Trump-Biden transition live updates: Biden to Georgia for Senate runoffs

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By LIBBY CATHEY, ABC News(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in 36 days.Here is how the transition is unfolding. All times Eastern:Dec 15, 11:29 amSchumer calls on GOP to follow McConnell’s lead and recognize Biden winShortly after McConnell called Biden the president-elect for the first time, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in his floor remarks Tuesday urged the president and other Republicans to follow McConnell’s lead.”For the sake of the country, President Trump should take his cue from Leader McConnell that it’s time to end his term with a modicum of grace and dignity,” Schumer said.”Enough is enough,” he continued. “Our Republican colleagues for the sake of our democracy, for the sake of the peaceful transition of power should stop the shenanigans, stop the misrepresentations and acknowledge that Joe Biden will be the next president.”-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin and Trish TurnerDec 15, 10:52 amTrump retweets attorney who said Georgia officials are ‘going to jail’ without citing evidence of a crimeTrump has retweeted conservative attorney Lin Wood, who slammed Georgia Gov. Brain Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Twitter Tuesday saying, without citing evidence of a crime, that they’re “going to jail.”“President Trump @realDonaldTrump is a genuinely good man. He does not really like to fire people. I bet he dislikes putting people in jail, especially ‘Republicans.’ He gave @BrianKempGA & @GaSecofState every chance to get it right. They refused. They will soon be going to jail,” Wood said in the tweet Trump retweeted to his 88 million followers.Kemp and Raffensperger have both said they are strong supporters of the president and voted for him, but they’ve upheld the integrity of their state’s election and have seen no evidence of widespread voter fraud.An apparently altered photo of the two officials wearing face masks bearing the flag of China accompanied the tweets.It’s unclear why Wood believes Trump has the authority to put the two Republicans officials in jail as he suggested. Wood, along with fellow pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell, filed a lawsuit earlier this month seeking to stop the certification of the state vote and naming Kemp, Raffensperger and other Georgia election officials. The suit has since been dismissed.Dec 15, 10:24 amMcConnell congratulates Biden for first timeSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in Congress, acknowledged Biden’s win for the first time from the Senate floor Tuesday morning after weeks of holding out.”Our country has officially a president-elect and a vice-president elect,” McConnell said. “The Electoral College has spoken, so today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden.”McConnell also congratulated Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on historic nature of her win.His acknowledgement comes one day after the Electoral College cemented Biden’s victory. Now that McConnell has accepted the incoming adminstration, it’s expected other Congressional Republicans will fall in line.Before McConnell took the floor, Senate Chaplain Barry Black opened Tuesday’s session by saying the Electoral College decision has been accepted and callings for blessings in his opening prayer on “President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.”-ABC News’ Trish TurnerDec 15, 9:58 amOverview: Biden heads to Georgia to campaign in Senate runoffsFresh off the Electoral College affirming his win, Biden is returning to the campaign trail Tuesday to stump for Georgia’s Senate runoffs and the promise he could pass the big ticket legislation through Congress he’s hoping for — as the balance of power in the incoming Senate hangs on two seats there.Biden is slated to speak at an afternoon, drive-in rally in Atlanta for Democratic Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, challengers to sitting GOP Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Purdue in the Jan. 5 runoff. Early voting kicked off in Georgia Monday.After the Electoral College officially cemented his victory Monday, Biden delivered his strongest rebuke of Trump and his ongoing challenges to the election’s outcome in a primetime address, calling on the country to move on and noting that Trump hasn’t been able to prove the allegations of fraud he’s made.“The integrity of our elections remains intact. And now it is time to turn the page, as we’ve done throughout our history. To unite. To heal,” Biden said.The pressure is now on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to do just that as he’s yet to publicly acknowledge Biden’s win even as some Senate Republicans — and Russian President Vladimir Putin — have done so since the Electoral College vote.Trump has no public events on his schedule Tuesday — refusing to acknowledge both his election loss and the country’s worsening death toll from the coronavirus pandemic — but continues to air his grievances with the election and a litany of false claims on Twitter.The president also announced on Twitter Monday Attorney General William Barr is resigning from the administration before Christmas — with only a month left to go.Dec 15, 10:29 amPutin congratulates Biden on winning electionAfter weeks of holding out, Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Biden on winning the presidential election following Monday’s Electoral College voting affirming Biden’s win.According to the Kremlin in a statement released Tuesday, “Vladimir Putin wished the president-elect every success and expressed confidence that Russia and the United States, which bear special responsibility for global security and stability, can, despite their differences, effectively contribute to solving many problems and meeting challenges that the world is facing today.””For my part, I am ready for interaction and contact with you,” Putin added, according to the Kremlin.

While Putin has now congratulated the president-elect on his victory, Republican leadership in Congress still has not — at least not publicly.

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