Dr. Anthony Fauci told NBC News that he’s concerned that the Trump administration has not yet greenlighted the formal transition to the incoming Biden administration, which the infectious disease expert said is key to the quick distribution of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Lame Duck Session Begins
Politico: “Top on the to-do list for lawmakers is avoiding a government shutdown, as current funding runs dry on Dec. 11. Both sides want to pass an omnibus spending bill, as opposed to punting on the issue with another continuing resolution.”
Also: “It would be hard for lawmakers to leave town for the holidays without providing some much-needed relief for the American people. Democrats want to clear the decks for the incoming Biden administration, while Republicans think they’ll get a better deal with Trump still in the White House.”
“Yet a relief deal has remained elusive. Dems are still calling for trillions of dollars in new spending, while the GOP is still insistent on a targeted measure of around $500 billion. And Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have yet to hold any new talks on an aid package.”
LePage Says He’s Running for Governor Again
Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) told WGAN that’s he will run for governor again in 2022.
Said LePage: “If I’m breathing, I’m running.”
Why ‘Humoring’ Trump Will Cause Real Harm
John Oliver explained how weak Donald Trump’s case for overturning this election is and what real harm “humoring” him will do.
Said Oliver: “Trump is playing a dangerous game here. Because there is a huge difference between ‘not my president’ and ‘not the president.’ And to be clear, people who are that angry are not riling themselves up in a vacuum. They’ve been fed a steady diet of misinformation, bullshit fraud claims, and a victim narrative from right-wing media and Trump himself.”
Ex-FDA Commissioner Says Pandemic Can End Next Year
In light of highly encouraging vaccine data from Pfizer and Moderna, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC that the coronavirus pandemic can be “effectively” ended in 2021.
Georgia GOP Worries Trump Feud Could Hurt Runoffs
“The Georgia Republican Party is beset with infighting, as leading Republicans in the state come under public attack from President Trump and his supporters following his apparent defeat by President-elect Joe Biden there—the first loss by a GOP presidential candidate since 1992,” the Washington Post reports.
“The internal strains come as state party leaders are trying to rally support for two sitting senators facing Jan. 5 runoffs that will determine control of the U.S. Senate.”
Doctors Are Calling It Quits Under Stress of Pandemic
The New York Times reports that, as the coronavirus surges again, thousands of medical practices are shutting down as doctors and nurses seek early retirement or jobs that don’t cause such intense stress.
Top Oregon Republican to Defy Governor on Thanksgiving
In defiance of Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s (D) orders, one of Clackamas County’s top elected officials plans to host a large dinner in her home on Thanksgiving despite the raging COVID-19 pandemic, the Oregonian reports.
Said Tootie Smith (R): “My family will celebrate Thanksgiving dinner with as many family and friends as I can find. Gov Brown is WRONG to order otherwise.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I will say that I’m not surprised that somebody like Trump could get traction in our political life. But if we were going to have a right-wing populist in this country, I would have expected somebody a little more appealing… I guess I would not have expected someone who has complete disdain for ordinary people to be able to get attention and then the following from those very same people.”
— Barack Obama, in an interview with The Atlantic.
Trump Campaign Lawsuits Fizzle
ABC News: “The Trump campaign and its supporters have filed at least 18 cases in battleground states, targeted because the president trailed Democrat Joe Biden by a comparatively narrow margin. With rare exception, the Trump campaign has been losing in court — regardless of whether the judges were appointed by Democratic or Republican presidents. The filings have only garnered two favorable rulings to date, and numerous denials and dismissals.”
Will Trump Burn the Evidence?
Jill Lepore: “Hardly a day passes that Trump does not attempt to suppress evidence, as if all the world were in violation of an N.D.A. never to speak ill of him. He has sought to discredit publications and broadcasts that question him, investigations that expose him, crowds that protest him, polls that fail to favor him, and, down to the bitter end, ballots cast against him.”
“None of this bodes well for the historical record and for the scheduled transfer of materials from the White House to the National Archives, on January 20, 2021. That morning, even as President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr., is ascending the steps of the Capitol, staffers from the archives will presumably be in the White House, unlocking doors, opening desks, packing boxes, and removing hard drives. What might be missing, that day, from file drawers and computer servers at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is difficult to say.”
“But records that were never kept, were later destroyed, or are being destroyed right now chronicle the day-to-day doings of one of the most consequential Presidencies in American history and might well include evidence of crimes, violations of the Constitution, and human-rights abuses. It took a very long time to establish rules governing the fate of Presidential records. Trump does not mind breaking rules and, in the course of a long life, has regularly done so with impunity. The Presidential Records Act isn’t easily enforceable. The Trump Presidency nearly destroyed the United States. Will what went on in the darker corners of his White House ever be known?”
Moderna Vaccine 95% Effective
Moderna said its experimental coronavirus vaccine was 94.5% effective at protecting people from Covid-19 in an early look at pivotal study results, the second vaccine to hit a key milestone, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Trump Again Falsely Claims He Won
President Trump tweeted just before midnight: “I WON THE ELECTION!”
Biden IRS Could Finally Give Up Trump’s Tax Returns
“President Trump’s defeat will make it a lot easier for Democrats to finally get his tax returns, and some prominent lawmakers plan to keep the heat on the incoming Biden administration and House leaders to deliver,” Politico reports.
“Once Biden controls the Treasury Department, his administration could simply hand over the long-sought records to its allies in Congress, who have been fighting in court to force Trump to turn them over, so far unsuccessfully.”
Quote of the Day
“What I think is indisputable is that I signified a shift in power. Just my mere presence worried folks, in some cases explicitly, in some cases subconsciously. And then there were folks around to exploit that and tap into that.”
— Barack Obama, in an interview with The Atlantic.
Trump Fans Unrest and Conspiracies
“President Trump’s refusal to concede the election has entered a more dangerous phase as he stokes resistance and unrest among his supporters and spreads falsehoods aimed at undermining the integrity of the American voting system,” the New York Times reports.
“More than a week after President-elect Joe Biden was declared the winner, Mr. Trump continues to block his successor’s transition, withholding intelligence briefings, critical information about the coronavirus pandemic and access to the vast machinery of government that Mr. Biden will soon oversee.”
Georgia Recount Yields Few Changes in Vote Totals
“Georgia’s hand audit of ballots cast in the presidential election is proceeding rapidly with little change in the results so far, according to lawyers working for President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign,” Bloomberg reports.
“Some 48 of the state’s 159 counties have finished their examination of the ballots with either no change or minor shifts — differences of fewer than five votes in some instances.”
Trump Jettisons Most of Legal Challenge In Pennsylvania
“President Trump’s campaign on Sunday scrapped a major part of its federal lawsuit challenging the election results in Pennsylvania,” the Washington Post reports.
“Trump’s attorneys filed a revised version of the lawsuit, removing allegations that election officials violated the Trump campaign’s constitutional rights by limiting the ability of their observers to watch votes being counted.”