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Presidential transition of Joe Biden

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Presidential transition of Joe Biden
FormationNovember 7, 2020 (2020-11-07)
PurposePresidential transition
Headquarters1401 Constitution Ave NW Washington, DC 20230.
Co-Chairs
Anita Dunn (since September 5, 2020)
Ted Kaufman (since June 20, 2020)
Michelle Lujan Grisham (since September 5, 2020)
Cedric Richmond (since September 5, 2020)
Jeffrey Zients (since September 5, 2020)
Key people
Joe Biden
Kamala Harris
Websitebuildbackbetter.gov Edit this at Wikidata
This article is part of
a series about
Joe Biden
Personal
U.S. Senator from Delaware
47th Vice President of the United States
Vice presidential campaigns
46th President of the United States
Incumbent
Tenure
Policies
Appointments
Presidential campaigns
Joe Biden's signature
Seal of the President of the United States

The presidential transition of Joe Biden[nb 1][nb 2] is the current and ongoing transition to the presidency of Joe Biden, the president-elect of the United States. In April 2020, he became the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party for president before formally accepting the nomination the following August. Biden's transition team, led by Ted Kaufman, had already been announced on June 20. Further co-chairs, accompanying Kaufman, joined the team in September. The 2020 presidential election took place on November 3, and several major news outlets declared Biden the winner at approximately 11:00–11:30 a.m. EST on November 7, making him the presumptive president-elect.[nb 1][nb 2] The electoral college will meet on December 14, 2020 and formally elect the president and vice president, and the results will then be certified by a joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021. Biden's transition will end when he is inaugurated at 12:00 p.m. EST on January 20, 2021, at which point his presidency will begin.

Background issues

COVID-19 pandemic

Main article: COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

The COVID-19 pandemic, which as of November 2020 has killed over 240,000 people in the United States,[7] has had significant economic and societal effects.

Economic recession

Main article: COVID-19 recession

Starting in March 2020, job losses were rapid. About 16 million jobs were lost in the United States in the three weeks ending on 4 April. Unemployment claims reached a record high, with 3.3 million claims made in the week ending on 21 March. (The previous record had been 700,000 from 1982.) On 8 May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a U-3 unemployment (official unemployment) figure of 14.7%, the highest level recorded since 1941, with U-6 unemployment (total unemployed plus marginally attached and part-time underemployed workers) reaching 22.8%. Approximately 5.4 million Americans lost their health insurance from February to May 2020 after losing their jobs. In June 2020, economic analyst Jim Cramer said that the response to the COVID-19 recession has led to the biggest transfer of wealth to the ultra-wealthy in modern history. On 30 July 2020, it was reported that the U.S. 2nd quarter gross domestic product fell at an annualized rate of 33%.

Racial injustice

Main article: Killing of George Floyd

The ongoing protests against extrajudicial killings of African-Americans by U.S. police has been pushed to the forefront since the killing of George Floyd in May 2020 by a police officer while Floyd was under the process of being arrested. The protests precipitated a cultural reckoning on racial injustice in the United States and have led to numerous legislative proposals on federal, state and municipal levels intended to combat police misconduct, systemic racism, qualified immunity and police brutality in the United States, while the Trump administration has drawn significant criticism for what has been described as its hardline rhetoric and aggressive, militarized response. The protests led to a wave of monument removals and name changes throughout the world. The protests have been ongoing during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Climate change

Main article: Climate change

Climate protests have risen in popularity in the 2010s in such forms as public demonstrations, fossil fuel divestment, and lawsuits. Prominent recent demonstrations include the school strike for climate, and civil disobedience. In the school strike, youth across the globe have protested by skipping school, inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg. Mass civil disobedience actions by groups like Extinction Rebellion have protested by causing disruption.

Transition procedures

Main article: United States presidential transition

In accordance with the Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010, potential presidential transition teams are provided office space by the General Services Administration (GSA).[4][5] They are also eligible for government funding for staff; spending on Mitt Romney's transition team in 2012 was $8.9 million, all funds appropriated by the U.S. government.[5] Under existing federal law and custom, Biden became eligible to receive classified national security briefings when his nomination was formalized at the party's national convention in August 2020.[8]

Key responsibilities of a presidential transition include the identification and vetting of candidates for approximately 4,000 non-civil service positions in the U.S. government who serve at the pleasure of the president; arranging the occupancy of executive residences including the White House, One Observatory Circle, and Camp David; liaising with the United States Strategic Command for receipt of the Gold Codes; and briefing senior personnel about a new administration's policy priorities.[9]

Pre-election developments

The Presidential Transition Act was amended in 2019 to require the incumbent president to establish "transition councils" by June of an election year to facilitate a possible handover of power.[10][11]

Biden began to appoint transition staff in May 2020, chaired by former Delaware Senator Ted Kaufman.[12] Further staff were announced in September. The campaign has an estimated budget of $7–10 million and plans to have a staff of 300 people by early December 2020. Several working groups were set up in late September and early October.[13]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the work was done over Zoom.[14]

Biden launched his transition website at approximately 6:30 p.m. EST on November 4, a day after Election Day and before the final election results were in.[15]

Timeline

Pre-election

Meetings between the transition team and the administration began with the formation of two councils in May of 2020,[16][10] around the time the former Vice President had clinched the Democratic nomination.

  • April 8, 2020: Biden becomes the presumptive nominee after Bernie Sanders withdraws.
  • June 20, 2020: Initial transition team announced.[17]
  • August 2020: Biden and California Senator Kamala Harris are nominated at the Democratic Convention.
  • September 5, 2020: Full transition team is made public.[17]
  • November 1, 2020: Deadline for transition materials to be completed.[18]
  • November 3, 2020: Election Day

Post-election

Electoral votes are counted in a joint session of Congress, 2017
File:Buildbackbettersite.png
Biden presidential transition website
  • November 4: The transition website, buildbackbetter.com, goes live.
  • November 7: Election called
  • November 8: GSA Administrator Emily Murphy refuses to sign a letter declaring the official start of the transition, denying funds and office space to the Biden team.[19]
  • November 9: President Trump fires Secretary of Defense Mark Esper[20]
  • November 10:
    • The Daily Beast reports that the Trump administration has begun preparing for a second term by vetting potential staff members for early 2021.[21]
    • Transition Co-Chair Ted Kaufman announces full transition team of at least 500 people.[22]
  • November 18: First day Trump can apply for a recount in Wisconsin.[23]
  • November 20: Election certified in Georgia. Possible recount.[23]
  • November 30: Election certified in Arizona.[24] A recount is impossible.[25]
  • December 8: Safe harbor deadline
  • December 14: Electoral College meets
  • January 6, 2021: Congress counts Electoral College votes
  • January 20, 2021: Inauguration Day

COVID-19 Advisory Board

Main article: COVID-19 Advisory Board

Before naming any White House staff or cabinet appointments, Biden announced that he will appoint a COVID-19 task force, co-chaired by former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler and Yale University epidemiologist Professor Marcella Nunez-Smith.[26][27] Biden pledged a larger federal government response to the pandemic than Donald Trump, akin to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal following the Great Depression.[28] This would include increased testing for the COVID virus, a steady supply of personal protective equipment, distributing a vaccine and securing money from Congress for schools and hospitals under the aegis of a national "supply chain commander" who would coordinate the logistics of manufacturing and distributing protective gear and test kits. This would be distributed by a "Pandemic Testing Board", also similar to Roosevelt's War Production Board.[28] Biden also pledged to invoke the Defense Production Act more aggressively than Trump in order to build up supplies, as well as the mobilization of up to 100,000 Americans for a "public health jobs corps" of contact tracers to help track and prevent outbreaks.[28] "Other members are Dr. Luciana Borio, Rick Bright, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Dr. Atul Gawande, Dr. Celine Gounder, Dr. Julie Morita, Michael Osterholm, Loyce Pace, Dr. Robert Rodriguez and Dr. Eric Goosby."[29]

Access to government offices, federal agencies, and funding

Amid Trump's current refusal to concede the election, Emily W. Murphy, the administrator of the General Services Administration, and an appointee of Trump, has thus far refused to sign a letter to authorizing the Biden transition team to formally begin working with federal agencies, access federal transition funds, and utilize government provided office space. She is arguing that she has seen no certification outside of the media that Biden has won, and is under no obligation to treat Biden as president-elect.[30][31]

Transition team

Co-chairs

Advisory council

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b As of early on Monday November 9, 2020, ever since major media outlets called the election for Biden a few days earlier, most reliable sources have been referring to Joe Biden as president-elect, and to Kamala Harris as vice president-elect. At that time, President Trump was still refusing to concede defeat and was claiming the election was being stolen from him by alleged electoral fraud, and Emily W. Murphy, the Trump-appointed Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA), whose task it is to formally certify the apparent winners as "President-elect" and "Vice-President-elect" in order to officially start the transition,[1][2] had not yet done so.[3][2] and the criteria for certifying the apparent winners are "legally murky".[2]
  2. ^ a b However, like previous potential transition teams, such as that of unsuccessful candidate Mitt Romney in 2012, the Biden transition team remains eligible for government funding in accordance with the Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010,[4][5] and Biden has been eligible to receive classified intelligence briefings since his nomination in August.[6] At least some government agencies had reportedly started their transition plans as of November 9, 2020, with airspace being restricted over his home, and "the Secret Service has begun using agents from its presidential protective detail for the president-elect and his family."[2]

References

  1. ^ "Presidential Transition Act of 1963 (Public Law 88-277)". General Services Administration. Retrieved May 17, 2016. The terms "President-elect" and "Vice-President-elect" as used in this Act shall mean such persons as are the apparent successful candidates for the office of the President and Vice President, respectively, as ascertained by the Administrator following the general elections held to determine the electors of the President and Vice-President in accordance with title 3, United States code, sections 1 and 2.
  2. ^ a b c d "Trump faces calls to work with Biden team on transition". The Tribune (Chandigarh). November 9, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020. President Donald Trump is facing pressure to cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden's team to ensure a smooth transfer of power when the new administration takes office in January. ... The General Services Administration is tasked with formally recognising Biden as president-elect, which begins the transition. But the agency's Trump-appointed administrator, Emily Murphy, has not started the process and has given no guidance on when she will do so. ... But that process can't begin in full until the GSA recognises Biden as president-elect. The definition of what constitutes a clear election winner for the GSA is legally murky, making next steps unclear, especially in the short term. ... at least some elements of the federal government already have begun implementing transition plans. Aviation officials, for instance, have restricted the airspace over Biden's lakefront home in Wilmington, Delaware, while the Secret Service has begun using agents from its presidential protective detail for the president-elect and his family.
  3. ^ Smith, David; Gambino, Lauren (November 9, 2020). "Joe Biden gets to work as president-elect while Trump refuses to concede". The Guardian. Retrieved November 9, 2020. Mon 9 Nov 2020 07.37 GMT First published on Sun 8 Nov 2020 19.15 GMT ... Joe Biden spent his first full day as US president-elect determined to hit the ground running, ... The US General Services Administration, which oversees federal property, has not certified the winner yet. The Trump appointee who runs the agency, has not given the go-ahead for the transition to begin. A GSA spokeswoman gave Reuters no timetable for the decision.
  4. ^ a b Parker, Ashley (August 16, 2012). "Campaigning Aside, Team Plans a Romney Presidency". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Fund, John (January 13, 2013). "What was Romney Planning?". National Review. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  6. ^ Gazis, Olivia; Erickson, Bo; Segers, Grace (September 18, 2020). "Biden receives first classified intelligence briefing". CBS News. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  7. ^ "Daily Updates of Totals by Week and State". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  8. ^ Gazis, Olivia; Erickson, Bo; Segers, Grace (September 18, 2020). "Biden receives first classified intelligence briefing". CBS News. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  9. ^ "Help Wanted: 4,000 Presidential Appointees". Center for Presidential Transition. Partnership for Public Service. Archived from the original on January 12, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  10. ^ a b "Trump Administration Details Efforts to Support Peaceful Presidential Transition". Government Executive. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  11. ^ Transition, Center for Presidential. "Center for Presidential Transition". Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  12. ^ "Biden Transition Organization – Staff, Advisors". www.democracyinaction.us. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  13. ^ Strauss, Daniel (September 23, 2020). "'This is a transition like no other': Biden team prepared for all possibilities". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  14. ^ Ollstein, Alice Miranda; Cassella, Megan (October 5, 2020). "A new challenge for transition planners: Building a government over Zoom". Politico. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  15. ^ "Biden team launches transition website". ABC News. November 4, 2020. Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  16. ^ Restuccia, Andrew; Collins, Eliza (October 22, 2020). "Biden Team Prepares for Potentially Bumpy Transition". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  17. ^ a b Bradner, Eric (June 20, 2020). "Biden expands transition team, adding key campaign allies and top Obama-Biden policy hands". CNN. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  18. ^ Herz, Kate Shaw, Michael Eric (October 28, 2020). "The Transition Is Already Happening (And It's Going Fine So Far)". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ Rein, Lisa; O'Connell, Jonathan; Dawsey, Josh. "A little-known Trump appointee is in charge of handing transition resources to Biden — and she isn't budging". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  20. ^ https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/11/09/esper-fired-as-secretary-of-defense/
  21. ^ https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/trump-administration-still-vetting-for-jobs-for-their-second-term/ar-BB1aTjws
  22. ^ https://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/06/electoral.vote/
  23. ^ a b Breuninger, Kevin (November 6, 2020). "These states could go to a recount in the 2020 election, and here's how it will work". CNBC. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  24. ^ https://ballotpedia.org/Election_results_certification_dates,_2020
  25. ^ https://www.azmirror.com/2020/11/10/an-arizona-ballot-recount-they-are-rare-nearly-impossible-to-trigger/
  26. ^ Feuer, Will (November 7, 2020). "President-elect Joe Biden to announce Covid task force on Monday". CNBC. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  27. ^ Mercia, Dan; Zeleny, Jeff (November 7, 2020). "Biden to announce coronavirus task force as part of presidential transition". CNN. Retrieved November 9, 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. ^ a b c Goodnough, Abby; Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (October 15, 2020). "Biden's Covid Response Plan Draws From F.D.R.'s New Deal". The New York Times. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  29. ^ Christensen, Jen. "How Biden plans to change the US pandemic response". CNN. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  30. ^ Lisa Rein, Jonathan O'Connell & Josh Dawsey, A little-known Trump appointee is in charge of handing transition resources to Biden — and she isn't budging Archived November 9, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, Washington Post (November 8, 2020).
  31. ^ Elliott, Philip (November 9, 2020). "Why Donald Trump's Refusal to Give Biden Keys to Office Space Matters". Time. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  32. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Cindy McCain Joins Biden-Harris Transition Team's Advisory Board". President-Elect Joe Biden. September 28, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  33. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Biden Transition Organization – Staff, Advisors". www.democracyinaction.us. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
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2020–2021 		Succeeded by
Current
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