President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event to announce his choice of retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to be secretary of defense, at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Here’s what’s happening Thursday in Election 2020 and President-elect Joe Biden’s transition.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES:
TRADE ENVOY: President-elect Joe Biden is set to nominate Katherine Tai to be the top U.S. trade envoy, according to two people familiar with his plans. Tai, who is chief trade counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee, will be tapped as the U.S. Trade Representative. The role is a Cabinet position, and the Senate will vote on whether to confirm Tai for the position. Biden’s selection of Tai, who is Asian American, reflects his promise to choose a diverse Cabinet that reflects the makeup of the country.
LONG-SHOT CHALLENGE: President Donald Trump says his campaign will join an improbable case before the Supreme Court challenging election results in Pennsylvania and other states that he lost. That word comes as he tries to look past the justices’ rejection of a last-gasp bid to reverse Pennsylvania’s certification of Biden’s victory. The suit from the Texas attorney general, Republican Ken Paxton, demands that the 62 total Electoral College votes in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin be invalidated. Legal experts dismissed Paxton’s filing as the latest and perhaps longest legal shot since Election Day, and officials in the four states were sharply critical of Paxton.
DENYING REALITY: As Trump continues to press his argument that the vote was rigged against him, the machinery of government and democracy is moving inexorably toward Biden’s presidency. Trump has refused to recognize that fact and vows to press on with his challenges. But Biden is firmly on track to become president on Jan. 20, after having won a decisive majority of the electoral vote. In dozens of cases heard by courts, no systemic fraud or even consequential error has been established.
HUNTER BIDEN: The Justice Department is investigating the finances of the president-elect’s son, including scrutinizing some of his Chinese business dealings and other transactions. The revelations put a renewed spotlight on questions about Hunter Biden’s financial history, which dogged his father’s successful White House campaign and were a frequent target of Trump and his allies. They also come at a politically delicate time for the president-elect, who is weighing his choice to lead an agency that is actively investigating his son.
QUOTABLE: “I feel sorry for Texans that their tax dollars are being wasted on such a genuinely embarrassing lawsuit.” — Wisconsin’s attorney general, Josh Kaul, after Texas’ attorney general demanded that the 62 total Electoral College votes Biden won in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin be invalidated.
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