Joe Biden and Kamala Harris greet supporters, Wilmington, Delaware, November 7, 2020 (Andrew Harnik/Getty)

UPDATE, 0945 GMT:

Liam Kennedy, of The Clinton Institute and EA’s partner America Unfiltered, talks about the need to take the challenge of Trump seriously, even after he leaves the White House.

We have to think more carefully about what he represents. You can call it nationalism, you can call it nativism, but we need to seriously pay attention to what’s driving that half of America.

UPDATE, 0845 GMT:

Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt, a Republican, said his office has been receiving death threats:

At the end of the day, we are counting eligible votes cast by voters. The controversy surrounding it is something I don’t understand. It’s people making accusations that we wouldn’t count those votes or people are adding fraudulent votes or just, coming up with, just, all sorts of crazy stuff…

In the birthplace of our Republic, counting votes is not a bad thing. Counting votes cast on or before election day by eligible voters is not corruption. It is not cheating. It is democracy.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have launched their transition plans, even as their staff face obstruction by the Trump Administration — and Donald Trump persists with disinformation that Tuesday’s elections were fraudulent.

On Monday, Biden will introduce a 13-member Coronavirus Task Force, co-chaired by former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy and former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr.David David Kessler and including Yale University epidemiologist Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith. Among the plans are a doubling of drive-through testing sites; a US public health job corps organizing 100,000 Americans for contact tracing; and increased production of masks, face shields and other personal protective equipment. The Task Force will also oversee pursuit of the development and distribution of a vaccine.

Coincidentally, the Trump Administration announced that Vice President Mike Pence will chair a meeting of its White House Coronavirus Task Force after an absence of almost two months.

The White House group, including coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx and top infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, has almost been reduced to irrelevance despite warnings by Birx and Fauci of a winter surge of the virus. Trump has insulted Fauci as a “disaster” and the experts as “idiots”, relying instead on Dr. Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist and Fox commentator who promotes herd immunity.

On Sunday the US death toll reached 237,570. Confirmed cases are 9,968,155, with an increase of 107,197 — the fifth straight day with more than 100,000 new infections.

Actions From Day 1

The Biden-Harris team said on Sunday that on Day 1 of his Presidency, Biden will issue executive orders to:

  • Rejoin the Paris Accords on climate and restore Obama-era environmental regulations
  • Revoking “the global gag rule”, which blocks the US Government from funding overseas family planning organizations if they perform abortions or advocate abortion rights
  • Reverse Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization
  • Repeal Trump’s “Muslim Ban” on citizens of Muslim-majority countries entering the US
  • Reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, protecting almost 700,000 “Dreamers” — the children of undocumented immigrants — from the deportation threatened by the Trump Administration

But the head of the General Services Administration, Emily Murphy, is standing in the way of the transition.

The GSA handles the paperwork officially authorizing millions of dollars and granting access to government officials, office space, and equipment.

As of Sunday night, Murphy had not written the necessary letter, and Administration officials say there are no plans to approve one.

Pamela Pennington, a spokeswoman for GSA, said in an e-mail, “An ascertainment has not yet been made, and its Administrator will continue to abide by, and fulfill, all requirements under the law.”

A “senior Administration official” confirmed that any arrangements are blocked, “No agency head is going to get out in front of the president on transition issues right now.”

A Biden transition spokesman said in an e-mail:

Now that the election has been independently called for Joe Biden, we look forward to the GSA Administrator quickly ascertaining Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the President-elect and Vice President-elect. America’s national security and economic interests depend on the federal government signaling clearly and swiftly that the United States government will respect the will of the American people and engage in a smooth and peaceful transfer of power.

Trump Golfs and Tweets

Donald Trump, devoting his Sunday to golf and Twitter, maintained his refusal to accept the outcome of the election.

Trump retweeted a series of unfounded claims and conspiracy theories by Fox TV commentators, and defense of his position by Sens. Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham.

Administration sources said that Trump had rejected entreaties, including from his son-in-law Jared Kushner, to make a gracious concession speech with a view to running in the 2024 Presidential election. Instead, Trump is planning on “Recount Rallies”, to be organized by Kushner and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Trump has not made a public appearance since Thursday and has no events scheduled on Monday.