记录: 是什么决定了选举的最终结果？我们什么时候能说选举正式结束？

杰克·比尔曼：当参议院议长，美国副总统，在国会联席会议前打开各州的投票证书，并清点选举人票时，选举就真正结束了。这将在1月6日发生。国会议员届时有机会反对计票。For example, during the 1876 election, there were two different people claiming to be governor of Louisiana, and I think all together four certificates were sent from that state. 一旦这些反对意见得到解决，选举就绝对是决定性的。

记录: 这次有可能提出反对意见吗？

Jack Beermann: It’s very unlikely, because Congress has the power to decide the objections by vote, and it’s a separate vote in each house of Congress. 因此，你需要众议院的多数和参议院的多数来支持任何反对意见。And with the Senate being held by Republicans and the House being Democratic, you would never get a majority for any objection.

记录: 以及如何应该过渡工作？

杰克·比尔曼：理想情况下，过渡应该在选举后几天内开始。但现在，总务管理局（GSA）的负责人已经确定乔·拜登赢得了选举，他们可以为拜登的团队提供过渡援助，以便他们可以开始对招聘人员进行背景调查，获得国家安全简报，并获取信息，以便他们可以为他们的政府做好准备。根据1963年的总统过渡法案，有一个相当有组织的程序，每个机构都有一个指定的联络人与即将上任的总统联系。这些联络人都是在夏天选择的，因为法律要求他们这样做。我应该指出，他们可以想象给拜登过渡权限，然后在选举结果相反的情况下撤销它。把过渡办公室的钥匙交给他，对谁成为总统没有任何法律效力。这是通过各州证明其选举人票的过程进行的，然后国会在1月份开始投票。

记录: 重新计票、法律挑战和其他障碍对这一过程有什么影响？

Jack Beermann: If there were truly valid disputes over the results of the election, then you can have an even longer delay. In 2000, the Clinton administration didn’t recognize George W. Bush as president-elect until mid-December, after the Supreme Court had ruled in his favor and Al Gore had conceded.

There can be negative effects when the transition is delayed, in terms of getting people in place. National security, in particular, suffers. The 911 Commission reported that the delay in the transition hampered national security efforts and that the Bush administration may have been better prepared for those attacks had it not happened.

That’s why it’s alarming to see the Secretary of State proclaim that there will be a smooth transition into a second Trump administration. It has potentially had disastrous effects, because it leaves our allies and our adversaries very confused about what’s going on. That’s just not a healthy situation for international relations, which has always been one of the most delicate areas during a transition. Even though the current administration still speaks for the government, it’s a tradition not to put any obstacles in the way of how an incoming administration functions in diplomacy. But what Pompeo did was throw a big obstacle in there. And that is worrying.

记录: 既然过渡已经正式开始，特朗普在离任时可能希望通过什么样的午夜监管？

杰克·比尔曼：传统上，总统们会在他们的政府即将结束的时候，尤其是当一个不同党派的新政府接管的时候。问题在于，本届政府出台实际规定的速度相对较慢。They’re really good at getting out presidential directives—executive orders and such—but executive orders and things like that can be just revoked the day that Joe Biden becomes president. 在法规方面，你可以想象一大堆涉及工人权利、环境法和堕胎的法规，这些都是热门的政治问题。这些事情往往发生在政府的最后阶段。他们不想在选举前公开的事情。但他们是否有能力把东西弄出来还有待观察。因为他们表现出的一件事是，他们并不擅长遵守所有的规则。他们一直在以创纪录的速度输掉挑战其法规的法庭案件，比任何其他政府都要多，所以不清楚他们实际上能完成多少。当我澳门威尼斯人注册网站研究以前的过渡时期的规定时，我发现，虽然有很多有争议的事情被困在那里，但绝大多数都是常规的，没有争议的。这是早些时候被推迟的东西，现在机构里的人都在赶最后期限。就像我们中的许多人一样，你只是在面对一个具体的截止日期时才把事情做完。当然，这届政府有点不同，因为他们一直在做的事情非常极端，很难预测他们是否会遵循其他政府的模式。