By CATHERINE THORBECKE, ABC News(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in 29 days.Here is how the transition is unfolding. All times Eastern:Dec 21, 1:37 pmHarris campaigns for Democrats in Georgia Vice President-elect Harris stopped in Columbus, Georgia, on Monday to campaign on behalf of Senate Democratic candidates. She told reporters that she will be heading right back to Washington, D.C., afterwards to vote on the COVID-19 relief bill. Harris said that she was in the Georgia to support Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, “and to remind Georgians that their voice is strong and matters in this election.” “And so, I want to remind everyone to vote and vote early,” she said, noting that the runoffs will determine “the future of Georgia and, certainly, our country.” Finally, the vice president-elect said they were closely monitoring the situation with the new strain of COVID-19 in the U.K., and they will “make a decision as appropriate” regarding banning travel.Dec 21, 12:27 pmBarr speaks out on election special counsel, seizing voting machinesAttorney General William Barr told reporters Monday that he sees no reason to appoint special counsels to investigate Hunter Biden and baseless claims of widespread election fraud. President Donald Trump has privately discussed naming lawyer Sydney Powell, earlier fired from his legal team, as a special counsel. “I think to the extent that there’s an investigation I think that it’s being handled responsibly and professionally currently within the department and to this point I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel and I have no plan to do so before I leave,” Barr said at a news conference at the Justice Department.Without presenting any evidence, however, Barr also said that he’s sure there was election fraud in the election, and that the country is too tolerant of it, but not enough to change the election results, saying, “we had looked at suggestions or allegations of systemic or broad based fraud that would affect the outcome of the election and I already spoke to that and I stand by that statement.”When asked about seizing voting machines, Barr said that he didn’t think the federal government has any basis to do so. “I see no basis now for seizing machines by the federal government, you know, a wholesale seizure of machines by the federal government,” he said. Finally, when asked if the president had the ability to pardon himself, Barr said that he was not going to “opine on a constitutional issue as far as the power goes.” Over the weekend, President Trump and his legal team considered the idea.
Dec 21, 10:19 amIvanka Trump postpones Georgia events Ivanka Trump was due to attend three campaign events in Georgia Monday for GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, but she tweeted that two of them will be postponed due to Congress voting on the pandemic relief bill. All eyes are on the Georgia Senate runoffs, as the outcomes will decide which party has control of the Senate. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is currently scheduled to campaign in Georgia for the Democratic candidates on Monday.Dec 21, 10:18 amBiden, Harris announce additional members of National Economic CouncilPresident-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris announced new members of their National Economic Council on Monday morning in a press release, expanding the group that will work alongside Brian Deese and other forthcoming staff. Biden and Harris appointed Joelle Gample as the Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. They also selected David Kamin as the Deputy Director for the National Economic Council and Bharat Ramamurti as the Deputy Director for the National Economic Council for Financial Reform and Consumer Protection. Kamin previously joins the long list of Obama White House alumni returning to a Biden administration. He previously served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and also worked as special assistant, and later adviser, to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.Ramamurti comes to Biden’s administration with ties to Sen. Elizabeth Warren. He served as an economic adviser to Warren during her 2020 presidential campaign and senior counsel for banking and economic policy in her Senate office.Dec 21, 10:07 amMnuchin says direct deposits expected to start by next week if stimulus bill passesTreasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Monday that if the pandemic relief bill becomes law, direct deposits to Americans could start by the beginning of next week.“We will be sending out next week direct deposit,” Mnuchin said in a phone interview with CNBC Monday about the hard-fought political compromise that’s dominating the political scene on Capitol Hill. “I expect we’ll get the money out by the beginning of next week.”“People are going see this money the beginning of next week,” he added. Mnuchin also spoke approvingly of the deal that was made to get the bill over the finish line. “This overall bill I think is fabulous,” he said, adding that, “this is a large bill and has a little bit of everything in it for everybody.”Finally, Mnuchin also addressed the suspected Russian cyber hack of U.S government agencies and Fortune 500 companies, saying, “there’s been no damage, nor have we seen any large amounts of information displaced” after the cyber attack into the Treasury Department’s unclassified systems.Dec 21, 9:58 amOverview: Biden expected to receive COVID-19 vaccine as Harris heads to Georgia President-elect Joe Biden is expected to receive a coronavirus vaccine Monday afternoon on camera, a move that many hope will stoke public confidence in the shot and also ensure the continuity of government. Meanwhile, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be in Georgia campaigning Monday as the Senate runoff races that will decide which party controls the Senate heats up. Harris currently has an event scheduled for 1 p.m. in Columbus. On Capitol Hill Monday, lawmakers are expected to finally vote on a stimulus deal. After weekend negotiations, congressional leaders signaled Sunday evening that they had reached a deal. The new bill is expected to include revamped unemployment benefits and aid for hard-hit small businesses. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has tweeted that “big news” is coming out of Pennsylvania. The Trump campaign is expected to unveil new legal action with the U.S. Supreme Court surrounding Pennsylvania’s election results as part of his ongoing efforts to undermine the election.Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
