Wake up with the Washington Examiner: Harris transition challenges and election cases being decided now

Transition from Biden to Harris comes with its own challenges

The Washington Examiner is doing a deep dive into what the next presidential transition will look like, and we’re starting the series off with a preview of a Biden-to-Harris explainer.

If Vice President Kamala Harris wins the election, the transition from the Biden administration to her own won’t necessarily be smooth sailing just because of their close relationship, Naomi Lim writes.

In 1988, when President George H.W. Bush took over from President Ronald Reagan, whom he also served under as vice president, experts say that was the most difficult presidential transition until President Donald Trump took over from President Barack Obama.

“Just because you’ve gone from same party to same party or sitting vice president to president, that doesn’t make it a piece of cake,” Max Stier, the president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service and its Center for Presidential Transition, told Naomi.

Between a president’s first and second terms, there’s an average rate of 20% turnover. However, that number rose to 50% between Reagan and Bush. Often, new presidents, regardless of being from the same party as the previous administration, want to set themselves apart with their own appointees. Also, many of those serving in the previous administration have “taken enough personal and financial hits and sacrifices, and they’re ready to move on to other things,” according to Virginia Tech political science professor Karen Hult.

Click here to read more about a Biden-to-Harris transition.

Voting lawsuits could affect the election

Many states are still cleaning out voter rolls and verifying election-counting procedures ahead of the November election, and some of these lawsuits could conclude soon, Ashely Oliver reports.

The Department of Justice is going after Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen for purging the voter rolls within the state’s 90-day “quiet period,” which says there should not be changes to the voter rolls close to an election.

In Arizona, Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is being eagle-eyed by Republicans who are waiting for a Tuesday court hearing, which will state whether Fontes must release a list of 218,000 registered voters who have not confirmed their citizenship to American First Legal. In a state that was decided by 11,000 votes last election, the wipeout of over 200,000 voters could have huge impacts. However, Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Gina Swoboda said she expects most are citizens but just haven’t updated their records.

In Mississippi, the Republican National Committee has argued that the acceptance of ballots seven days or more after Election Day is unconstitutional and is awaiting the court ruling. The law in the state says as long as the ballot is postmarked by Election Day, it will be accepted. Though Mississippi is a deeply red state, if the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules in the RNC’s favor, it is likely to use that justification in other jurisdictions.

Click here to see what the experts are saying.

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