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The 12 months 2020 might now be behind us, however we aren’t performed with the 2020 election simply but.
This week, the newly-elected Congress is getting sworn in, two runoff elections in Georgia are coming as much as decide management of the Senate, and President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory shall be licensed by Congress. Biden additionally nonetheless has a couple of Cabinet picks to announce – together with his nominee for Attorney General – as he plans for his inauguration.
Here are the upcoming dates to look at:
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Jan. 5: Senate runoff election in Georgia.
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Jan. 6: Congress will depend and certify the electoral leads to a joint session.
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Jan. 20: Inauguration of Biden, who will take the oath of workplace.
Be certain to refresh this web page usually to get the most recent info on the transition.
All 10 residing former secretaries of protection denounce concept of involving navy in election
All 10 residing former secretaries of protection, a gaggle spanning a number of administrations with a long time of expertise, denounced calls to contain the Defense Department in adjudicating the 2020 election in an op-ed in The Washington Post.
“Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory,” the group writes. “Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.”
The group consists of officers from each Democratic and Republican administrations, together with former Secretaries Mark Esper and Jim Mattis, who served below President Donald Trump.
The condemnation comes after the president and his supporters have alleged widespread voter fraud, with out proof. Multiple investigations of the election tally in key battleground states discovered that President-elect Joe Biden was the winner. The Supreme Court has twice discovered the president’s authorized challenges to haven’t any standing.
Having failed within the courts, a few of Trump’s allies have expressed assist for the thought of asking the navy to by some means intervene and the thought of declaring martial regulation was reportedly raised at one Oval Office assembly. A December New York Times report stated Trump repeatedly requested aides whether or not he may use the navy to intervene and “rerun” the election in states the president misplaced.
The Defense Department has stated “there’s no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of a U.S. election.” But the present management has not cooperated with the traditional peaceable transition course of, in response to the incoming Biden administration.
The former protection secretaries reminded Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller that he and “his subordinates – political appointees, officers and civil servants – are each bound by oath, law and precedent to facilitate the entry into office of the incoming administration, and to do so wholeheartedly.”
“We call upon them, in the strongest terms, to do as so many generations of Americans have done before them. This final action is in keeping with the highest traditions and professionalism of the U.S. armed forces, and the history of democratic transition in our great country.”
– Matthew Brown
Trump marketing campaign aide requires launch of full Georgia tape – Washington Post accommodates him
Suggesting a scarcity of context, a Donald Trump marketing campaign aide at one level Sunday demanded the discharge of the complete dialog between the president and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger
“Release the full tape!” senior marketing campaign adviser Jason Miller demanded in a tweet – one posted simply minutes earlier than The Washington Post did precisely that.
The one hour-and-two-minute tape confirmed precisely what the four-and-a-half-minute excerpts launched earlier did: That Trump tried to bully Raffensperger into overturning Biden’s victory in Georgia.
It additionally uncovered Miller to ridicule, as tons of of social media customers tweeted the complete tape again to the marketing campaign adviser.
“Here is the full tape,” pollster Frank Luntz stated to Miller. “Happy to help!”
– David Jackson
Republican lawmakers spar over efforts to object to Electoral College outcomes
Some Republican lawmakers’ efforts to object to the certification of Electoral College outcomes continued to trigger debate amongst Republicans as a brand new Congress convened on Sunday.
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the third-ranking House Republican, circulated a observe amongst her Republican colleagues Sunday morning calling efforts to overturn the election and forestall the certification of Electoral College outcomes “directly at odds with the Constitution’s clear text and our core beliefs as Republicans,” in response to a supply conversant in the memo not licensed to talk on the document. NBC News had first reported the memo.
And in a two-page assertion launched Sunday, seven House Republicans stated they opposed the hassle by some Republican lawmakers to object to Congress’ certification of the Electoral College outcomes on Wednesday. The lawmakers, a few of whom are members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus – usually stalwart defenders of the president – stated inserting Congress into the Electoral College course of “would amount to stealing power from the people and the states.”
“The text of the Constitution is clear. States select electors. Congress does not,” the lawmakers wrote.
Among the signatories is Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a former chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is spearheading one of the efforts to challenge the electoral college results.
At least a dozen Senate Republicans plan to join House Republicans in objecting to Congress’ certification of Electoral College results. Their effort is unlikely to succeed, as a majority of both the House and Senate must vote to exclude electoral votes, but the ensuing lengthy debate may further cast doubt among Republicans about the results of the election.
– Nicholas Wu
Bipartisan group of senators push back against Electoral College objection
After a dozen Republican senators declared last week that they intend to object to the certification of the Electoral College result, many of their Democratic and Republican colleagues have strongly condemned their plan, saying they risk losing voter’s faith in the process over unfounded allegations of widespread fraud.
“The 2020 election is over,” a bipartisan group of 10 senators declared in a joint statement on Sunday. “All challenges by way of recounts and appeals have been exhausted. At this level, additional makes an attempt to forged doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 Presidential election are opposite to the clearly expressed will of the American folks and solely serve to undermine Americans’ confidence within the already decided election outcomes.”
The group, comprised of Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; Mark Warner, D-Va.; Bill Cassidy; R-La., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Angus King, I-Maine; Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the “voters have spoken” and “Congress should now fulfill its duty to certify the election outcomes.”
“In two weeks, we are going to start working with our colleagues and the brand new Administration on bipartisan, widespread sense options to the big challenges going through our nation. It is time to maneuver ahead,” they said.
In addition, Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Roy Blunt of Missouri and Richard Shelby of Alabama told reporters on Sunday they would not support an effort to object to the electoral count.
“I feel it’s a solemn duty to simply accept these electoral school votes which have been licensed by governors, secretaries of states all throughout the nation,” said Capito. “I simply suppose that is an ill-fated journey.”
– William Cummings
Trump pressures Georgia official to change vote totals in recorded call
President Donald Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “discover” enough votes to flip the state’s election result, in a recording of a phone call published Sunday by The Washington Post.
“The folks of Georgia are offended, the folks within the nation are offended,” Trump tells Raffensperger in the hourlong call, which took place Saturday, according to the Post. Citing unsubstantiated reports he “heard,” Trump said the vote total should be changed.
“There’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you’ve recalculated,” Trump informed Raffensperger.
“Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong,” replied the Republican Georgia official.
Trump continued in making an attempt to persuade Raffensperger, telling him at one level, “All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
The president additionally warned Raffensperger and his basic counsel that he thought theicertification of the end result might be thought of “criminal.”
Earlier Sunday, Trump tweeted that he had spoken with Raffensperger “about Fulton County and voter fraud in Georgia.” Trump stated Raffensperger was “unwilling, or unable, to answer questions” about beforehand debunked voter fraud claims.
“Respectfully, President Trump: What you’re saying is not true. The truth will come out,” Raffensperger replied.
– William Cummings
Perdue backs effort to object to Biden victory
David Perdue, who faces Democrat Jon Ossoff in Tuesday’s Georgia Senate runoff election, will not be among the many lawmakers assembly in a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, however he’s urging them to object to the certification of the Nov. 3 election outcomes.
Without citing specifics, Perdue claimed on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that there have been “huge irregularities in Georgia” that “need to be investigated” and “need to be corrected.” He stated that, if he was in a position, he would be part of the dozen Republican senators and greater than 100 GOP House members who’re anticipated to problem the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s 306-232 Electoral College defeat of President Donald Trump.
“I’m encouraging my colleagues to object,” Perdue stated. “This is something that the American people demand right now you.”
With the closing of the 116th Congress, Perdue is not a sitting senator and must wait in a political limbo till the outcomes of his runoff election towards Ossoff are licensed by the state of Georgia. If he loses, he will not return to the Senate – at the very least, not this time period – and if he wins, it may take greater than every week to get a remaining depend of the vote in what is predicted to be a detailed race.
Before Sunday, Perdue had not explicitly acknowledged his place on the upcoming certification of the Electoral College end result. Perdue and Kelly Loeffler – one other Georgia Republican in the identical Senate runoff limbo – have needed to stroll a advantageous line within the two months because the election on the query of whether or not widespread fraud occurred.
….is due to this fact each unlawful and invalid, and that would come with the 2 present Senatorial Elections. In Wisconsin, Voters not asking for functions invalidates the Election. All of this with out even discussing the hundreds of thousands of fraudulent votes that have been forged or altered!
— Donald J. Trump (@actualDonaldTrump) January 1, 2021
Perdue informed Fox News, “I don’t think I should be in this runoff if everything had happened the way it should have in November, but the only recourse we have is to get out and fight and rise up and vote.” But when pressed on what was being performed to stop the alleged fraud from recurring Tuesday, Perdue didn’t cite something that wasn’t performed forward of Nov. 3.
On Friday, Trump stated the November election in Georgia was “both illegal and invalid” as a result of the identical early voting practices have been being adopted for the runoffs. He added, “that would include the two current Senatorial Elections.”
– William Cummings
This article initially appeared on USA TODAY: Bipartisan group of lawmakers decry transfer to object to Biden win
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