Pandemic derails Trump? White House preparing for Biden win amid fears president won't cooperate with handover
President Donald Trump and his aides would have never thought about it even a month ago that with the country’s economy doing strongly and the opposition ranks divided, that Donald Trump would end up as the second-best in the upcoming presidential election scheduled for November 3. But then came the pandemic and in a month or two, the entire scenario seems to have turned upside down.
Trump suddenly looks vulnerable and to the utter shock to his supporters, the White House has even asked the government agencies to prepare for a possible transition of power next January.
The White House has reportedly asked the agencies to begin the preparations should Trump lose to Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, even as the Democrats are worried that the mercurial Republican leader will not cooperate with a hand-over even if the situation demands so. It may be recalled here that during one of the presidential debates in 2016, Trump had clearly said that he might not accept the verdict of the election if he lost to his opponent Hillary Clinton and would file a legal challenge.
On Monday, April 27, Russell Vought, acting director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, issued a 17-page memo in which 20 agencies were asked to appoint a transition director by Friday, May 1, in accordance with the Presidential Transition Act. Each of those agencies will set up the Agency Transition Directors Council, which will meet on May 27, as per Vought.
The memo also outlines the group’s responsibilities, including ensuring a ‘strategy for addressing interagency challenges and responsibilities’ around the transitions, coordinate activities between the outgoing and incoming administrations and prepare, etc.
Experienced Joe Biden has also made a move on transition
Biden also put one of his old aides, Ted Kaufman to head the transition effort and said on Monday that the preparation needs to begin now. Having served in the administration as a vice president for eight years, Biden has a fair understanding of how transitions take place. Speaking to a fundraiser on Monday night, Biden said “you can't wait until you win, if you win. You've got to start right now”.
The veteran also said that his campaign has put together a transition team and had feedback from people who are ready to serve in an administration led by him. If Trump indeed ends up losing the November election, he will be the first incumbent since George H W Bush (1989-93) to lose his second term. Biden, 77, has already made it clear that he would be president for a single term.
The Democrats, given their equation with Trump over the last three years, are not too assured about a peaceful exit from Trump in case he loses to Biden. While Biden has expressed fear that Trump could change the election date thinking only that could see him win (the president though has ruled out such a possibility), others feel the transition might not be smooth.
John Podesta, a former co-chair of former president Barack Obama’s transition in 2008 (from George W Bush) and also presided over Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016, told NBC News, “They're a 'let's burn the house down on the way out' kind of crowd. I'd like to think it was different, but there's nothing to indicate that they would play it straight.”
He said one of the challenges would arise if he did not accept the verdict.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which could shatter Trump’s ambition to win a second term, has not only seen over a million people getting affected in the US and over 58,000 losing lives, it has also battered the economy with millions losing their jobs because of widespread shutdowns. The Trump administration has been heavily criticized over its response as many said it took the matter lightly in the beginning.
The president has been firefighting all criticism but going by the indications that the White House has been giving, the road looks very challenging for him.