GOP eyes legal challenges as Harris assumes control of Biden’s war chest

As President Biden bowed out of the presidential race Sunday and endorsed Vice President Harris to be the Democratic Party’s nominee, he immediately dashed off a social media post asking his backers to show their support by giving to the Biden-Harris campaign committee.
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“If you’re with us, donate to her campaign here,” he wrote, posting a link to an ActBlue page accepting contributions for the Biden for President campaign.

Here’s what happened in the hours before Biden posted a letter announcing his decision. This is how Democrats can pick a new candidate and the top 10 options to replace Biden.

But as Biden tries to hand over the committee’s millions in remaining cash to Harris, Republican lawyers and operatives are saying “not so fast.”

For weeks, Democratic lawyers and operatives — who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party deliberations — had argued that elevating Harris to be the Democratic nominee was the easiest solution for the party. Rather than encouraging an array of candidates to compete in an open convention and setting off a scramble for financial support, they reasoned that anointing Harris would prevent a lot of legal headaches because her name is already on the paperwork filed with the Federal Election Commission that organized the Biden campaign committee.

Within hours of Biden announcing his decision, the committee tried to make the handoff to Harris official — submitting an amended filing to the FEC changing its name to “Harris for President.”

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