State of the Presidential transition on Christmas Eve

The politics of the COVID relief bill are changing quickly now that Congress is scrambling to respond to Trump's last-minute veto threat during his last minute scramble to attempt to pull off his clown coup. David Dayen has a breakdown of th stte of play as of 1272372020, Miracle on Pennsylvania Avenue The American Prospect:

The politics, then, argue for higher payments. It was Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans who kept them artificially low. Now here comes Trump asking for them to be nearly tripled. It’s amazing that he waited until after losing the election to flash the old-time populism and wedge both parties, but here we are. And then came the moment where Mitch McConnell’s head blew up like in Scanners.

As soon as Trump posted that video, I suggested that the House pass a one-page bill, increasing the checks from $600 to $2,000. Much to my delight in seeing that political instincts in the Democratic Party aren’t totally dead, about 10 minutes later, Nancy Pelosi suggested the same thing, saying she would offer unanimous consent to amend the bill. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) even wrote the amendment. (I gave it a name: the $2,000 Does Offer Long-Lasting Available Relief or $2,000 DOLLAR, Act.) Eventually, Chuck Schumer got on board as well. Joe Biden hasn’t said anything, but he was on the record for seeking more money when he became president. So the Democratic leadership beat him to it, and called Trump’s bluff.

David Sirota and Andrew Perez mention (in a salty tone) Joe Biden's publicly quiet but privately active role in the negotiations over the relief bill (Where In The World Is Kamala Harris? Daily Poster 12/23/2020):

[P]resident-elect Joe Biden, seems to have completely checked out of the current debate, after helping create a debacle.

He reportedly convinced congressional Democrats to get steamrolled by Mitch McConnell and agree to provide just $600 in direct aid — which Georgia Democratic senate candidate Jon Ossoff rightly called “a joke.” Biden has vaguely promised to push more aid in 2021, but he is not weighing in forcefully on the budget showdown that is unfolding right now. An austerian to the core, Biden took a dump in the middle of the process, and is now running away from the mess he helped create.

Here's the New York Times letting us know that Biden played a decisive role in compelling Democrats "to pull back on their demands" and helping Mitch McConnell cut the stimulus bill in half. https://t.co/1GLR950tlD pic.twitter.com/XfmgFwxTI9

— David Sirota (@davidsirota) December 22, 2020

This conflict over the stimulus bill and the responses to Trump's clown coup provide early insight into the political strategies of the two parties for the upcoming Biden-Harris Presidency.

David Dayen is also feeling salty about Biden on Christmas Eve:

The link to that December 16 article is here.

Biden during the transition has been offering a conciliatory, "bipartisan" posture, in other words. That was painfully obvious in his December 22 speech and press conference, in his role in the relief bill negotiations, and in his pointed refusal to use the threat of Executive action to force Republicans to support legislation. But he has been willing to continue to directly attack Trump.