Trump-Biden transition updates: Trump continues to tout he won election at Ga. rally

The president was in Georgia to campaign for the senatorial runoff races.

Last Updated: December 7, 2020, 11:41 AM EST

President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in 45 days.

Dec 01, 2020, 1:34 PM EST

Biden introduces 'first-rate team' of economic nominees, says 'help is on the way'

Introducing his economic team nominees, Biden said they will lead the country’s economy out of the downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic and reiterated his slogan they’ll "build back better" than before through job creation and addressing structural inequities.  

"A team tested and experienced, it includes ground-breaking Americans who come from different backgrounds but who share my core vision for economic relief here in the United States of America. And given a fair shot and equal chance, there's nothing -- we all believe, there's nothing beyond the capacity of the American people," Biden began. 

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden speaks as he announces nominees and appointees to serve on his economic policy team at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Del., Dec. 1, 2020.
Leah Millis/Reuters

Biden also called on Congress to pass another round of COVID-19 relief legislation now but vowed to continue that effort when he’s inaugurated in 50 days, saying his transition team is already working on a proposal.

“The full Congress should come together and pass a robust package for relief to address these urgent needs, but any package passed in a lame-duck session is likely to be, at best, likely a start,” Biden said. “Our message to everybody struggling right now is this: Help is on the way."

Biden then turned over the lectern to his nominee for Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, who would be the first woman to lead the Treasury Department if confirmed by the Senate.

He joked moments earlier he might have to ask Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the hit musical "Hamilton" about the nation's first Treasury secretary, to write another musical about Yellen's history-making role.

"So, that’s what I’m working on right now, Janet," Biden said with a smile.

Dec 01, 2020, 1:08 PM EST

Biden debuts walking boot ahead of economic nominees

With 50 days until the inauguration, Biden is debuting a slew of nominees to key economic policy posts at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, but before Biden entered The Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, for the announcement, he also debuted his new walking boot to reporters. 

After Biden sustained hairline fractures to his right foot while playing with his dog, Major, over the weekend, asked how his foot felt Tuesday, Biden replied, “Good. Thank you for asking!” and pointed to the accessory he's expected to sport for several weeks.

PHOTO: U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, wearing an orthotic boot to protect his injured foot, arrives to announce nominees and appointees to serve on his economic policy team at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Del.,  Dec. 1, 2020.
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, wearing an orthotic boot to protect his injured foot, arrives to announce nominees and appointees to serve on his economic policy team at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Del., Dec. 1, 2020.
Leah Millis/Reuters
President-elect Joe Biden points to his medical boot as he arrives at The Queen theater, Dec. 1, 2020, in Wilmington, Del.
Andrew Harnik/AP

Biden’s economic announcement comes as he readies his first stimulus push to salvage the economy damaged from the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden nominated former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who would be the first woman to lead the Treasury Department if confirmed. 

For deputy treasury secretary, Biden nominated Wally Adeyemo, a former Obama administration official on economic and national security concerns, who would be the first African American in the position if confirmed.

For director of the Office of Budget and Management, Biden nominated Neera Tanden, currently the head of the Center for American Progress, who, if confirmed, would be the first woman of color and first South Asian American to oversee the OMB.

To serve as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Biden nominated Cecilia Rouse, an economist and current dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, who would be the first woman of color to lead the CEA if confirmed.

To serve as members on the council with Rouse, Biden has nominated Jared Bernstein, who worked as Biden’s chief economist in the first years of the Obama administration, and Heather Boushey, president and co-founder of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Dec 01, 2020, 11:52 AM EST

Schumer comes to defense of Biden nominee Tanden: 'Spare me the hyperbole'

Senate Minority Leader Schumer defended Neera Tanden, Biden's pick to head the Office of Budget and Management Tuesday, ahead of her formal introduction with Biden in the afternoon and following some Senate Republicans criticizing her nomination.

"Spare me the hyperbole," Schumer said in a Senate floor speech. "After spending four years pretending they didn’t see the latest insane tweet from President Trump, Senate Republicans seem to have found a newfound interest in the Twitter feeds of Biden’s Cabinet selections." 

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to reporters about the 2020 U.S. presidential election results and the continuing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Nov. 12, 2020.
Hannah Mckay/Reuters, FILE

Tanden, a former policy director for the first Obama-Biden campaign, serves as president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, a center-left think tank, a role in which she has frequently clashed with Republicans, though she evidently has attempted to clean up her Twitter account in recent weeks -- deleting hundreds of tweets, a point which Republicans like Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn have seized on.

Schumer slammed what he has called hypocrisy among Republicans for objecting to Tanden but "lining up" to approve a nominee like Trump’s current OMB head, Russell Vought -- whom Schumer called "a partisan warrior."

Vought served for seven years as a top official at the political arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation. Schumer reminded GOP senators of Vought’s highly controversial writings disparaging Muslims which nearly derailed his nomination.

-ABC News' Trish Turner and John Parkinson

Dec 01, 2020, 11:02 AM EST

Georgia secretary of state slams Fulton County over issue with recount

With nearly 50 of the Georgia's 159 counties having finished the third count of votes in the presidential race, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a news conference Tuesday morning criticized the state's largest county, Fulton, for what he said is a mistake made by one election worker that required them to rescan more than 300,000 ballots. 

In a statement issued Monday, Fulton County said that a Dominion server, that was "operated in accordance with the Secretary of State's published guidelines" crashed, which "delayed work" over the weekend. 

However, Raffensperger said the county "only told part of the story," and that the "real issue" was one employee making "several compounding errors," including not following established protocol. The secretary said the employee backed up the election project on the server instead of on an external backup, which he said then led to the county being unable to "upload hundreds of thousands of scanned ballots."

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks during a news conference, Nov. 20, 2020, in Atlanta.
Brynn Anderson/AP

"Processes and procedures exist for a reason. The reason is to take into account the unexpected," Raffensperger told reporters. 

"I think us in our office, and I think really the rest of the state is getting a little tired of always having to wait on Fulton County, and having to put up with their dysfunction," Gabriel Sterling, the voting system implementation manager, later added.

Officials still defended the general election as the most secure in Georgia's history.

While noting there will have been instances of illegal voting, as they've acknowledged before, Sterling said, "The problem is there hasn't been direct evidence of a conspiracy. There's no evidence of some cabal over the top of this trying to switch the elections up." 

-ABC News' Quinn Scanlan

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