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WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration has thrown the presidential transition into uproar, with President Donald Trump barring government officials from cooperating with President-elect Joe Biden’s team and Attorney General William Barr allowing the Justice Department to investigate unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud.
Some Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have rallied behind Trump’s efforts to fight the election results. Few GOP members acknowledged Biden’s victory or condemned Trump’s other concerning move on Monday: his sacking of Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
The developments cast doubt that the nation will witness the same kind of smooth power transition that has long entrenched its democracy. The Electoral College is expected to officially confirm Biden’s victory on December 14, and the Democrat will be sworn in at the end of January.
On Monday, Barr allowed US lawyers to investigate the “substantial” allegations of electoral irregularities and electoral fraud, although there are no widespread cases of such a problem in the 2020 election. Election officials from both political parties have publicly stated that the vote went well and international observers have also confirmed that there were no serious irregularities.
Biden’s campaign lawyer Bob Bauer said Barr’s memorandum authorizing the investigations “will only fuel the” specious, speculative, fanciful or far-fetched claims “that he claims to be wary of.”
Biden continued with plans to strengthen his administration, assembling a team of experts to deal with the growing pandemic. But the federal agency, which needs to give the green light to the beginnings of the transition of power, hesitated to take this step. And the White House decided to crack down on those who were not deemed loyal enough as Trump continued to refuse to concede the race.
Trump has remained out of sight in the White House, with conversations going on how the defeated president would spend the days and weeks to come as he challenges the people’s verdict. Trump is not expected to formally concede, but he is likely to reluctantly leave the White House at the end of his term, according to several people around him.
Also under discussion: the possibility of more campaign rallies as he tries to keep his supporters on fire despite his loss. It was possible that they would introduce his family and major supporters, but not the president himself.
The ouster of Esper, the Pentagon chief, was expected by some collaborators as the first of several layoffs of Trump, now freed from the need to face voters again and angry with those in his administration perceived as insufficiently loyal . Other people suspected of being vulnerable: FBI Director Christopher Wray, CIA Director Gina Haspel, and infectious disease specialist Dr Anthony Fauci.
The president was covered to continue fighting by McConnell, seen by many in the GOP as the one who may eventually need to push Trump out.
“Our institutions are actually built for this,” McConnell said as he opened the Senate on Monday. “We have the system in place to address concerns and President Trump is 100% within his rights to review allegations of wrongdoing and weigh his legal options.”
Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer retorted that Republicans’ refusal to accept the election results was “extremely dangerous, extremely toxic to our democracy.”
“Joe Biden won the fair and square ballot,” Schumer said.
A few other GOP senators sent lukewarm nods towards a transition. Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska congratulated Biden and Senator Susan Collins of Maine noted the Democrat’s “apparent victory”. But many Republican lawmakers were reluctant to talk about the election, seeing little political incentive to take a firm stand on Trump’s transition from the White House.
Republicans on Capitol Hill were reluctant to push Trump into giving in to Biden, knowing it would anger their base of Trump’s most staunch supporters. Most did not openly encourage the president’s unsubstantiated fraud allegations, while leaving unfounded questions about the electoral process to persist.
Adding to the sense of uncertainty, the General Service administration has delayed the official start of the transition, preventing Biden’s teams from gaining access to federal agencies. A spokesperson for the agency said Monday evening that a “verification” of the winner of the election had not yet been made. Citing what the agency did in the extended 2000 recount, he said it may not do so until Trump concedes it or the constituency meets next month.
That Florida recount involved a margin of just 537 votes in the state alone that would have determined which candidate reached 270 electoral votes. Biden’s advances in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, which pushed him to cross the threshold to win the White House, are much larger – and superior to Trump’s in the same states in 2016.
In a Monday night call with reporters, a transition official said Biden’s team felt it was time for the GSA administrator to ensure Biden was president-elect. The official, who spoke only of anonymity as the ground rule for the appeal, said legal action was “certainly a possibility” if that did not happen, although there was also other options considered.
Across government, there were signs of slowing down.
White House officials and Trump’s political representatives have advised career officials that they should not start acting on transition planning until the GSA has approved it, officials familiar with the matter say. .
During weekly Monday morning show of hands phone calls to Environmental Protection Agency employees based in the Midwest, mid-level administrators answered questions about the transition by telling employees they didn’t had no information yet, said Nicole Cantello, an agency employee and president of the Chicago Local of a union representing EPA workers.
A senior administration official said Presidential Personnel Director John McEntee, the president’s former personal assistant, had told departments they should end any political appointments in search of a new job for the time being. Another official said the warning was not seen as likely to result in layoffs, but rather intended to reinforce staff that they should not act against Trump as long as he refuses to concede. Officials and others who were not authorized to discuss internal policies or describe private discussions requested anonymity.
But parts of the federal government were already mobilizing to prepare for Biden’s takeover. The U.S. Secret Service and Federal Aviation Administration have extended a flight restriction over Wilmington, Delaware, to Biden, until inauguration day. Biden’s security service was bolstered by officers from the Presidential Protection Division.
And despite Trump’s public stance, there was a growing awareness among those around him that the election result would be impossible to reverse. Some senior officials have tried to argue that Trump should be focusing his efforts on cementing his legacy, but fear they will be labeled disloyal for not even thinking about it.
Legal challenges have already been dismissed in battlefield states like Georgia and Wisconsin. And Trump’s legal efforts were dealt another blow on Monday when campaign adviser David Bossie, responsible for leading the effort, tested positive for the coronavirus.
Bossie was in attendance at the White House inside election night, now seen as a possible mass-market event after other attendees – including Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and other assistants – contracted the virus.
At the White House, attendance by assistants had declined since election night – partly because of the outcome and partly because a number are in quarantine after contracting or being exposed to people with COVID-19. Vice President Mike Pence was due to leave for a vacation in Florida on Tuesday after a visit to Capitol Hill.
Trump’s public program has not included an intelligence briefing since October 1. The White House has not provided a “reading” of a call between the president and a foreign leader for weeks. He has not met with members of the White House coronavirus task force for months. He also offered no public comment on Tropical Storm Eta hitting the Florida Keys.
The interminable resolution of the election only added to the culture of suspicion that permeated the Hollowed West Wing.
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Lemire reported from New York. Additional reports from Associated Press editors Lisa Mascaro, Colleen Long, Matthew Lee and Jill Colvin in Washington and Ellen Knickmeyer in Oklahoma City.
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