Trump-Biden transition latest: Trump signs coronavirus relief bill amid pressure

The president had gone nearly a week without signing the bill.

President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in 24 days.


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Ivanka Trump postpones Georgia events 

Ivanka Trump was due to attend three campaign events in Georgia Monday for GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, but she tweeted that two of them will be postponed due to Congress voting on the pandemic relief bill.

All eyes are on the Georgia Senate runoffs, as the outcomes will decide which party has control of the Senate. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is currently scheduled to campaign in Georgia for the Democratic candidates on Monday.


Biden, Harris announce additional members of National Economic Council

President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris announced new members of their National Economic Council on Monday morning in a press release, expanding the group that will work alongside Brian Deese and other forthcoming staff.

Biden and Harris appointed Joelle Gample as the Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. They also selected David Kamin as the Deputy Director for the National Economic Council and Bharat Ramamurti as the Deputy Director for the National Economic Council for Financial Reform and Consumer Protection.

Kamin previously joins the long list of Obama White House alumni returning to a Biden administration. He previously served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and also worked as special assistant, and later adviser, to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.


Ramamurti comes to Biden’s administration with ties to Sen. Elizabeth Warren. He served as an economic adviser to Warren during her 2020 presidential campaign and senior counsel for banking and economic policy in her Senate office.

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle.


Mnuchin says direct deposits expected to start by next week if stimulus bill passes

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Monday that if the pandemic relief bill becomes law, direct deposits to Americans could start by the beginning of next week.

“We will be sending out next week direct deposit,” Mnuchin said in a phone interview with CNBC Monday about the hard-fought political compromise that's dominating the political scene on Capitol Hill. “I expect we’ll get the money out by the beginning of next week.”

“People are going see this money the beginning of next week,” he added.

Mnuchin also spoke approvingly of the deal that was made to get the bill over the finish line.

“This overall bill I think is fabulous,” he said, adding that, "this is a large bill and has a little bit of everything in it for everybody."

Finally, Mnuchin also addressed the suspected Russian cyber hack of U.S government agencies and Fortune 500 companies, saying, “there’s been no damage, nor have we seen any large amounts of information displaced” after the cyber attack into the Treasury Department’s unclassified systems.

-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson


Overview: Biden expected to receive COVID-19 vaccine as Harris heads to Georgia 

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to receive a coronavirus vaccine Monday afternoon on camera, a move that many hope will stoke public confidence in the shot and also ensure the continuity of government.

Meanwhile, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be in Georgia campaigning Monday as the Senate runoff races that will decide which party controls the Senate heats up. Harris currently has an event scheduled for 1 p.m. in Columbus.

On Capitol Hill Monday, lawmakers are expected to finally vote on a stimulus deal. After weekend negotiations, congressional leaders signaled Sunday evening that they had reached a deal. The new bill is expected to include revamped unemployment benefits and aid for hard-hit small businesses.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has tweeted that “big news” is coming out of Pennsylvania. The Trump campaign is expected to unveil new legal action with the U.S. Supreme Court surrounding Pennsylvania’s election results as part of his ongoing efforts to undermine the election.


Family tied to company with history of hiring unlawful 'aliens' among Kelly Loeffler donors

Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who has maintained a strong anti-illegal immigration stance during her short tenure in office, has raised tens of thousands of dollars for her Georgia Senate runoff campaign from donors linked to a family owned company that was forced to pay out more than $95 million in fines for unlawful immigration practices and alleged hiring discrimination, disclosure records show.

Between late November and early December, Loeffler's campaign received more than $28,000 in contributions from at least 11 members of the Asplundh family, according to new campaign finance reports filed to the Federal Election Commission. The Asplundh family owns and operates the large, privately held Asplundh Tree Expert Company, which has done work for the U.S. Department of Energy.

In 2017, the Pennsylvania-based tree-trimming and vegetation management company had to pay the largest civil settlement ever levied by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a yearslong investigation resulted in the company pleading guilty to "unlawfully employing aliens." Additionally, in January 2019, Asplundh agreed to pay $55,000 in back wages to settle hiring discrimination allegations stemming from one of its facilities in Georgia.

ABC News sent a detailed email to two staffers on Loeffler's campaign that outlined the company's past settlement over its unlawful immigration practices and back pay for alleged discrimination. In addition to asking for a general comment on the donations and the company's past, ABC News also asked if the campaign knew that members of the Asplundh family had donated and intentionally excluded their occupations and employers; if the campaign -- given the senator's stance on immigration and the company's infraction in Georgia -- wanted their support and their donations; and if the campaign did not want their support or donation, if they would refund them.

In response, Loeffler's deputy campaign manager, Stephen Lawson, replied, "[W]e're marking your email as spam. Please don't ever email us again."In a follow-up email a minute later, Loeffler's press secretary, Caitlin O'Dea, wrote, "And Merry Christmas!"

The Asplundh family did not respond to requests for comment, either.

-ABC News' Quinn Scanlan and Soo Rin Kim