President Donald Trump meets with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, shown left, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, not shown, in the Oval Office at the White House, Monday, July 20, 2020, in Washington. reopen. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) FILE . more > By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times - Wednesday, December 16, 2020
President Trump told Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday that it’s “too soon to give up” on the election, after the Kentucky Republican congratulated President-elect Joseph R. Biden on his win for the first time.
The president retweeted a news story about Trump allies criticizing Mr. McConnell for congratulating Mr. Biden.
Trump holds Cabinet meeting as term nears end Follow Us
Question of the Day By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times - Wednesday, December 16, 2020
President Trump held what could be his final Cabinet meeting Wednesday morning at the White House, minus some high-profile members of his team.
With the inauguration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden 35 days away, Mr. Trump convened his top agency chiefs for the 25th time of his presidency. Former President Barack Obama held 19 Cabinet meetings in his first term, according to CBS News.
Among those missing from the meeting were Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was quarantined for exposure to COVID-19, and Attorney General William P. Barr, who has resigned effective Dec. 23.
Despite scaled-back plans, Biden inauguration offers perks to major donors.
Corporations and individuals who donate to the inauguration planning will be entitled to an array of mostly virtual perks.Credit.Erin Schaff/The New York Times
Dec. 16, 2020
President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s inaugural committee released a menu of perks for donors to his inauguration this week, reflecting an aggressive fund-raising effort, despite plans for a less expensive and mostly virtual event lacking the elaborate balls and concerts that have been staples of past inaugurations.
Corporations and other organizations that donate $1 million and individuals who donate $500,000 the maximum donations that the committee has said it will accept from each category of donor will be listed as chairs of the inaugural committee.
Hereâs how the Trump administration crushed the C.D.C., according to two who were there.
Kyle McGowan, a former C.D.C. chief of staff, outside his home in Roswell, Ga., this month. He and his deputy have gone public with their disillusionment.Credit.Audra Melton for The New York Times
Dec. 16, 2020
Kyle McGowan, a former chief of staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and his deputy, Amanda Campbell, were installed in 2018 as two of the youngest political appointees in the history of the worldâs premier public health agency, young Republicans returning to their native Georgia to dream jobs.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito confirmed a Politico report that Mr. McConnell told senators in a private call that objecting to the election results would force Republicans to take a “terrible vote.”
“There was encouragement on the phone for us to accept the result, as much as it’s not what we would have envisioned for the next four years, and to try to do what’s best for American people, which is to look forward,” she told reporters.
Mr. McConnell told Republicans that they would need to vote down any objection to Mr. Biden’s victory a vote that would inevitably appear, to some, as if Republican senators were voting against President Trump. He urged his colleagues not to go down that road.