Trump campaign distances itself from attorney Sidney Powell: Transition updates

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris made a rare appearance on Capitol Hill Tuesday to cast the tie-breaking vote against allowing the Senate to proceed to a final confirmation vote for a Trump nominee to the Federal Reserve board of governors -- a tie that arose after two GOP Senators were exposed to COVID-19 and entered isolation this week.

Had Harris instead gone to Wilmington for a national security briefing with Biden, Vice President Mike Pence would likely have broken the tie in favor of Trump's nominee. But with Harris' intervention, Democrats squashed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's efforts to move ahead with confirming Judy Shelton.

The procedural vote failed with 50 nays to 47 yays. This count reflects McConnell voting "no" -- a move that allows him to bring the nomination back up for consideration at a later date.

Ahead of the procedural vote, Harris shared a fist-bump with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has been actively working to challenge Biden's position as president-elect.

It's Harris' first visit to the hill since the presidential election.

-ABC News' Allie Pecorin

Biden received a national security briefing in Wilmington, Delaware, from a slate of former government advisers and outside experts Tuesday afternoon as he awaits the Trump administration's ascertainment that will allow him to receive the Presidential Daily Brief and intelligence briefings usually given to a president-elect. 

“I used to say, 'the next president of the United States,' -- when I was trying to get the nomination -- ‘whoever he or she will be is going to inherit a divided country, and a world in disarray,'" Biden began. "I wish I had been wrong."

"But, that's why I need you all so badly, and your advice. And to answer these twin challenges, we're going to need to reinvigorate our democracy at home, strengthen the coalitions of democracies we stand with and equip the American people to compete and succeed with a foreign policy that reflects their values and their needs,” Biden told the participants on a large screen via Zoom. 

Several high-profile experts appeared at the briefing including former Obama administration National Security Adviser Tony Blinken, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Adm. William McRaven, former U.N. Ambassador Samantha Powers and Avril Haines, a member of Biden’s transition team who he arrived with to the meeting.

Biden spoke briefly about the growing list of heads of states that he has connected with as president-elect, saying he believed he was up to 13 calls. He noted the enthusiastic reception he’s been receiving, stressing it has less to do with him and more to do with the "circumstances."

“I’m not being critical, just stating the obvious. You know that I've been unable to get the briefings that ordinarily would have come by now," Biden said, in thanking the participants for their advice. 

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Trump's top cyber official at the Department of Homeland Security, Chris Krebs, directly rebuked the president's claims of widespread voter fraud in a tweet Tuesday, citing 59 election security experts who agree election systems were not manipulated in the 2020 election. 

"ICYMI: On allegations that election systems were manipulated, 59 election security experts all agree, 'in every case of which we are aware, these claims either have been unsubstantiated or are technically incoherent,'" Krebssaid in a tweet with the hashtag "#Protect2020."

Krebs has reportedly told associates that he expects to be fired any day now by Trump. Last week Krebs took to Twitter to personally assure Americans the election was secure.

"America, we have confidence in the security of your vote, you should, too,” he tweeted at the time.

-ABC News' Mike Levine

Democratic Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana officially announced his plans Tuesday to resign from Congress sometime before Inauguration Day so that he can take a senior adviser role in the incoming Biden-Harris administration. 

"The future has a habit of arriving unannounced, and I am here to announce the hardest decision of my life,” Richmond said at a press conference in New Orleans, as Biden separately announced that Richmond would serve as an assistant to the president and director of public engagement. 

The Louisiana congressman joined as the first co-chair of Biden's campaign in May 2019, advising on strategy and serving as a top surrogate, particularly on African American outreach for the former vice president's team. He has been serving in Congress since 2011. 

Richmond said he’s expecting an "orderly transition" despite the Trump administration's continued refusals to recognize Biden as the president-elect.

-ABC News' Mariam Khan