Nate Silver called for President Joe Biden to step down and let Kamala Harris assume office, saying he does not appear capable of making “high-stakes” decisions, the Daily Beast reports.
Said Silver: “Is there any particular reason to assume Biden is competent to be president right now? It’s a very difficult job. It’s a dangerous world. Extremely high-stakes decisions in Ukraine. He should resign and let Harris serve out the last 2 months.”
Washington Post: “Since Donald Trump’s victory in the Nov. 5 presidential election, Biden has not taken questions about what he had repeatedly called the most important election in history, one he warned would change the country forever if Trump prevailed.”
“Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is on an urgent mission: get as much high-tech spending out the door before Donald Trump takes office,” Politico reports.
“The Biden administration is aiming to commit nearly every unspent dollar in its $50 billion microchip-subsidy program before President-elect Donald Trump takes over in January, an effort that would effectively cement a massive industrial legacy before the GOP can reverse course.”
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“The White House is expected to request over $98 billion in disaster relief funds from Congress on Monday,” Axios reports.
“The emergency request from the White House comes as Congress must address a government funding lapse at the end of the year.”
“President-elect Donald Trump has selected longtime aide and media personality Karoline Leavitt to be his White House press secretary and carry the message of his administration publicly as he returns to the Oval Office,” NPR reports.
“At 27 years old, Leavitt will be the youngest person to hold the position of top White House spokesperson.”
Politico: Karoline Leavitt returns to Trump’s White House as press secretary.
Donald Trump told the New York Post that he and President Biden had a “really good meeting” at the White House yesterday.
Said Trump: “I wanted to know his views on where we are and what he thinks. And he gave them to me, he was very gracious.”
“Politics is tough, and it’s many cases, not a very nice world. But it is a nice world today and I appreciate very much a transition that’s so smooth, it’ll be as smooth as you can get. And I very much appreciate that, Joe.”
— President-elect Donald Trump, quoted by the New York Times, while meeting with President Joe Biden.
Playbook: “So what’s on the agenda? As far as Biden is concerned, the meeting itself is the agenda — upholding a key governing norm and showing magnanimity, even if Trump skipped the whole ritual entirely last time around amid his denial of the 2020 election results.”
Said one Biden administration official: “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter that they said that Trump was dangerous and all these things. It’s about continuity of the government, moving America forward. And if this is who they chose, then this is who he needs to sit next to, period.”
The person added: “On the other hand. I’m a human being and I’m like, what the fuck?”
New York Times: “What the rivals will say to each other behind closed doors is unclear, and so is what they might say publicly. They are scheduled to have a brief photo op in front of reporters after the meeting ends.”
ABC News: Biden, Trump to meet in Oval Office in post-election tradition Trump skipped in 2020.
“Melania Trump is not expected to attend the traditional White House meeting with first lady Jill Biden,” CNN reports.
“It’s a decision that underscores Melania Trump’s long-held willingness to buck tradition as she prepares to retake the high-profile – but unelected – role of first lady, one with no manual and an automatic global platform.”
“A former communications director for Kamala Harris has made the unlikely suggestion that Joe Biden resign so she can become the first woman to serve as US president after her defeat to Donald Trump in the November 5 election,” The Guardian reports.
“The White House is racing to dole out remaining funds appropriated from key legislation President Joe Biden signed before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in 10 weeks,” CNN reports.
“That includes finalizing agreements between the Commerce Department and manufacturing companies for federal semiconductor subsidies; allocating grants for climate initiatives; and surging available money and weaponry to war-torn Ukraine.”
“The implementation efforts reflect one slice of how the Biden administration is working to shore up key initiatives as the second Trump presidency approaches.”
“President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump will meet Wednesday in the Oval Office,” the AP reports.
“A postelection meeting is traditional between the outgoing president and the incoming president. But Trump, a Republican, did not host Biden, a Democrat, for such a meeting after Trump lost the election in 2020.”
“A government ethics watchdog agency has formally accused White House domestic policy chief Neera Tanden of repeatedly violating the Hatch Act by soliciting political contributions on social media in the months before the election,” Politico reports.
“President Joe Biden spoke to former President Donald Trump on the phone Wednesday to congratulate him on winning the presidency,” ABC News reports.
“Biden invited Trump to meet with him at the White House.”
“Despondent Biden administration officials are mulling how to protect their national security priorities before president-elect Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office in January. Whether it’s sending funds to Ukraine or imposing new sanctions on extremist Israeli settlers, an array of options are on the table,” Politico reports.
“But there’s no formal plan yet for how to lock in President Joe Biden’s big-ticket policies against a Trump effort to dismantle them.”
Nicholas Lehmann: “Objectively, and improbably, he has passed more new domestic programs than any Democratic President since Lyndon Johnson — maybe even since Franklin Roosevelt.”
“White House press officials altered the official transcript of a call in which President Joe Biden appeared to take a swipe at supporters of Donald Trump, drawing objections from the federal workers who document such remarks for posterity,” the AP reports.
“President Joe Biden is expected to formally apologize on Friday for the country’s role in the Indian boarding school system, which devastated the lives of generations of Indigenous children and their ancestors,” the AP reports.
Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna: “I would never have guessed in a million years that something like this would happen. It’s a big deal to me. I’m sure it will be a big deal to all of Indian Country.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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