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News

• Axios reported Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) is again in consideration for a Cabinet position as secretary of commerce. In December, she publicly stated she would not be Biden’s nominee for secretary of health and human services.

• HuffPost reported lawyer David Frederick, a partner at Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, was in consideration for solicitor general. He was an assistant to the solicitor general during the Clinton administration and considered for solicitor general by President Barack Obama (D).

• Biden held a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday for the two Democratic candidates in Georgia’s Senate runoff elections.

• The Government Publishing Office issued the new edition of the quadrennial Plum Book, which details more than 9,000 federal positions across government. These include more than 4,000 political appointments to be made by Biden and other members of the executive leadership.

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Transition in Context: How do the Georgia Senate runoff elections affect Biden's transition?

Georgia is holding two runoff elections for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. These two races will determine which party has a majority in the chamber.

Democrats need to win both seats to split control of the chamber 50-50. The vice president—Kamala Harris (D) beginning on January 20, 2021—would then cast any tie-breaking votes in the Senate. Republicans need to win at least one seat to maintain their majority.

Republicans frame the fight over Senate control as a fight against socialism in America. Democrats say the incoming Biden administration needs a Democratic Senate majority to make progress on healthcare and pandemic recovery.

Control of the Senate will also affect the confirmation process for Biden’s political appointees. Nominees require a simple majority to be confirmed.

Georgia's last Democratic senator, Zell Miller, left office in 2005. Republicans have had a trifecta in the state—holding the governor's office and controlling both chambers of the state legislature—since 2005. And Republicans have had a triplex—holding the offices of governor, attorney general, and secretary of state—since 2011.

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What We're Reading

• Bloomberg Government: ‘Everything Is at Stake’: Georgia and Biden Transition Converge
• Politico: Biden transition hoping for victory but bracing for defeat in Georgia
• The Washington Post: Presidential transitions didn’t use to matter. Here’s what changed.