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Republicans say they are prepared to give Trump a chance to make his case in court. But they fully recognize that Trump is losing by margins in the main states of the battlefield, making his chances of success in his legal affairs extremely bleak at best. Many have become baffled by his purge of senior national security officials. And others are making it clear that Trump should concede the race once it’s clear he has lost his legal challenges.
Some are even now willing to see Biden as “president-elect,” a title few Republicans have been willing to say publicly as Trump baselessly claims the election was rigged.
“Of course,” said Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, when asked if she considered Biden a “president-elect.”
While Capito says there is a “process” for court challenges, she added that she hoped the process would resolve itself quickly – “within a week or so.”
“It sounds like a tough mountain for the president,” she said of her legal record.
Capito is not alone. Many Republicans privately acknowledge that Biden will soon be president, and they hope Trump concedes the race once it is clear that his legal challenges are collapsing – and once key states certify the results.
A prominent Republican source, who has been in contact with Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner said Republicans are awaiting certification dates from Arizona on November 30 and Georgia on November 20. November – two states with Republican governors where Biden is now the leader in the vote counts – as key moments. If states certify the results as Biden victories, then Trump will have little recourse but to concede, they believe, although no one knows what the president will do for sure.
“I think it’s a very narrow road,” said Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, a member of the Senate GOP leadership, when asked about Trump’s chances of overturning the election result.
“I guess it’s a heavy burden, but I don’t know,” said Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin and main supporter of Trump, when asked about the president’s efforts to overturn the results alleging massive electoral fraud and irregularities in the polls.
When asked if Trump should concede if he loses in court, Johnson said, “Yeah. The court should have the final say on these things.”
Pressure is also increasing on Trump to ease the course of the transition to Biden, even as he continues his legal challenges. So, so far the General Service Administration has not approved official documents to release funds for Biden’s transition.
But Senator Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota who is a close ally of Trump, said “I would” when asked if the GSA should sign the necessary transition documents.
“I just think we should cooperate,” Cramer told CNN. “I think you can cooperate with a transition – a peaceful transition – while contesting in a proper legal manner.”
Cramer added of Trump’s court cases: “I think it’s likely we’re going to find a whole bunch of fraud, and that wouldn’t be enough to cancel the election.”
In particular, Republicans are increasingly baffled by the White House’s refusal so far to allow Biden to receive access to daily presidential briefings to provide the president-elect with the latest information on threats to the national security he will face once he takes the White House. . The bipartisan 9/11 Commission reported that the contested 2000 election and the shortened transition before the inauguration of George W. Bush contributed to the lack of preparedness of the United States before the terrorist attacks of 2001.
“You do not lose any of your rights in court by making available to a potential successor the information they would need if this were to go in this direction,” Florida Senator Marco Rubio, chief of the committee, told CNN. of Senate intelligence. Thursday. “In all of these domestic matters, you might have a few weeks or a few months. But on national security, our adversaries are not waiting for presidents to catch up.”
A number of other high-profile Republicans – Senate Majority Whip John Thune, Senate Judicial Chairman Lindsey Graham, and Senator Chuck Grassley, the interim chairman – have all made it clear that Biden should start receiving classified briefings, as have other Trump allies, such as Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, and periodic criticism of Trump such as Sen. Susan Collins from Maine and Lisa Murkowski from Alaska.
“Well, I think it probably makes sense to be prepared for all eventualities,” Thune said when asked if Biden should be given briefings. “And as these electoral challenges are unfolding in court, I have no problem with, and I think it’s important from a national security perspective, continuity. And you’ve seen other members suggest that. I think that makes sense.
While many expect his trials not to fail, Republicans watch with concern as the lame president purges top national security officials at the Pentagon, including ousted Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
“I don’t like last minute changes,” Senate Armed Forces Chairman Jim Inhofe said when asked about his concerns about the dismissal.
“I don’t think it helps. And I don’t think it helps the country,” Texas Senator John Cornyn, a member of the GOP Senate leadership, said of Esper’s dismissal, saying reference to Trump.
GOP looks to key deadlines as it expects Trump’s concession
The pressure on Trump to concede is likely to increase as major states on the battlefield face delays in certifying their voting results. For example, Michigan and Pennsylvania share a certification deadline of November 23, while Wisconsin must do so by December 1.
“States are going to have to say at some point that the elections are over,” Thune said. “It’s different from state to state, but we’ll get a much better picture of the situation in the coming weeks.”
While Trump may try to block certification by convincing judges that there is evidence of wrongdoing, there is another looming deadline that will further drive the process: December 8, the deadline for states to resolve. any dispute over the counting of their votes, which happens six. days before the members of the Electoral College officially vote.
Then, on December 14, voters meet in their state capitals to vote. These results must then be submitted by December 23 to Vice President Mike Pence, in his capacity as Speaker of the Senate, and other officials.
“I think the president has the right to pursue a recount and pursue all legal avenues,” Utah Senator Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential candidate who did not vote for Trump, said Thursday. of the election. “But in the final analysis, Joe Biden will be the president except surprise.”
On January 6, a joint session of Congress meets to officially count the ballots and be ready to resolve any final disputes over the results. Pence would chair this session and announce the names of the winners.
These winners would then be sworn in on January 20.
Asked what would happen if Trump still does not concede if his lawsuits fail and once states start certifying the results, Capito said, “It’s a different scenario. We’ll have to wait and see if it does. is what is really happening. ”
CNN’s Morgan Rimmer and Ali Zaslav contributed to this report.
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