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, 2:03 PM EST

Yellen warns inaction on pandemic relief will bring 'more devastation'

Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen, who would be the first woman to lead the Treasury Department, and the first person to have served as Treasury Secretary, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, and Chair of the Federal Reserve, has already received bipartisan support on Capitol Hill ahead of Biden introducing her as his nominee in-person Tuesday.

Yellen opened on a personal note, saying she saw her own father’s story and that of her working neighborhood growing up -- reflected in Biden’s story, which she said inspired her to become an economist.

"When you reflect on what your father taught you about how a job is much more than a paycheck, I hear my own father who raised our family in working-class Brooklyn," Yellen began.

Treasury secretary nominee Janet Yellen speaks after US President-elect Joe Biden announced his economic team at The Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del., Dec. 1, 2020.
Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

"I became an economist because I was concerned about the toll of unemployment on people, families and communities, and I've spent my career trying to make sure people can work and achieve the dignity and self-worth that comes with it," Yellen said. "Mr. President-elect, I know you've done the same."

Yellen said the economic damage from coronavirus pandemic has "had a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable among us" and promised to address that with immediate action, arguing "inaction will produce a self-reinforcing downturn causing yet more devastation."

She also said she’d work together with the national security and foreign policy team Biden announced last week to help "restore America's global leadership" -- in contrast to the largely isolationist approach Trump took for four years.

"I look forward to working ... to rebuild the public trust to the American people," she said in closing. "We will be an institution that wakes up every morning thinking about you, your jobs, your paychecks, your struggles, your hopes, your dignity and your limitless potential."

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

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