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Trump-Biden transition updates: At least 20 arrested, 1 stabbed at DC protests
The event was largely peaceful, but grew violent after crowds thinned at night.
President-elect Joe Biden is moving forward with transition plans, capping a tumultuous and tension-filled campaign during a historic pandemic against President Donald Trump, who still refuses to concede the election one week after Biden was projected as the winner of the presidential race.
Trump has largely hunkered down inside the White House since the election, but on Saturday his motorcade drove drove past supporters gathered to rally in Washington, D.C., on his way to play golf.
Biden, meanwhile, is pressing forward, meeting with transition advisers in Delaware and calling Trump's refusal to concede "an embarrassment."
The Biden transition team and the Trump administration are in a standoff over whether Biden should be granted access to federal resources allocated for the transition of power. The General Services Administration, headed by a Trump appointee, has yet to officially recognize Biden as the victor in the election, preventing Biden's team from gaining full access to government funds and security information.
But a growing number of Republican senators are calling on the administration to start giving Biden classified intelligence briefings, a sign that support for Trump's refusal to concede the election may be waning among his allies on Capitol Hill.
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Pa. announces 10,000 ballots subject of Trump campaign lawsuit
The Pennsylvania Department of State announced Tuesday evening that "approximately 10,000 mail ballots" were received from the time polls closed last week through the Friday 5 p.m. deadline by which they needed to arrive in order to be counted.
These are the ballots at the center of the Trump campaign lawsuit filed prior to Election Day, which seeks to overturn a September Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision allowing the ballots to arrive up to three days after Election Day, provided they were postmarked before the polls closed.
Though that case may have ramifications for local races and future elections, it has been rendered moot in the presidential contest given Biden's current 45,673 advantage over Trump in the Keystone State. Even if all 10,000 ballots came in for Trump, he'd still trail Biden outside of the automatic recount threshold of ~34,000. The Trump campaign would also be in the awkward position of suddenly trying to argue for their inclusion following weeks of demands that they be excluded.
The state also noted a provisional ballot count of 94,000 on Election Day -- a backtrack from an earlier 101,000+ number it gave ABC News a few days ago -- of which only about 17,000 have been approved and counted thus far; and another 27,650 military and overseas votes, which had until Tuesday to arrive. None of the outstanding ballots of either type are expected to make a significant dent into Biden's margin.
-ABC News' Adam Kelsey
Pence to campaign in Georgia for GOP Senate candidates
After meeting GOP senators on Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon, Vice President Mike Pence tweeted that he told them: “We’ll Keep Fighting until every LEGAL Vote for President @realDonaldTrump is counted.”
Pence also tweeted he would be in Georgia next week, apparently to campaign for the two GOP Senate candidates facing runoffs there.
His office confirmed later that he'll campaign there on Nov. 20.
Meanwhile, Pence’s office announced he would travel to the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., on Friday to speak at a meeting of the Council for National Policy, a conservative group. It’s the latest example of Pence carrying on with work while the president remains out of sight.
-ABC News' Ben Gittleson and Jordyn Phelps
Biden, Harris slam GOP effort to undo ACA in SCOTUS as 'simply cruel and needlessly divisive'
Before taking questions on his transition, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris focused on the Affordable Care Act in remarks Tuesday afternoon, making a point to hit the issue the same day the Supreme Court was hearing arguments for the Trump administration's efforts to strike down the law.
Speaking after Harris’ introduction, Biden slammed Republicans for trying to take away health care coverage for people after failing to have their own plans approved twice before -- and doing so this time as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
“This case represents the latest attempt by the far-right ideologues to do what they’ve been -- repeatedly failed to do for a long time in the courts, in the Congress, in the court of public opinion, over the last decade, to eliminate the entirety of the Affordable Care Act,” he said.
Biden urged the Court not to “subvert” the will of the American people, casting health care as not a “partisan” issue, but rather one of “life and death.”
Harris spoke before Biden and focused on the negative impact that the loss of ACA would have on women and people of color.
“Getting rid of the Affordable Care Act will take us backward to a time when people could charge a woman more for her healthcare than they could charge a man simply because she's a woman," Harris said, adding, "Communities of color would be hit particularly hard -- Black, Asian, Hispanic and Native American, because they are at a greater risk of pre-existing conditions."
-ABC News' Molly Nagle
Biden calls Trump's refusal to concede 'an embarrassment'
Speaking to reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden, in his first comments on Trump not acknowledging his president-elect status, called Trump’s refusal to concede "an embarrassment."
"I just think it's an embarrassment, quite frankly. How can I say this tactfully? I think it will not help the president's legacy,” Biden said.
ABC News' Senior Congressional Correspondent Mary Bruce asked Biden if he had reached out to President Trump. "And if he is watching right now, what would you say to him?" she asked.
Biden grinned widely and spoke directly to the camera. “Mr. President, I look forward to speaking with you," he said.
Asked about Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's earlier declaration that there would be a "smooth transition to a second Trump administration," Biden again brushed off any concerns.
"Well, first of all, we are already beginning the transition. We're well under way," Biden said.
Biden also said he can get by lacking access to intelligence -- the President's Daily Brief -- as the General Services Administration has not yet acknowledged him as president-elect.
"Well, look, access to classified information is useful, but I'm not in a position to make any decisions on those issues anyway. As I said, one president at a time, and he will be president until January 20th," Biden said.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle