Trump has already left the building, but there's lots we can do while waiting for Biden

During each presidential transition period, incoming presidents-elect are often reminded that we have only one president at a time. But this is a presidential transition like no other. For the first time in the 244-year history of the United States, we have no president at all.

Since Election Day, Donald Trump has done virtually nothing. His schedule on most days has been empty. For three weeks he did not take questions from the press and then, when he did, first he melted down and then he turned to trading conspiracy theories with a friendly face at Fox. There has been plenty of golf and tweeting. But if golfing and tweeting had anything to do with presidenting, Trump would have been the best president in our history instead of the worst.

This is, of course, an exceptionally bad time for us to have no president. There is a massive pandemic that is entering its deadliest, costliest, most debilitating period. Sometime in the next few weeks we will pass 300,000 dead. There are the economic and social consequences of that pandemic. And the world keeps turning: Global and domestic threats and challenges are emerging, to say nothing of the opportunities we miss by having a disconnected outgoing president tweeting conspiracy theories from a golf cart he has parked on some green somewhere.

Salting the earth for Biden

The outgoing president typically takes active steps to ensure a smooth transition to his successor’s government. But this administration obstructed the transition for two weeks and now, at agency after agency, there are signs that Team Trump is trying to salt the earth ahead of the arrival of the Biden administration — changing regulations, embedding Trump staffers, reclaiming COVID relief funds so Biden can’t use them, and more. The shredding of files and the pardoning of Trump cronies and perhaps even Trump before he leaves office seem inevitable.

So, America, there’s no one at the wheel. What’s a country to do?

Well, as it turns out, there is plenty we can do.

Some is being done by President-elect Joe Biden. This week, he has begun receiving the intelligence briefings Trump has so often ignored. He is meeting with scientists and planning a COVID recovery that will begin when he takes office Jan. 20. He is the one who gave the Thanksgiving address we expect from a leader and have never gotten from Trump. His team is preparing to re-engage with the world and undo the damage Trump has done. He has already determined who will fill many of the top jobs in the next administration.

And all this sends an immediate message to the world. The Trump debacle is over. Only a handful of world leaders — among them Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and Mexico’s Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador — have failed to acknowledge Biden’s victory. The others, including many once reputedly close to Trump, are already sending messages of welcome and promised cooperation to the incoming government.

VP could smooth the way: Trump won't leave graciously, but Pence can and should

Of course, Congress could be acting now, too. A relief package is needed for the tens of millions of Americans who are out of work or struggling, who are facing hunger and the loss of loved ones, as a result of the pandemic. The failure to pass one is one of the worst transgressions of the Republican Senate led by Mitch McConnell. And that is saying something, given that its past misfires include a sham impeachment trial and relentless packing of the courts with unqualified jurists.

But the COVID crisis will deepen — severely, according to experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci. The outcry will grow, and more help will be needed. A new bipartisan proposal for a stopgap $908 billion package suggests at least some in Congress understand the urgency of the situation. While their proposal would be inadequate given the need, and while McConnell rejected it almost immediately, it would be a mistake to give up on COVID relief. As Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday, "The risk of overdoing it is less than the risk of under-doing it."

Help neighbors, be cautious on COVID

We are about to enter a holiday season darkened with the unspeakable pain of countless of our neighbors. Failure to act or simply waiting until we have a president again will be too late for those who lose their homes, their jobs or their family members. It doesn’t even take GOP leadership in the Senate to do this. The Democrats plus a handful of Republicans can make it happen.

At the same time, if the federal government will not act as it should in the face of the crisis, once again our governors are going to have to lead. They can collaborate among themselves as they did in the spring and this time, they can even coordinate with advisers of the incoming administration to ensure that what they do today is likely to dovetail with the plans that will unfold in January. That is perfectly legal and permissible and frankly, state and local outreach and coordination is an aspect of presidential transitions that does not get the attention it should.

COVID-19 incentive: A vaccine stimulus is the shot in the arm our country needs

Finally, all of us can move forward. We can unfollow Trump and his clown car full of conspiracy theorists. We can take the steps scientists recommend to contain the pandemic. We can reach out and help our neighbors through the holidays. We can recognize that the failure of the past four years was letting our divisions crowd out our common interests.

This is the kind of crisis moment that should bring us together and mobilize us as have past crises and wars. Getting by without a president is not how our government was conceived. But frankly, after the past four years, it is something of a relief. In the case of Trump, the less presidenting he does, the better for all of us.

David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) is host of "Deep State Radio," CEO of the Rothkopf Group media and podcasting company, and a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors. His latest book is "Traitor: A History of American Betrayal from Benedict Arnold to Donald Trump." Bernard L. Schwartz is the CEO of BLS Investments, former CEO of Loral Corp. and publisher of the quarterly "Democracy" journal.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump is AWOL amid COVID with Biden presidency still seven weeks away