Although Joe Biden is widely accepted as the winner of the 2020 election, President Donald Trump refuses to concede, leaving American citizens uncertain as COVID-19 cases continue to spike and the transition of power remains at a standstill.
While the legality of the 2020 election remains tied up in courts, the General Services Administration has not officially declared Biden the victor of the presidential race — a process known as “ascertainment.” Ascertainment allows for many basic services in the presidency, such as providing office space and translation services to granting security clearance and briefing the upcoming administration on negotiations and commitments that need to be accessed in the coming term.
Peter Feaver is a professor of political science and public policy at Duke. He was also a Special Adviser on the National Security Council in the George W. Bush administration and the Director for Defense Policy and Arms Control in the Clinton administration.
Feaver said this delay in ascertainment is harmful to the country.
“Because they’re not focusing on governing in the next two months, working with Congress to try to get a stimulus package of some sort passed,” Feaver said. “Because they’re not taking the COVID spike seriously, because they’re not doing all those things and instead they’re distracting the president’s attention and the remaining energy of the administration in another direction, (those are) the things hurting the average American family.”
Bruce Jentleson is another professor of public policy and political science at Duke. He was also a Senior Adviser at the State Department and served on both the Barack Obama and Al Gore campaigns.
Jentleson said proper and peaceful transitions of power have two main purposes: affirmation and preparation.
“Affirmation is that handshake that in every other instance has occurred right after the election between the outgoing president and the president-elect,” Jentleson said. “The notion that the constitutional system is working. We fight hard but we play by the rules. A very high-level version of why Duke and UNC basketball players shake hands at the end of the game. We’re not seeing any of that.”
While, at the end of the day, there’s only one president at a time, Jentleson said waiting until January to allow the next administration to be briefed and engaged is detrimental to the health of the country – especially in the middle of a global pandemic.
“We’re in the middle of a surge,” Jentleson said. “By the time President Biden will be able to deal with this on January 20, it will be that much more severe and harder to get a handle on.”
If Trump continues to refuse a public concession speech or make a congratulatory call to Biden, it would break 124 years of American tradition. However, despite the current lack of concession, Biden has insisted that nothing will stop the transfer of power – especially with the Constitution on his side.
According to the 20th Amendment, the candidate with the most electoral votes becomes president at noon on January 20. The current president’s term is therefore over on that day.
Feaver said nothing will stop that transfer of power – not even the military. The military pledge their loyalty to the Constitution and the nation’s laws, not to a political party or a president.
“The military does not have a role, a constitutional role in the selection of the Commander In Chief,” Feaver said. “The Constitution lays out a process for that and there’s no role for the military in that process. I don’t foresee it coming to that. It’s a political process.”
Feaver said while there’s a role for courts and there’s a role for legislatures, there’s not a role for U.S. military in this election.
“Up until 11:59 a.m. (on Inauguration Day) they will take the order from President Trump and implement it,” Feaver said. “At 12 p.m. they will take the order from then-President Biden.”
Lead photo via AP/Carolyn Kaster.
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