Biden: Won't take legal action over transition, Trump's conduct 'an embarrassment'
Joe Biden said his transition team will not be taking legal action to try to force the Trump administration to officially acknowledge him as the president-elect.
Biden told reporters Tuesday that “I don’t see a need for legal action, quite frankly.”
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"I just think it's an embarrassment, quite frankly," Biden said when asked what he thinks about Trump's refusal to acknowledge defeat in the November 3 election.
"How can I say this tactfully," Biden told reporters. "I think it will not help the president's legacy."
Much of the formal transition work doesn’t begin until the administrator of the General Services Administration ascertains the “apparent successful candidate” in the election, and that has not happened yet amid legal challenges by President Donald Trump to election results in some states.
The GSA’s failure to designate Biden the official winner bars the Democrat and his team from receiving federal funds for his transition and from getting access to the agencies they’ll need to work with to smooth the transition of power.
He also is not receiving a daily classified briefing on security threats typically afforded to the president-elect.
Biden said that the briefing “would be useful, but it’s not necessary,” and that his transition team didn’t need the federal funds to continue their work. He says, “We don’t see anything slowing us down.”
Biden had said “nothing going to stop” his administration’s moving forward despite Trump’s refusal to concede the race, that his transition is “well underway” and that he is reviewing potential Cabinet picks and other positions.
He added that some Republicans’ denial of his victory “is not at much consequence in our plan and what we’re able to do between now and January 20.”
Asked by a reporter what he would say to Trump, Biden said, “Mr. President, looking forward to speaking with you.”
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