President-elect Joe Biden has received at least 80 million votes in the 2020 presidential election. He has become the first-ever candidate to do so. He prepares to announce his administration in the weeks leading up to his inauguration on 20th January 2021. The vote-tracking count from the Cook Political Report reported the Democrat has so far received roughly 51% of the national popular vote to Donald Trump’s 47.1%, or more than 73.8 million votes. Cook editor Dave Wasserman reported that more than 156 million people voted in the 2020 election, a turnout of more than 66%, shattering a century-old record for the share of eligible voters who cast ballots. The latest vote totals arriving from New York’s Erie County pushed Biden over 80 million.
Joe Biden is scheduled to formally announce members of his incoming national security team on Tuesday. A day after the federal agency responsible for his transition to the White House announced that it will start after Democrats and watchdog groups criticized its chief for stonewalling at the president’s behest. The General Services Administration’s Emily Murphy wrote a letter to Biden and said, “I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official including those who work at the White House or GSA with regard to the substance or timing of my decision”. Trump later said that in the best interest of the US, he recommended that Murphy and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.
The legal team of President Trump has mounted several lawsuits to overturn the results of the election in several states. However, most have been dismissed as his attorneys make public allegations of voter fraud and other conspiracies without providing meaningful evidence in courts. Biden’s transition director Yohannes Abraham issued a statement and said, “The GSA move is a needed step to begin tackling the challenges facing our nation, including getting the pandemic under control and our economy back on track. This final decision is a definitive administrative action to formally begin the transition process with federal agencies. In the days ahead, transition officials will begin meeting with federal officials to discuss the pandemic response, have a full accounting of our national security interests.