Biden moves ahead as Dems blast GOP 'shenanigans'

SENATE MINORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER: “The Republicans should stop their shenanigans about an election that President Trump has already lost….”

As U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday moved ahead with planning his new administration, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted President Donald Trump for refusing to concede the election… and called out his Republican allies in Congress who are supporting Trump as he pursues legal challenges in several states and makes unsubstantiated claims of voting fraud.

“Congressional Republicans don’t have the evidence, they don’t have the proof – they don’t have anything, neither does the president. Congressional Republicans are deliberately casting doubt on our elections for no other reason but fear of Donald Trump. These Republicans are all auditioning for profiles in cowardice.”

But there are signs of weakening support for Trump's efforts.

Staunch Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham joined a small but growing number of Republicans who say Biden should have access to the president’s daily intelligence briefings.

Republican Senator James Lankford said in a radio interview that if Biden did not receive the briefings by Friday he would step in to assist.

And the Las Vegas Review-Journal, owned by major Republican donor Sheldon Adelson, on Thursday ran an editorial saying that Trump "seeks to delay the inevitable” by not conceding… saying there is no evidence that fraud cost Trump the election, no matter how much his supporters wish it so.

Since major news organizations called the election for Biden on Saturday, Trump has maintained a minimal public schedule, preferring instead to air his grievances on Twitter, and has not addressed the alarming coronavirus caseload.

Meanwhile, Biden on Wednesday made the first major appointment to his upcoming administration, naming veteran Democratic operative Ron Klain as his chief of staff.

Foreign allies have congratulated the president-elect, and Biden - who will be the second Catholic president, after John F. Kennedy – was congratulated by phone Thursday by Pope Francis.