court is unlikely to overturn the entire law, the prospect has added new weight to the already heavy burden Biden is inheriting from the outgoing administration.

“It’s a law that has saved lives and spared countless families from financial ruin,” Biden accused. He pledged to work with Congress to strengthen the health care law “as soon as possible on a human level.”

For now, however, Republicans on Capitol Hill, like those in the Trump administration, show no desire to cooperate with a Biden administration.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo predicted on Tuesday that there would be a smooth transition – to four more years of Trump in office. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell broadly endorsed Trump’s approach: “Until the electoral college votes, anyone who runs for office can exhaust their concerns.”

Biden spent much of Tuesday working alongside Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at a theater near his home in downtown Wilmington. He is expected to quickly appoint a chief of staff and start considering cabinet appointments, although those likely won’t be finalized for weeks.

Republicans are increasingly considering a December deadline for publicly accepting the election result, giving Trump time and space to exhaust his legal challenges. This is when states face a deadline for certifying results and a Dec. 14 deadline for the Electoral College to vote. It’s also about the same time it took to resolve the 2000 election dispute between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore.

Senior officials in the George W. Bush administration warned, however, that the delay after the 2000 competition had caused problems.

Specifically, Biden’s team is calling on the General Services Administration, led by a Trump-appointed administrator Emily Murphy, to officially recognize Biden’s victory. Until that happens, Biden will not receive full security briefings, bridging funding, or the ability to contact agencies to begin coordinating the transfer of power.

“Administrator Murphy’s refusal to ensure President-elect Biden’s victory in the 2020 election puts the lives of Americans at risk,” said Representative Don Beyer, a Democrat from Virginia who led the transition from the Obama administration at the Commerce Department.

Former Republican officials agreed.

“Our adversaries are not waiting for the transition to take place,” said former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., Insisting that Biden begin receiving the president’s daily briefing immediately. “It’s not a question of politics; it is a matter of national security. “

Biden, meanwhile, didn’t seem worried.

He answered several questions during his first press briefing as president-elect, almost all of which focused on the Republican Party’s refusal to acknowledge his victory.

“I just think it’s a shame, quite frankly,” Biden said.

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People reported from New York. PA writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Lisa Mascaro, Alexandra Jaffe, and Deb Reichmann in Washington contributed.