The latest on Biden’s transition

Miguel Cardona, President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for Secretary of Education, speaks after being introduced at The Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020.
Cardona: Time to forge opportunity out of crisis
02:17 - Source: CNN

What you need to know

  • President-elect Joe Biden formally introduced Miguel Cardona as his nominee for secretary of education. Here’s who he’s selected for his Cabinet so far.
  • Biden urged Americans in a year-end message yesterday to remain vigilant over the holidays as the pandemic rages on and called for bipartisanship to battle Covid-19.
  • Trump, meanwhile, refuses to concede the election, the results of which were affirmed by the Electoral College.

Our live coverage has ended. You can read more on the Biden transition here.

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Trump pardons Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Charles Kushner, among others

From left, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner.

President Trump has pardoned longtime ally Roger Stone, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and Charles Kushner, the father of White House senior adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, among others. 

The pardons of Manafort and Stone reward two of the most high-profile and widely condemned former advisers of the President, both of whom were indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller, went to trial and were convicted by juries of multiple crimes. 

Manafort, who is serving home confinement, initially agreed to cooperate with Mueller but then lied to prosecutors, while Stone never cooperated after lying to Congress to protect the President. Manafort spent close to two years in prison for bank and tax fraud, illegal foreign lobbying and witness tampering conspiracies before being released because of the pandemic, while Stone’s sentence for obstruction of Congress and threatening a witness was commuted by Trump earlier this year days before he was set to surrender. 

Charles Kushner, had been prosecuted by then-US Attorney for New Jersey Chris Christie in the early 2000s for tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions. He eventually pleaded guilty to 16 counts of tax evasion, one count of retaliating against a federal witness — his brother-in-law — and another count of lying to the Federal Election Commission. 

Also included in Trump’s pardon list is California GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter’s wife, Margaret, just one day after Trump granted Duncan Hunter a full pardon. Margaret Hunter pleaded guilty last year to conspiring “knowingly and willingly” convert campaign funds for personal use. 

Additional reporting from Paul LeBlanc and Katelyn Polantz.

Trump arrives at Mar-a-Lago in Florida

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport on Wednesday, December 23.

President Trump arrived at Mar-a-Lago at 6:45 p.m. after a brief motorcade ride through Palm Beach. Along the route, hundreds of supporters expressed their support for the President. 

CNN photojournalist Peter Morris got video of the mostly unmasked crowds. 

The motorcade slowed down as it passed to acknowledge a large crowd that was gathered. Trump can be seen in the video waving to supporters.  

There were few opponents as well, including one with a sign that said “Go Away.”

President Trump did not answer reporters’ questions as he left the White House, or later aboard Air Force One. 

Trump declines to take questions as he leaves the White House for Florida

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Wednesday in Washington.

The President and First Lady walked out of the Oval Office together at 4:09 p.m. ET according to pool reports. They’re on their way to Mar-a-Lago in Florida ahead of the Christmas holiday.

Trump did not stop for shouted questions from reporters. 

The First couple boarded Marine One at 4:10 p.m. ET.

There will be no Black women in the Senate after Harris becomes vice president

Sen. Kamala Harris broke barriers as America’s first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president-elect. But after her exit in January to join the Biden administration, there will be no Black women in the Senate.

Harris’s departure left lawmakers and advocates urging California Gov. Gavin Newsom to choose a Black woman to replace her due to a lack of diversity in the chamber. And while his appointment on Tuesday of Secretary of State Alex Padilla as California’s first Latino senator was historic, it comes with the reality that the 117th Congress will have no Black women in the upper chamber.

“When you think about the history of this country, of the challenges that exist for African Americans … this is a real blow to the African-American community, to African-American women, to women in general,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed said during a Covid-19 briefing. “And it’s really challenging to put it in words.”

Taisha Brown, chair of the California Democratic Party Black Caucus, told The Sacramento Bee that “we (are) incredibly hurt and disappointed in the governor’s decision. Through a stroke of a pen, his actions have denied a Black female representation in the United States Senate.”

Read more here.

Congressional Republicans grapple with an "unhinged" Trump

Even in his waning days in power President Trump is still finding ways to inflict his signature loyalty tests on the Republican Party.

As the President continues to deny his election loss, Republican members and aides on Capitol Hill are watching with angst as Trump threatens to unravel their entire year-end legislative agenda. Trump has vowed to veto the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act, a defense policy bill that is essential for governing the future of the Pentagon, ahead of a deadline midnight on Wednesday. And after Congress left town this week, Trump unexpectedly posted a video screed eviscerating the hard-fought, bipartisan coronavirus package that passed the Senate by a 92 to 6 margin.

Meanwhile, Trump is obsessively pursuing any tactic that could overturn the results of the election, encouraging an already-doomed effort by a small group of House Republicans to challenge the Electoral College results in Congress on January 6 and lashing out at any Republican who calls into question the efforts’ success – even threatening to primary the Senate’s No. 2 Republican over his opposition to the futile endeavor.

While Congress is already slated to return to Washington next week to potentially override Trump’s veto of the defense authorization bill, Trump’s latest criticism against the stimulus package and government spending bill could prove even harder to overcome. 

And there is no predicting how many Republicans will continue to support a package that Trump has so publicly blasted.

That has left aides on both sides of the aisle attempting to game out worst-case scenarios – the kind that include a government shutdown that would last through the end of Trump’s time in office or the possibility that desperately needed relief – so close to going out the door after months of deadlock – falls apart completely.

Here’s where things stand: If Trump waits to veto the bill, it could leave little or no time for the current Congress to override it. If that happened, newly sworn in Congress that includes a larger Republican minority would have to vote on the legislation all over again. And, while Congress passed a seven-day continuing resolution to ensure the government did not shut down while the larger bill was being processed, that funding runs out Monday at midnight. 

Then on Jan. 6, Republicans could be put in an even tougher position if Trump’s House allies gain a senator’s support to object to the Electoral College results, forcing votes in both chambers on whether to reject a state’s Electoral College votes. It’s a politically toxic vote for Republicans, forcing them to choose: Do you stand with Trump or the will of the voters?

Behind the scenes, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has actively discouraged any Senate Republican to join the effort. Senate Majority Whip John Thune publicly pushed back on an to challenge the results of the election during a Joint Session of Congress, saying it would “go down like a shot dog.”

White House staff told to disregard email about exit process

White House staff received an email today informing them to disregard a previous message they received about the exit process, according to an email viewed by CNN.

No reason was given but the White House management office said “updated information will be shared in the coming days.”

The earlier email detailed information about their last days and when they would receive their final paycheck, another indication that President Trump and his staff will not remain in office past Jan. 20, despite his claims.

Students urge Biden's education secretary nominee to engage young voices in Department of Education

Before President-elect Joe Biden formally introduced Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona as his nominee for education secretary, more than 100 organizations endorsed a student-crafted roadmap that was sent to the Biden-Harris transition team encouraging youth input in the incoming Department of Education.

Student Voice — the nationwide student-led non-profit organization behind the roadmap -— congratulates Cardona on his nomination for education secretary and is now calling on Cardona and the Biden-Harris administration to listen to students. 

The roadmap, which asks the incoming US Department of Education to engage young voices through listening sessions, include students on all commissions and to prioritize equity in education, was the result of Zoom listening sessions with over 200 high school students and a survey of 1,500 kindergarten-college aged students from across the country on what they would like to see from the Biden-Harris Department of Education.

It was presented by Student Voice to President-elect Biden, Vice President-elect Harris, and the Education Agency Review team prior to Dr. Cardona’s appointment and was endorsed by 100 organizations including the American Federation of Teachers, Center for American Progress, Southern Poverty Law Center, GLSEN and student groups such as March For Our Lives, Students for Gun Legislation, Future Coalition, 18by Vote and more.

“As a former educator, principal and current commissioner, we are hopeful that Dr. Cardona will be prepared to tackle the unprecedented challenges facing America’s schools on day one. We appreciate that Dr. Cardona regularly hosted listening sessions for student stakeholders throughout his career and Connecticut and has shown previous support for students as a vital part in the decision making process,” 18-year-old Jenna Yuan, the Communications Director at Student Voice, said in a statement congratulating Cardona on Wednesday.

But, Yuan added that Cardona must continue to engage with young people.

“Before Dr. Cardona is confirmed, students are calling on him to speak with us directly about the issues we face within our educations today, including through hosting a roundtable conversation with a diverse and representative group of K-12 and college students from across the country,” Yuan added in the statement.

According to Merrit Jones, who at 23 years old is the oldest member of the Student Voice team, along with their roadmap, the organization is also suggesting that Dr. Cardona prioritize five issues, “Protection against discrimination, Covid safety, mental health, college access and affordability and access for students with disabilities.”

Jones added that she believes it is imperative for Cardona to have a conversation with young people prior to Biden’s inauguration.

 “Ahead of inauguration, and of course confirmation, we want [Cardona] to have a conversation with young people to show and demonstrate early that young people are a stake holder and will be a stake holder,” Jones told CNN.

Jones added that Student Voice has already asked the Biden-Harris transition team for a conversation with Cardona to cement young people’s role in building the incoming Department of Education.

Biden not expected to announce pick for CIA director until after the holidays

President-elect Joe Biden is still deliberating who he will nominate to lead the CIA, people familiar with the matter say, with a decision not expected until after the holidays.

Mike Morrell, the former acting director of the CIA in the Obama administration, is no longer in the running, people familiar with the matter say, after he came under fire for his role in drone strikes and torture.

Our reporting indicates final contenders are David Cohen, a former deputy director of the CIA under former President Obama, Lisa Monaco, counter terrorism adviser under Obama and Darrell Blocker, who served as deputy director of the agency’s counterterrorism center and led the CIA’s training facility.

Education secretary nominee says he is "as American as apple pie and rice and beans"

Miguel Cardona spoke about his background after President-elect Joe Biden introduced him as education secretary nominee, using his story as a call to action for equality in the US education system. 

His grandparents emigrated from Puerto Rico to Connecticut, and he was born in housing projects in the state, he said.

He attended public schools in his hometown of Meriden, Connecticut, was the first in his family to graduate from college, and went on to become a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent in “the same community that gave me so much,” he said.

“For me, education was the great equalizer. But for too many students, your ZIP code and your skin color remain the best predictor of the opportunities you’ll have in your lifetime.

He compared education in America to a “wilted rose” in Spanish, saying it is “neglected, in need of care.”

“We must be the master gardeners who cultivate it, who work every day to preserve its beauty and its purpose,” he said. 

Hear his full remarks:

07:10 - Source: CNN

"Forge opportunity out of crisis:" Biden's education secretary emphasizes importance of fixing disparities

Dr. Miguel Cardona, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for education secretary, said he will focus his efforts on making changes that address disparities in the American public educations system.

He talked about how this year’s pandemic has exposed these inequities.

“It’s taken some of our most painful, longstanding disparities and wrenched them open even wider,” Cardona said.

“Though we are beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel, we also know that this crisis is ongoing, that we will carry its impacts for years to come, and that the problems and inequities that have plagued our educational system since long before Covid will still be with us even after the virus is gone,” he added.

Cardona said America needs to take this situation to “forge opportunity out of crisis” and “build something better than we’ve ever had before.”

He called for solutions that prioritize innovation and giving respect to the teaching profession.

“It shouldn’t take a pandemic for us to realize how important teachers are for this country,” he said.

Biden introduces Miguel Cardona as education secretary nominee: He's "ready on day one" 

President-elect Joe Biden is formally introducing Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona as his nominee for education secretary at an event happening now in Wilmington, Delaware.

If confirmed by the Senate, Cardona would play a key role in reopening schools across the country that have been forced online amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“In this critical moment of our nation’s history, it’s essential that there is an educator serving as secretary of education. I want to make that clear again, an educator, someone who has taught in the classroom, comes out of the classroom. Today I’m pleased to announce that such a nominee we have, Dr. Miguel Cardona,” Biden said as Cardona sat behind him on stage.

“Like other Cabinet nominees and appointees, he’s brilliant, he’s qualified and he’s tested,” Biden continued. He said that Cardona is “ready on day one.”

“We needed an education secretary who truly understands what it’s been like for educators, administrators, families, caregivers and students this past year,” Biden said. “But we also need someone who knows what it’s like, what it takes to get through this crisis.”

The President-elect once again praised his “historic Cabinet,” saying that there are already “more people of color in this Cabinet than in the history of the United States.”

Cardona, whose parents moved from Puerto Rico to Connecticut, would be another high-profile Latino in the Cabinet. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus had urged the President-elect to select him. 

More about the nominee: Cardona was appointed Connecticut’s commissioner of education by Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont in August 2019.

He came to the role with two decades of experience as a public school educator from the city of Meriden, according to the state’s government website, after beginning his career as an elementary school teacher and later serving for 10 years as a school principal.

In 2013, Cardona became the assistant superintendent for teaching and learning.

Biden transition team says Pentagon "intransigence" continues

President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team on Wednesday is refuting suggestions from Pentagon officials who questioned the accuracy of Biden’s assertion one day earlier that the Department of Defense has refused to brief his team on the massive cyberattack on government agencies and major American technology and accounting companies.  

“As the President-elect noted yesterday, the Department of Defense has continued to refuse to meet with our Agency Review Team members,” said Ned Price, a spokesman for the Biden transition, said in a statement to CNN.

“There has been no substantial progress since transition officials spoke to the intransigence of the Department’s political leadership late last week,” Price said. “As we said then, no Department is more pivotal to our national security than the Department of Defense, and an unwillingness to work together could have consequences well beyond January 20.”

Last week, the Pentagon said briefings would resume after Jan 1, 2021.

Read more about the tensions between the Biden team and the Pentagon here.

Biden's inauguration is less than a month away. These are the key roles he is yet to announce. 

President-elect Joe Biden has yet to announce several key roles in his incoming administration, including attorney general, labor secretary and commerce secretary.

Biden’s goal was to have all —or most — of his remaining Cabinet selections announced by Christmas, a transition official previously told CNN, but prospects for reaching it are dimming.

The nominee for attorney general is no longer expected to be announced before Christmas, a person familiar with the matter tells CNN, as Biden continues deliberating on one of the most high-profile positions in his incoming administration.

Here are the positions that haven’t yet been announced:

  • Attorney general
  • CIA director
  • Secretary of commerce
  • Secretary of labor
  • Small business administrator

Here’s a look at who Biden has selected so far for his Cabinet and other top roles:

If confirmed as education secretary, Miguel Cardona would be another high-profile Latino in Biden's Cabinet 

Joe Biden’s transition team late Tuesday announced Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona as the President-elect’s nominee for education secretary.

The President-elect is set to formally introduce his nominee this morning in an event in Wilmington, Delaware.

Cardona, whose parents moved from Puerto Rico to Connecticut, would be another high-profile Latino in the Cabinet. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus had urged the President-elect to select him.

If confirmed, Cardona would join other Latino picks in the Cabinet including Secretary of Homeland Security nominee Alejandro Mayorkas, a Cuban American man who would be the first Latino to serve in the position if confirmed by the Senate, and Xavier Becerra, who Biden picked to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and was the first Latino to serve as the attorney general of California.

Throughout the Cabinet selection process, Biden has faced pressure to follow through on his pledge to nominate people who reflect the diversity of America.

As education secretary, Cardona would play a key role in reopening schools across the country that have been forced online amid the coronavirus pandemic.

CNN was first to report that Cardona would be nominated for the role.

“In Miguel Cardona, America will have an experienced and dedicated public school teacher leading the way at the Department of Education — ensuring that every student is equipped to thrive in the economy of the future, that every educator has the resources they need to do their jobs with dignity and success, and that every school is on track to reopen safely,” Biden said Tuesday night in a statement.

Read about other historic firsts in Biden’s administration here.

Biden team pushes back against Twitter's plan to wipe White House accounts' followers

President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team is calling out Twitter’s decision to not allow the millions of followers of the White House Twitter accounts to be automatically retained when the accounts are handed over to the new administration.

When President Donald Trump took office in 2017, his administration inherited the millions of followers of each account handed over from the Obama administration. It was the first Twitter transfer of power in US history, and at the time, the @POTUS accounts and @WhiteHouse each had more than 13 million followers.

Nearly four years later, the @POTUS and @WhiteHouse accounts have 33.2 million and 26 million followers, respectively.

Trump, a famously prolific tweeter, will retain control of his personal Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, which has 88.5 million followers on the platform.

“In 2016, the Trump admin absorbed all of President Obama’s Twitter followers on @POTUS and @WhiteHouse — at Team 44’s urging,” Biden transition official Rob Flaherty tweeted on Tuesday.

“In 2020, Twitter has informed us that as of right now the Biden administration will have to start from zero,” Flaherty said.

Flaherty said in a later tweet that this was Twitter’s decision, not the President’s. He said in a separate tweet directed at Nick Pacilio, a Twitter spokesperson, that he was “happy to share the email thread where we pushed back and we were told this was unequivocal.”

Pacilio said in a statement on behalf of Twitter that the multiple White House accounts being transferred “will not automatically retain their existing followers.”

“Instead, Twitter will notify followers of these accounts to provide context that the content will be archived and allow them the choice to follow the Biden administration’s new accounts,” Pacilio said. “For example, people who follow @WhiteHouse will be notified that the account has been archived as @WhiteHouse45 and given the option to follow the new @WhiteHouse account.”

Pacilio did not provide a reason for the change when asked in a follow-up question by CNN.

On January 20, the day Biden will be inaugurated, Twitter will facilitate the transfer of @WhiteHouse, @POTUS, @VP, @FLOTUS, @PressSec, @Cabinet and @LaCasaBlanca to the Biden administration, according to Pacilio.

Defense official calls Biden's remark that Pentagon won't brief his team on many things "patently false"

The Department of Defense has pushed back on President-elect Joe Biden’s comments Tuesday that “the Defense Department won’t even brief us on many things,” when he was addressing the recent cyber intrusion from suspected Russian hackers. A defense official said the statement “is patently false.” 

“Since November 23rd, when the GSA approved transition activities to occur, the DOD has conducted 163 interviews and 181 requests for information, which greatly exceed what the Biden-Harris team originally requested,” the official said in a statement to reporters. “The Department will continue to provide the information and meetings necessary to ensure the continuity of government. As we’ve said, meetings will begin again in early January, and in fact we’ve begun scheduling them.”

Last week CNN reported that tensions between the Pentagon and the Biden transition spilled into public view after the acting Secretary of Defense, Christopher Miller, said the incoming Biden team had agreed to a two-week holiday break in previously scheduled transition talks at the Pentagon. 

But the Biden transition team said Friday that they did not agree to a two-week break in critical transfer-of-power discussions with Pentagon officials, despite an assertion from the acting Defense Secretary that both sides had agreed to take such a “holiday pause.”

“There was no mutually agreed upon holiday break,” Yohannes Abraham, executive director of the Biden transition, told reporters Friday. “In fact, we think it’s important that briefings and other engagements continue during this period, as there’s no time to spare.”

Miller’s announcement also acknowledged that the Pentagon had postponed a series of meetings with the Biden transition team that had been scheduled for last Friday, saying that those meetings would be rescheduled after the supposed holiday break.

Biden tested negative for Covid-19

President-elect Joe Biden has tested negative for Covid-19.

“President -elect Biden underwent PCR testing for COVID-19 last night and COVID-19 was not detected,” his office said.

Biden has one event today, he is set to formally introduce his nominee for secretary of education this morning in Wilmington, Delaware.

Biden's incoming CDC director on her new role: "I have some work cut out for me"

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, incoming director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that she wants make sure science and messaging on health guidance is “consistent” across all states.

“I have some work cut out for me, right. We need to have a uniformity of method … I want to also convey that I think my work really has to be ensuring and bolstering the public health responses and the public health infrastructure at the state, local, and federal levels, I think those infrastructures were underfunded before Covid and I think we really see that now during Covid,” Walensky told CNN’s John Berman on Wednesday. 

“We need to promote the science, we need to just make sure that the science is being consistent and translatable into guidance that is uniform across the states, having each of these states, they’re incredible people in these states, but to have each of them reinvent the wheel, and not to learn from one another, and not to have federal guidance is just not a good use of the scarce resources we have,” she continued.

Biden transition announces additional members of the Office of the White House Counsel

The Biden transition has announced additional members of the Office of the White House Counsel. The new appointees include:

  • Jonathan Cedarbaum, Deputy Counsel to the President and National Security Council Legal Adviser.
  • Danielle Conley, Deputy Counsel to the President.
  • Stuart Delery, Deputy Counsel to the President. 
  • Jonathan Su, Deputy Counsel to the President.

 Dana Remus was previously announced as White House Counsel.

Biden will formally introduce Miguel Cardona as education secretary nominee

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will formally introduce Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona as their nominee for secretary of education this morning in an event in Wilmington, Delaware.

If confirmed by the Senate, Cardona would play a key role in reopening schools across the country that have been forced online amid the coronavirus pandemic.

CNN was first to report that Cardona would be nominated for the role.

“In Miguel Cardona, America will have an experienced and dedicated public school teacher leading the way at the Department of Education — ensuring that every student is equipped to thrive in the economy of the future, that every educator has the resources they need to do their jobs with dignity and success, and that every school is on track to reopen safely,” Biden said Tuesday night in a statement.

Biden described Cardona as a “lifelong champion of public education” who “understands that our children are the kite strings that keep our national ambitions aloft.”

More on the nominee: Cardona was appointed Connecticut’s commissioner of education by Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont in August 2019.

He came to the role with two decades of experience as a public school educator from the city of Meriden, according to the state’s government website, after beginning his career as an elementary school teacher and later serving for 10 years as a school principal. In 2013, Cardona became the assistant superintendent for teaching and learning.

Cardona, whose parents moved from Puerto Rico to Connecticut, would be another high-profile Latino in the Cabinet. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus had urged the President-elect to select him.

Throughout the Cabinet selection process, Biden has faced pressure to follow through on his pledge to nominate people who reflect the diversity of America.

Biden still has several Cabinet-level positions to name, including attorney general. That decision is no longer expected to be announced before Christmas, a person familiar with the matter tells CNN, as the President-elect continues deliberating on one of the most high-profile positions in his incoming administration.

Congress has the next — and final — vote in the 2020 election

Voters voted. States counted the votes. Challenges were heard and rejected. Now the Electoral College has made President-elect Joe Biden’s victory completely official.

The time for President Trump’s repeated baseless allegations of fraud is over, but that doesn’t mean the drama has ended. Lawmakers follow an archaic timeline set out the Constitution and US law to make Biden president.

Just as then-Vice President Biden oversaw the counting of electoral votes that gave Trump the White House in 2017, now it will be Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s loyal soldier these last four years, who will announce the vote tally that officially makes Biden the winner. Read more about that here.

And Republicans will have to choose how deeply they want to follow Trump into his rabbit hole of conspiracy theories.

Lawmakers will have the ability to raise objections about the vote — just like some Democrats did in 2017. But while those objections were dismissed easily in 2017, Republican senators could, if they choose, drag the process out this year, and force the House and Senate to vote on individual points.

Here’s a breakdown of what will take place on Jan. 6:

  • Electoral votes are counted in Congress.
  • Members of the House and the Senate will meet in the House chamber. The President of the Senate — that’s Vice President Mike Pence — will preside over the session and the electoral votes will be read and counted in alphabetical order by two appointees each from the House and Senate.
  • They will then give their tallies to Pence, who will announce the results and listen for objections.
  • If there are objections, the House and Senate consider them separately to decide how to count those votes.
  • There are 538 electoral votes — one for each congressman and senator plus three for Washington, DC. If no candidate gets to a majority — that’s 270 — then the 435 members of the House decide the election. Each state gets a vote. So while there are more Democrats in the House, Republicans, as of now, control more state delegations, so it is possible the House could pick Trump even though there is a Democratic majority.
  • The House has until noon on January 20 to pick the President. If they can’t, it would be the vice president or the next person eligible in the line of presidential succession.

READ MORE

Biden says ‘our darkest days’ in battling Covid-19 ‘are ahead of us’
Biden announces Miguel Cardona as education secretary nominee
Trump announces wave of pardons, including Papadopoulos and former lawmakers Hunter and Collins
Newsom picks Alex Padilla to fill Kamala Harris’ Senate seat
More than 1.6 million votes cast so far in Georgia Senate runoff
From pivotal endorsement to Cabinet advice, Jim Clyburn is here for Joe Biden

READ MORE

Biden says ‘our darkest days’ in battling Covid-19 ‘are ahead of us’
Biden announces Miguel Cardona as education secretary nominee
Trump announces wave of pardons, including Papadopoulos and former lawmakers Hunter and Collins
Newsom picks Alex Padilla to fill Kamala Harris’ Senate seat
More than 1.6 million votes cast so far in Georgia Senate runoff
From pivotal endorsement to Cabinet advice, Jim Clyburn is here for Joe Biden