Biden's transition formally begins

By Melissa Macaya, Melissa Mahtani, Mike Hayes and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 5:13 AM ET, Wed November 25, 2020

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10:18 a.m. ET, November 24, 2020

CNN's Jake Tapper acknowledges 4 GOP officials that "remained allegiant" to facts and truth

Following the General Services Administration’s formal beginning of the Biden transition and Michigan's certification of their election results, CNN's Jake Tapper took a moment on Twitter last night to acknowledge four Republican officials who "despite pressure" from President Trump and the Republican Party "remained allegiant" to facts, truth and math following the Trump campaign's challenge of the election results.

Tapper listed the following officials who played a key role in the certification of election results and combating misinformation:

Al Schmidt, Philadelphia City Commissioner
Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State
Chris Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who was fired by Trump and had rejected the President's election conspiracy theories
Aaron Van Langevelde, one of the two Republican members of the Michigan state canvassing board who joined the two Democrats to vote to certify the election results

"And at the end of the day it came down to judges and election officials doing their jobs and sticking to facts while most GOP leaders kept silent," Tapper said.

Read Tapper's full Twitter thread here:

9:41 a.m. ET, November 24, 2020

Stock market rises as Biden transition formally begins

From CNN’s Matt Egan

US stocks raced higher Tuesday morning, leaving the Dow flirting with the 30,000 level for the first time ever.

The rally comes after the General Services Administration announced Monday evening it is ready to begin the formal transition to the Biden administration. That step should ease lingering investor concerns about a peaceful transfer of power.

Here's how the market opened today:

The Dow gained 305 points, or 1%, to 29,895.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.8%.
The Nasdaq jumped 0.5%.

Markets also started the week on a strong note. The Dow gained 328 points, or 1.1%, Monday on growing vaccine optimism.

9:39 a.m. ET, November 24, 2020

GOP senator has "no doubts" about Biden treasury secretary nominee's "integrity or technical expertise"

From CNN's Manu Raju

Sen. Pat Toomey responded on Tuesday to reports that Janet Yellen will be President-elect Joe Biden's Treasury Secretary. The Pennsylvania Republican wrote in a statement that while he and the former Federal Reserve chair had previously had their "fair share of disagreements," he has "no doubts about her integrity or technical expertise."

Toomey specifically mentioned the legal requirement for CARES Act temporary emergency lending facilities to shut down by the end of the year without further congressional action as something he would like to discuss with Yellen as her nomination is considered.

Here's Toomey's full statement:

"While Dr. Yellen and I had our fair share of disagreements during her tenure as chair of the Federal Reserve, I have no doubts about her integrity or technical expertise. As I consider her nomination, I look forward to discussing with her a variety of issues, especially the legal requirement for CARES Act temporary emergency lending facilities to shut down by year-end and remain shut down, absent further congressional action."

He also tweeted about Yellen's nomination:

9:11 a.m. ET, November 24, 2020

These are the resources Biden's team can access now the formal transition is underway

From CNN's Devan Cole

When the General Services Administration informed President-elect Joe Biden on Monday that the Trump administration is ready to begin the formal transition process, it released a slew of resources for his team to access in the coming weeks.

The now-available resources are enumerated in a "memorandum of understanding" between Biden and the GSA, which also outlined the government resources he was able to use before Administrator Emily Murphy acknowledged his win.

Here's a look at some of those resources:

Nearly $6.3 million: Biden's transition team will be able to use approximately $6.3 million during the next few months as it prepares to take over the presidency. The funds will primarily go to renting office space, paying staffers working for the transition team and compensating experts or consultants, according to the memo. The money can also be used to pay for travel expenses, rental cars, IT services and other administrative costs, the document says. In addition to that $6.3 million, another $1 million will be set aside for orientation activities "for individuals the President-elect intends to nominate as department heads or appoint to key positions in the Executive Office of the President," according to the memo.
Federal employees: Federal transition laws also give Biden's team access to employees of any federal agency and employees of any congressional committee or office. This including people working in the offices of House members or senators so long as the congressperson or agency head consents to it, the memo says. Both career and political officials have expressed interest in starting the formal transition process.
Office space: Biden's transition team can now use "approximately 128,000 rentable square feet of space designed to house approximately 500 individuals," according to the memo, which says the space can be used until the inauguration. The memo notes that the office space has not been configured to comply with coronavirus pandemic guidelines and that Biden's staff "shall determine any Covid-19 protocols for the space, including entrance and screening requirements," and the GSA will "make all reasonable efforts to accommodate" the protocols. Biden officials have previously said that a lot of the transition work will be done virtually due to the pandemic.
IT and mail support: The GSA memo says the agency will also provide "an architected infrastructure to meet telecommunications and IT services and equipment for use" by Biden's team. The GSA will also begin providing mail support for Biden's team, which includes "training on official government mail procedures" for staffers. The US Secret Service will also oversee off-site mail screening of all incoming letters and parcels.

8:52 a.m. ET, November 24, 2020

GOP leaders McConnell and McCarthy mum on GSA transition sign off

From CNN's Lauren Fox and Capitol Hill team

As of Tuesday morning, the top two GOP leaders on Capitol Hill — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and top House Republican Kevin McCarthy — have not commented on the Biden transition beginning.

The House and Senate are out of session this week.

Top Republicans have largely let President Trump lead the way on his decisions regarding the transition and when to move ahead.

For McConnell, the future of his Senate majority rests in Georgia with two runoff elections. Republicans have tread carefully with the fear being that crossing Trump publicly could backfire in a state where the GOP will need to mobilize Trump voters to win.

9:33 a.m. ET, November 24, 2020

White House chief of staff notifies West Wing staff of formal transition

From CNN’s Kaitlan Collins

After weeks of delay, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows notified West Wing staff in an email Monday night that the transition process to the Biden administration was formally underway, making it clear that staff should not speak with the Biden team unless authorized by the administration.

"As you may have seen, the GSA Administrator has made an ascertainment to allow for the start of a Presidential transition," Meadows wrote in an email shown to CNN. "I want to remind all EOP employees of existing procedures and guidance that we must adhere to throughout this Administration," adding "our work here is not finished."

Meadows cited the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 and noted that executive office of the President must adhere to communications guidelines and records guidelines. Meadows said he had appointed liaisons in each office to be the point of contact and said that person should deal with the incoming team.

"Unless specifically authorized EOP personnel are not permitted to speak directly with a member of the Biden Transition Team or the Federal Transition Coordinator," Meadows wrote in bolded letters.

"Keep it up," he signed off.

10:43 a.m. ET, November 24, 2020

Biden will publicly introduce his foreign policy and national security picks today

From CNN's Sarah Mucha and Gregory Krieg

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will publicly announce their nominees and appointees to key national security and foreign policy posts today at 1:00 p.m. ET, according to a transition team news release.

Their six foreign policy and national security nominees and appointees are expected to join them and speak at the event.

Biden yesterday unveiled a slate of top foreign policy and national security picks, including the first woman to lead the US intelligence community and first Latino to helm the Department of Homeland Security.

Cuban-born Alejandro Mayorkas, a former deputy secretary of DHS who Biden has nominated to lead the department, will be tasked with rebuilding an agency that carried out some of the most draconian measures associated with President Trump's hardline immigration policy, including family separations at the US-Mexico border.

Biden's pick for director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, a former top CIA official and deputy national security adviser, will also make history if confirmed by the Senate.

The choices reflect Biden's desire to construct a diverse Cabinet with experts versed in public policy and deep experience in government.

The list of nominations and appointments included:

Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security
Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor
John Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate