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Live politics updates: Wisconsin GOP candidate says name used without permission in election lawsuit

USA TODAY's coverage of the 2020 election and President-elect Joe Biden's transition continues this week as he rolls out his picks for top jobs in his administration and states continue to certify their vote counts.

President Donald Trump has cleared the way for Biden's team to use federal resources and get briefings during the transition, although Trump has yet to formally concede the race.

Be sure to refresh this page often to get the latest information on the election and the transition.

GOP candidate for Congress says his name used without permission in election lawsuit

Derrick Van Orden, a GOP candidate for Congress, said his name is being used without permission as a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit filed by conservative lawyer Sidney Powell.

The lawsuit seeks to overturn Wisconsin’s presidential election results, which gave its 10 electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden.

"I learned through social media today that my name was included in a lawsuit without my permission. To be clear, I am not involved in the lawsuit seeking to overturn the election in Wisconsin," Van Orden wrote on Twitter.

The lawsuit claims Van Orden “seeks an order for a new election” because of how close the race was. Van Orden lost to Rep. Ron Kind by approximately 10,000 votes.

Van Orden has been very supportive of President Donald Trump, and often tweets about counting “every legal vote” in regards to election updates, such as the recounts in Wisconsin and Georgia.

The Trump campaign recently distanced themselves from Powell and stated she was not a member of the president's legal team, despite appearing beside Trump lawyers at a news conference for the campaign in November.

Powell’s lawsuit in Wisconsin also cites the TCF Center, which is not in Wisconsin, but rather is a convention center in Detroit.

Several lawsuits filed by Trump’s legal team, or on behalf of his campaign, have been riddled with mistakes.

– Savannah Behrmann

Trump to host meeting next week on COVID-19 vaccine distribution

President Donald Trump plans to meet with a group of health care professionals next week to discuss ways to distribute vaccines for COVID-19, the White House announced Tuesday,

Trump will meet with leaders from “the federal government, state governments, private sector, military, and scientific community for a comprehensive discussion with the American people as the Administration prepares to deliver this historic, life-saving vaccine to every zip code in the United States within 24 hours of an FDA approval,” said a statement from White House spokesman Brian Morgenstern.

The meeting will be Dec. 8, probably in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House.

Trump, who was criticized throughout the presidential campaign for his handling of pandemic, has been promoting his administration's "Operation Warp Speed" as a boost to vaccine development.

The vaccine distribution meeting takes place as Trump protests the election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Biden becomes president on Jan. 20.

The website STAT, which covers health and medicine, reported that "some executives are irritated at pressure from the White House to attend an event they perceive to be largely political, according to representatives from several of the companies invited, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity to speak candidly."

– David Jackson

Biden economic nominees promote progressive policies

President-elect Joe Biden's nominees for economic posts promoted their experience with economic crises – and progressive government programs for providing food and rent during economic troubles and protecting homeowners from financial abuses.

Neera Tanden, named to become head of the Office of Management and Budget, said budgets aren’t abstractions, but a reflection of communal values. She described being raised after her parents divorced by her mother, Maya, who was born in India, as they depended on food stamps and Section 8 housing vouchers to pay the rent.

Her mother eventually became a travel agent and bought her own home in Bedford, Massachusetts, before seeing her children off to college.

“This country gave her a fair shot to reach the middle class,” Tanden said. “I’m here today because of social programs, because of budgetary choices, because of a government that saw my mother’s dignity and gave her a chance.”

Heather Boushey, a longtime economic counselor to Biden, named to become a member of the Council of Economic Advisers, told of her father being laid off – recalling the conversation he had with her and other members of her family as the first time she "truly experienced this thing called the economy."

One by one, "the pink slips arrived for every family on our cul-de-sac,” she said. "Every kid in my bus stop had a parent who was laid off."

Wally Adeyemo, named to become the deputy secretary of the Treasury Department, said he knows Biden’s capacity for working through hard times by overseeing the recovery from the Great Recession a decade ago.

Adeyemo, who immigrated from Nigeria and grew up in the Inland Empire of California, said the region was a foreclosure capital where his friends and neighbors lost their homes. He has since served as chief of staff to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a potential Treasury nominee criticized by some as too progressive for the post, and he became head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to regulate financial organizations.

“The pain was real for me. It wasn’t just numbers in a report or stories on the nightly news, but neighbors and friends who lost everything,” Adeyemo said. “I believe that’s what public service is all about at its best: giving people a fair shot when they need it most.”

– Bart Jansen and John Fritze

Biden on COVID stimulus: ‘Help is on the way’

President-elect Joe Biden called on Congress to approve a “robust” economic stimulus plan “now,” but appeared to lower expectations for that package by acknowledging Tuesday that any package approved during the lame-duck session of Congress would be “just a start.”

Biden made the remarks as he formally announced his economic team in Wilmington, Delaware. He did not directly address a bipartisan, $908 billion stimulus unveiled hours earlier by a bipartisan group of senators in his opening remarks. The package is smaller than the one long sought by congressional Democrats.

“Times are tough but help is on the way,” Biden said.

Though light on details about the contours of a stimulus, the former vice president said there is an "urgent" need to fund states and cities, a Democratic priority included in Tuesday’s bipartisan proposal.

President-elect Joe Biden speaks as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris listens at left, during an event to introduce their nominees and appointees to economic policy posts at The Queen theater, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware.
President-elect Joe Biden speaks as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris listens at left, during an event to introduce their nominees and appointees to economic policy posts at The Queen theater, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware.

But Biden added a note of caution, suggesting that if a stimulus package emerges before the Jan. 20 inauguration, it would be followed up with additional plans.

“Any package passed in a lame-duck session is likely to be just a start,” he said.

President Donald Trump and congressional leaders have failed to approve a new round of stimulus to address the nation's high unemployment rate caused by the pandemic. Biden has pressed lawmakers to approve a deal before his takes office, but even the agreement unveiled Tuesday faces a difficult path on Capitol Hill.

Coronavirus relief: Lawmakers introduce bipartisan COVID-19 aid proposal

Biden used the event to formally unveil his economic team as the country struggles to dig out of the worst recession in a century.

At the forefront of Biden's team was former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, his pick for Treasury secretary. Other appointees included Neera Tanden, a former aide to Hillary Clinton and chief executive of the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress, to head the Office of Management and Budget.

Yellen said urgent help is needed to repair the economic damage from the pandemic and resulting recession. She said the recession has had a disproportionate impact on those less fortunate, who struggle to put food on the table and pay the rent.

"It's essential that we move with urgency," Yellen said.

– John Fritze and Bart Jansen

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Politics updates: GOP candidate says he's not involved in election suit