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U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., fended off a primary challenge on Tuesday from Rep. Joe Kennedy, D-Mass., for a second full term in the Senate. Although both ran as progressives, young climate change activists helped fuel Markey's victory. Steven Senne/AP hide caption

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., fended off a primary challenge on Tuesday from Rep. Joe Kennedy, D-Mass., for a second full term in the Senate. Although both ran as progressives, young climate change activists helped fuel Markey's victory.

The season for mounting challenges to incumbent lawmakers is nearly over, and the focus is shifting toward the general election. But incumbents shouldn't rest easy it's clear that groups on the left feel emboldened by the places where they did make gains over the course of the 2020 cycle and plan to keep an eye on where else they can target their energy next.

Progressives trying to pull their party to the left had mixed results in Tuesday's Massachusetts Democratic primaries with a win in the Senate and a loss in a key House race.

Activists pushing a sweeping Green New Deal proposal to remake the economy and eliminate the country's dependence on fossil fuels had a big win with the Senate author of the proposal Ed Markey beating back a challenge from Joe Kennedy III, a member of the state's political dynasty.

Markey partnered with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the freshman Democrat from New York known as AOC, who has garnered national attention for her overhaul of the energy sector and effective social media presence.

Democratic operatives credit her with revving up younger voters that gave Markey a healthy margin across the state against the 39-year-old Kennedy.

Her involvement backing the white male candidate with more than 40 years experience on Capitol Hill was a departure from her focus in other congressional races, where she campaigned on behalf of young diverse candidates around the country who made the case that people of Markey's generation didn't reflect the country.

But AOC said it wasn't about age in this case, which Kennedy tried to frame as a generational clash, but about policy.

Groups like the Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats that backed Markey fell short in their effort to knock off Rep. Richard Neal, though. Neal chairs the powerful tax writing committee and represents a district in the western part of the state.

Alex Morse, the 31-year-old mayor of Holyoke who challenged Neal, 71, portrayed him as a captive of corporate interests.

But Neal easily beat Morse, and his years of attending Rotary Club meetings and tending to constituent casework countered the narrative that he opposed proposals like Medicare because he was lobbied by interests before his committee.

Pair of 2018 primary challenges spurred broader effort

It's rare that sitting members of Congress lose. Incumbents have huge advantages in raising money and getting their message out through both official and political teams. If they are visible both in their committee assignments in Washington and in events in their districts, they are less vulnerable to inter-party challenges.

During the 2020 primary season, eight of the 435 lawmakers in the House have lost in primary challenges, and three of them were Democrats.

Progressives got a huge jolt of momentum in 2018 with a pair of high-profile wins Ocasio-Cortez ousted New York Rep. Joe Crowley, a top House Democratic leader; and Ayanna Pressley defeated Mike Capuano, a 10-term incumbent in Massachusetts.

Those races spurred a trend, and the groups like the Justice Democrats, which was created by some former aides from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 campaign, set their sights on other older white and veteran lawmakers.

David Hopkins, a political science professor at Boston College, told NPR that the successes of Pressley and Ocasio-Cortez prompted others to decide it was worth jumping in now.

"Certainly a candidate like Alex Morse is someone who you know maybe in the past would have been more willing to sort of wait his turn wait out," Hopkins said.

The split inside the party on issues of climate and health care, and tension about whether Congress should work on more incremental reforms rather than more ambitious proposals, was also a major issue throughout the 2020 presidential primaries.

"There definitely is a fight for what the Democratic Party stands for right now," Stevie O'Hanlon, communications director for the Sunrise Movement, a climate change advocacy group, told NPR.

In recent months the national attention on issues of racial justice and police reform also became flash points in primary races.

In Missouri Cori Bush, a Black Lives Matter activist, toppled William Lacy Clay in the August primary. He served 10 terms in the House and succeeded his father. Bush lost to Clay two years ago, but was backed by AOC and other progressive groups in her bid this time.

Fitting a district is a factor on par with ideology

Progressives have targeted largely urban, safe blue districts like Clay's.

In New York's 16th Congressional District Jamaal Bowman, a 44-year-old school principal, defeated Eliot Engel, the 73-year-old House Foreign Affairs Committee chair. Engel was caught on a hot mic at an event in his district admitting he wouldn't care about speaking if he didn't have a primary challenge.

But in Illinois Marie Newman did beat moderate Rep. Dan Lipinski in a suburban Chicago area district. Lipinski is one of the last Democrats who has an anti-abortion rights record and has been a target of progressives for some time.

Democratic challengers in recent months have wielded their support for progressive policy proposals like "Medicare for All" and the Green New Deal as wedge issues in debates.

But former New York Congressman Steve Israel, who headed up his party's campaign committee from 2011-2015, told NPR the issue of identity is more important than ideology.

"There's this kind of narrative that it's the left of center versus the far left the center. But the differences aren't really that great it's differences of nuance," Israel said.

Instead, he pointed to changing demographics in the electorate in the districts where incumbents lost. He also said that the 2018 midterms when a large influx of women and lawmakers of color won and changed the makeup of the caucus, issues of representation became a larger factor.

Hopkins agrees that there has been a lot of attention on perceived ideological splits in these races, but he believes voters are also very focused on making Congress more reflective of individual districts. "The pressure to make the party more demographically diverse at the leadership level is such a major consideration for Democratic voters these days."

Top leaders in both the House and Senate have touted the diversity of their caucuses and pointed to efforts to give younger members key roles on committees and opportunities to run for leadership posts.

But members like AOC, and fellow members of the "squad" including Pressley, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, still bristle over the lack of input rank-and-file members have had in fashioning key bills. And tensions with the large group of moderate Democrats who won in competitive seats in 2018 and gave Democrats control of the chamber continue to play out as the party sorts out what its agenda should be post-election.

Some progressive issues may have more regional appeal

Markey's embrace of the Green New Deal as a centerpiece of his campaign was effective in a primary in Massachusetts, a solidly blue state where the issue has more resonance.

"This might be the first major Senate primary ever we're climate change is maybe the defining issue," said O'Hanlon of the Sunrise Movement.

Charles Booker, a state representative who lost to Amy McGrath, the candidate backed by the party's leadership, had a harder time getting traction with the climate issue in the Kentucky Senate primary. The state is far more dependent on fossil fuels, and the electorate included more working-class voters.

Plus the contest there narrowed in the final weeks because Booker, a Black lawmaker, became a vocal opponent of the Louisville police's handling of the death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by police who were using a no-knock warrant.

The party's standard bearer, Joe Biden, has not embraced the Green New Deal. After he clinched the nomination for president, activists refocused on congressional races but acknowledge that they couldn't compete with the House and Senate party committees' fundraising prowess and infrastructure.

O'Hanlon told NPR Sunrise is pivoting to the general election now and says the group is planning to roll out endorsements of some Democrats running in competitive districts who have embraced the Green New Deal.

Future for primary challenges?

Both progressives and establishment Democrats involved in high-profile faceoffs this year can claim victory. Challengers on the left ousted Engel and Clay, progressive forces protected Markey.

In addition to Neal, two other senior House Democrats who faced opponents from the left House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler and House Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney won their primaries.

Groups who backed primary challenges continue to have far fewer resources than party committees and because they have confined their efforts to a relatively few number of seats, it's unclear what kind of real operational infrastructure they have to widen out their target list in the next election cycle.

Both the House and Senate Democrats' campaign committees have policies to back incumbents in races where they face challengers, a policy that has bristled progressives. As a response, AOC set up her own super PAC this year to help raise money and support candidates. She also called out those who try to tamp down internal divisions in a tweet following the Massachusetts primary.

But there's no doubt that the threat of a challenge is having an effect on incumbents. Israel says the same advice applies today that he gave to his colleagues when he ran the House campaign arm: "If you're not doing your work at home, your time may be limited in Washington."

Those worried about a challenge may be more willing to break with the leaders, or sign on as co-sponsors for bills that are viewed as more progressive, even if the legislation isn't expected to move in Congress.

But what happens in the 2020 elections could be the most important factor for future internal party clashes. If Biden wins the White House and Democrats take control of the Senate, there will be even more of a spotlight on the ideological splits over policies like Medicare for all.

Advocates will pressure Congress to act early in a new administration, and leaders will be under intense pressure to try to bridge gaps and unite the party around some significant legislation.

But if President Trump wins a second term, the type of grassroots energy from the left that followed the 2016 election could once again inspire more people to want to challenge sitting Democrats.

"If Trump is reelected, I think it will only embolden the progressive left," Israel said.

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How Progressive Democrats Did In 2020 Primaries, What It Means - NPR

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected the idea of lowering her partys demands, reiterating that Democrats needed to stand behind their more sweeping legislation as the pandemic rages on. | Alex Wong/Getty Images

Moderate House Democrats are growing increasingly alarmed about stalled coronavirus relief negotiations, with vulnerable members starting to privately push Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other party leaders to take action to break the stalemate.

Those anxieties particularly among the Democrats in GOP-leaning districts known as frontliners have spiked as lawmakers watched the standoff drag out in the Senate this week while they were stuck back home in their districts amid the pandemic. The Senate on Thursday failed to advance a skinny Republican coronavirus relief plan over Democratic opposition, leaving senators in both parties to declare negotiations likely on ice until after the election.

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Now House members are preparing to return to Washington next week with little prospects for a bipartisan deal, even as coronavirus cases continue to rise and millions of Americans remain unemployed. The House is scheduled to be in session for just three weeks before leaving town until November. But on Thursday, Pelosi dismissed suggestions to change strategies.

We dont want to go home without a bill, but dont be a cheap date, Pelosi said on a private caucus call. When you are in a negotiation, the last place to get weak knees is at the end.

Some Democrats have suggested passing smaller, more targeted coronavirus relief bills in the House, which many hope would stand a chance in the Senate or at least restart talks. But Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have rejected that idea, saying it weakens Democrats efforts to secure a broader relief package.

Schumer also joined the private call Thursday afternoon and tried to reassure nervous House Democrats after the failed Senate vote. Schumer said he was confident the talks werent finished noting that Republicans have relented in past coronavirus negotiations and would feel pressure to act before the election, though GOP leaders have expressed skepticism of any deal before November. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the top administration negotiator, also signaled his lower expectations in comments to reporters Wednesday.

I think they will come back again, Schumer said of the White House, according to three Democratic sources on the call. The weaker they are, the better off we are. And that means the more heat they get and the more that Mnuchin is able to persuade Trump, that if he doesn't get something done here, it's going to be certain that he won't be reelected.

On the call, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer raised the idea of passing another coronavirus relief bill in the House, something several Democrats have privately pushed in recent weeks; theyve argued it's better than heading into the final weeks before the election without doing anything further. But Schumer shot that idea down.

We have to wait for them to come to us, if they dont come to us we will not get something your caucus can support, Schumer said, according to multiple Democrats on the call.

But some House Democrats arent convinced the wait-it-out strategy will work and have started to press leadership to take some kind of action, including potentially putting bills dealing with specific aspects of coronavirus relief on the floor so that lawmakers have something to tout to their constituents back home.

Those Democrats argue that the $3.4 trillion coronavirus relief bill the House passed in May, known as the HEROES Act, is fading from the publics memory and the House needs to do something now to show lawmakers are taking action despite the Senate stalemate.

The currency of that vote is eroding, Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), chair of the moderate New Democrat Coalition, argued on the caucus call Thursday, according to multiple sources. Hoyer raises a legitimate question whether were willing to adjourn in October with the understanding that help may not come ... We want the American people that are hurting the most to know that we are fighting for them.

Kilmer was among several centrist Democrats who voiced similar concerns about the inaction one day earlier in a call with Pelosi. Some, particularly freshmen, pressed for more votes on coronavirus legislation, such as piecemeal bills to address programs like unemployment insurance, small business assistance or stimulus checks.

Pelosi rejected the idea of lowering their partys demands both on Wednesday and during the broader caucus call Thursday, reiterating that Democrats needed to stand behind their more sweeping legislation as the pandemic rages on.

Members range in suggestions to voting on Heroes again to hanging tough, Pelosi said Thursday, according to Democrats on the call. Most of you agree that if we hang tough, we will get a better bill.

One idea Pelosi is considering, however, is a floor vote on a standalone bill from House Energy and Commerce Chair Frank Pallone that would provide $75 billion to strengthen coronavirus testing and tracing programs nationwide. Senate Republicans proposed $16 billion for testing and tracing in their bill this week.

Other swing-district Democrats say theyre begun to search for more options themselves. Members of the Problem Solvers Caucus have begun drafting a bipartisan proposal to amp up pressure on their partys leaders to accept something that falls in between the two parties' demands, possibly around $2 trillion. The GOP bill filibustered in the Senate Thursday amounted to roughly $500 billion.

Some members of the bipartisan group have even reached out to the White House about their plan. But senior Democrats say theyre skeptical that it could make either party budge.

"Were doing everything we can to get both sides back to the table," said Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), a co-leader of the group along with Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.). "We cant wait until January."

The calls for Democratic leaders to put more coronavirus bills on the floor have been growing for weeks. When the House returned in August to vote on a rescue package for the U.S. Postal Service, several Democrats urged Pelosi to couple that vote with one on broader economic recovery legislation. Pelosi and her team ultimately decided against any additional votes.

Concerns about the inaction have only escalated since then, with party leaders making no progress in negotiations and ultimately halting talks altogether. Pelosi and GOP officials havent met in person since early last month and a call between the speaker and Mnuchin last week yielded no results.

Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), who chairs the House Budget Committee, said he has personally urged party leaders to take up a bill that deals with the most immediate needs, such as jobless benefits, small business loans or nutritional assistance, rather than holding out for one huge package as the GOP refuses to move.

"I think most Americans right now look at it and say, these people are just pathetic. They can't come together when people are suffering and they can't come together on a reasonable package," Yarmuth said, referring to the public perception of Washington as a whole. "So I think showing that we're reasonable would be important. I'd like to see us do it before we break for the campaign next month."

At the same time, Democratic leadership is battling discontent on another front a bill slated for a vote in the coming weeks that would legalize marijuana at the federal level.

Vulnerable House Democrats are furious about plans to vote in roughly two weeks on the bill, which they believe would fuel a barrage of GOP attack ads in the final weeks before the election despite being widely praised as a step toward racial justice.

A majority of Americans favor legalization. But some Democrats, particularly freshmen, have been spooked by recent polling that showed that Trumps law and order attacks had already been taking some toll, with voters particularly in the suburbs uneasy about calls to defund the police amid nationwide protests.

Others worried that Democrats would head into the election with their chief message being about marijuana and the rest of their agenda drowned out by Trump, particularly if they leave for recess without a coronavirus relief deal.

We cant fund the government, we cant fix Covid, but yet we can pass weed, said one Democratic aide, summing up the frontliners anxieties.

The bill which would also create grant programs for people hit especially hard by the war on drugs initially saw more support within the caucus. But several swing-district Democrats say their thinking changed after weeks of protests, some of which turned violent, and growing calls to defund the police.

A whip count by Democratic leaders this week showed some faltering support, and there has been some early talk among senior Democrats of pulling the bill from the floor schedule.

Caitlin Emma contributed to this story.

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Vulnerable Democrats anxious over stalled Covid-19 talks - Politico

FOX Business Stuart Varney argues Democrats are desperate to bail-out their wealthy supporters.

The Democrats are moving heaven and earth to help the rich. You heard right, the Democrats are running to the assistance of the top 1%. This tells you a lot about political change.

If you thought the Democrats were all about "working people,"think again. Maybe the socialist wing wants to seize wealth, but the establishment is desperate to bail out their wealthy supporters.

VARNEY CLAIMS DEMS ARE RUNNING 'BIDEN-HARRIS-SANDERS' SOCIALIST TICKET THAT PUTS YOUR MONEY AT RISK

Specifically, they want to bring back the deduction for state taxes. Yes, thats the salt issue. Its the big sticking point in the fight over a new virus aid package.

Back in the good old days, before Donald Trump, wealthy people could claim a deduction for the state taxes they paid. Fork out, say, $100,000 to New Jersey, New York, Illinois or California, and that $100,000 comes off your federal tax return. Its a Major Leaguededuction. It was a big tax saving. But thatsthe old days.

Now, no deduction -- and the wealthy, especially in high-tax, Democrat states, are complaining bitterly. They're paying more federal tax, not less!

DEMOCRATS OFFER 'FRIGHTENING PROPOSITION' FOR US ECONOMY, SAYS CHARLES PAYNE

Desperation!

New York Sen.Chuck Schumer is demanding a SALTrepeal.

So is House SpeakerNancy Pelosi from California.

So is presidential candidate Joe Biden.

The establishment is desperate to avoid even higher taxes in already high-tax, Democratic states, which would make things even worse.

But, if SALT were to be repealed, the establishment helps its rich donors. It would be a Democratic gift to the wealthy. The main beneficiaries would be one-percenters. Forget ideology. Political self-interest rules the Democratic elites.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Adapted from Stuart Varney's "My Take"monologue on "Varney & Co." on Sept. 10, 2020.

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Varney: Democrats rush to aid the wealthy - Fox Business

Twenty years ago, as Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush battled for weeks over whod won the U.S. presidential election, Floridas Republican secretary of state, Katherine Harris, helped hand the White House to Bush by declaring an end to recounts that showed him clinging to the slimmest of leads.

If the outcome of Novembers election comes down to fights over counting mail-in ballots and claims of fraud by President Donald Trump, Democrat Joe Biden may have a quiet advantage: the top election officials in many of the key states that could decide the election are Democrats.

Katherine Harris announces the certification of presidential ballots on Nov. 26, 2000.

Photographer: Peter Muhlay/AFP via Getty Images

In Michigan and Pennsylvania -- two Democratic-leaning states Trump won in 2016 -- the top elections officials belong to Bidens party. Thats also true in Arizona, which Trump carried but Biden is now leading in the polls, and Minnesota, which the president has targeted as a potential pickup.

Trump, who trails Biden in national polls, has tried to undermine the publics confidence in the election. He falsely claims that mail-in ballots are rife with fraud, and that the election will be rigged against him. This has led Democrats to worry about a scenario where Trump is ahead in the election-night count from in-person voters and declares himself the winner before all outstanding mail-in ballots are tallied.

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Should that happen, it will be up to the secretaries of state to preside over the counting of mail-in votes and certify the final outcomes, a process that could take days or even weeks. These relatively anonymous state officials could prove a bulwark for Biden as they cope with whats expected to be an unprecedented surge in mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic.

They will also be on the front lines in countering any claims by Trump or his allies that the election is somehow rigged.

It will be all hands on deck, but defending election results will definitely start with secretaries of state as the chief election officer, said Alex Padilla, a Democrat who was elected to serve as Californias secretary of state. In my mind, its definitely good that we have secretaries in swing states committed to strengthening and defending the voting system.

Election officials insist that theyre non-partisan and oversee voting according to the law. But J. Kenneth Blackwell, a former Ohio secretary of state, said its impossible to avoid politics when elections officials have to make tough decisions.

Why the U.S. Mail Is 2020 Presidential Campaign Issue: QuickTake

Blackwell was in charge of Ohios voting in 2004, when Democrat John Kerry delayed conceding to Bush until the morning after Election Day because of outstanding provisional ballots.

You cant take politics out of politics, said Blackwell, now a member of the Trump campaigns board of advisers. Its the way our system is set up. I dont all of a sudden become a non-Republican when I have to make a judgment associated with my job in the political sphere.

Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, tangled with Trump just this week. Brinson, who was appointed by a Democratic-controlled board, on Thursday warned voters that it is illegal to vote twice in an election after Trump encouraged people who mail in their ballots for the November election to also go to the polls on Election Day.

These mail-in ballots are a disgrace and they know it, Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Thursday evening, speaking about Democrats and suggesting they could manipulate mail-in voting. The only way theyre going to beat us is by doing that kind of stuff.

Trump Call for Voting Twice Sparks Warning From State Official

The Democratic secretary of state in Pennsylvania, Kathy Boockvar, said in a statement that she has confidence county elections officials will count ballots efficiently to make sure the outcome of the election is known as quickly as possible.

While state officials influence the election with the rules governing voting, they also can play a pivotal role in ballot-counting if the race is close, with rulings to break tie votes or other actions such as Harris took in 2000, said Daniel Tokaji, a former Ohio State University election law professor and now dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School. Theres also inherent tension between discharging their official duties and the incentive to help their party, he said.

Theres just no getting around that conflict of interest, Tokaji added. Even well-intentioned officials trying to do the right thing, their actions can always be called into question.

But Charles Stewart III, a professor and elections scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said if the race does go into overtime, the courts likely would play the more decisive role. He cited changes made to ballot-counting processes after the Florida 2000 recount chaos that gave secretaries of state less discretion.

Earlier: Facebook, Twitter Flag Trump for Misleading Posts on Voting

Asked whether Trumps campaign is concerned about Democrats being in charge of overseeing post-election counting in some states, spokeswoman Thea McDonald focused instead on efforts to expand mail-in voting. Rather than trying to predict the future, the news media ought to draw attention to Democrats nonstop attempts to throw our electoral system into chaos 60 days before a general election, she said.

The Biden campaign declined to comment.

Election officials say that while television networks and news wires typically declare winners on Election Night, thats based on an unofficial count that doesnt become official until days or weeks later -- after outstanding ballots are counted and theres a canvass to determine final tallies with any recounts. The inability to declare an unofficial winner on Election Night isnt a sign of problems, they say.

But the possibility of delayed results this year is real, said Maria Benson, spokeswoman for the National Association of Secretaries of State, and we ask all voters and the media to be patient.

Current laws in states including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin dont allow mail-ballots to be processed until Election Day, meaning they may not all be counted by the end of the night. Certain other states, including Ohio, allow ballots received after the election to be counted as long as they are postmarked earlier.

In a year when voter turnout is expected to be high, first-time voters and those going to the wrong polling place will lead to more provisional ballots, which are held until voter eligibility is determined, said Michael Morley, an assistant law professor at Florida State University whos worked on election emergencies and post-election litigation.

Democratic Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said on CNNs Inside Politics on Sunday that if the state legislature doesnt change the law to allow early processing of mail-in ballots, it may take until the Friday evening after the election to get full results -- and if thats the case, shell be emphasizing that until every vote is counted, it wont be possible to say who won any race.

Benson said it will also be critical for election officials to be transparent about whats happening with the ballot-counting process, and depend on data and facts to combat any misinformation that undermines public confidence in the accuracy of the results.

Its going to be really important for every secretary of state this year, as we seek to cut through lots of different rhetoric thats going to only be increasing in the weeks coming up to Election Day and beyond, Benson said in a separate appearance on NBCs Meet the Press.

Washingtons Republican secretary of state, Kim Wyman, said her colleagues should be prepared to manage a legal crisis that could determine the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

This will have shades of 20 years ago during Bush v. Gore, said Wyman, whos running for re-election herself. I hope my colleagues and I will be able to present the facts to voters in our own states and the facts will prevail. That has been a challenge in 2020.

(Updates with Benson comments from 23nd paragraph.)

Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.

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Democrats Hold Secret Edge If Election Is Too Close to Call - Bloomberg

FILE PHOTO: Former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg endorses former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's campaign at Chicken Scratch in Dallas, Texas, U.S., March 2, 2020. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Joe Bidens presidential campaign on Saturday added former Democratic primary rival Pete Buttigieg, along with senior officials who served under President Barack Obama, to an expanded White House transition team.

Biden added four new co-chairs to the team led by his longtime ally Ted Kaufman: New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, former Obama economic adviser Jeffrey Zients, Louisiana Representative Cedric Richmond and his campaign adviser Anita Dunn.

He also named Buttigieg, a military veteran and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, to the advisory board, together with former deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, and Susan Rice, national security adviser to Obama who was on the shortlist to be Bidens running mate.

We are preparing for this transition amid the backdrop of a global health crisis and struggling economy, Kaufman said. This is a transition like no other, and the team being assembled will help Joe Biden meet the urgent challenges facing our country on day one.

Kaufman said the expertise of advisory board members will help Biden respond to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which continues to ravage the United States, and the economic recession.

Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who has been advising Biden on the pandemic response, has also joined the transition team.

Zients was tasked with taking over after the botched rollout of the Obamacare enrollment website in 2013. Lujan Grisham has a background in health and aging and has led her states coronavirus response.

Other new transition team members include Teresa Romero,president of the United Farm Workers, Lonnie Stephenson, president of the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers and Tony Allen, president of the historically black Delaware State University.

Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Tom Brown

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Democrat Biden adds former rival Buttigieg, ex-Obama officials to transition team - Reuters