Trump campaign distances itself from attorney Sidney Powell: Transition updates

From the top down and from the bottom up, the consequences of Trump and his Republican Party continuing to defy reality are making themselves evident.

Trump firing a top Homeland Security official for contradicting his unfounded claims about the election, while local Republican officials in Michigan initially refused to certify results -- these mark new lows that threaten to shake the foundations of the electoral process.

But such actions are going to get more expensive -- whether Rudy Giuliani gets his asking price or not. Real state deadlines and legal rulings are already starting to close out paths to the presidency that Trump might imagine still exists.

The Trump campaign faces a Wednesday deadline to request a recount in Wisconsin -- where the president is trailing by more than 20,000 votes and where initiating a recount carries a price tag of an estimated $7.9 million.

The political costs are perhaps more substantial in Georgia, where the state's hand audit of ballots will wrap up Wednesday. Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, is saying he sees no way that Biden's nearly 14,000-vote margin will be reversed -- and is lashing out at fellow Republicans who are peddling "vitriol and outright lies" in addition to threats.

"I would have thought Republicans were better than that," Raffensperger told ABC News senior congressional correspondent Mary Bruce.

The Trump campaign's legal options are no rosier in Michigan, where Biden leads by nearly 150,000 votes, or Pennsylvania, where Biden leads by more than 70,000 votes. Judges in both states are expected to hand down rulings in the coming days that would effectively end remaining legal avenues for the president.

It may be political self-interest that has so many national Republicans holding their tongues about what Trump needs to do and when he needs to do it. It may also be that, in the words of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, that what senators say about the topic is "frankly irrelevant."

But from here, if the president and his legal team want to hold out, it could get lonely as well as costly. There could be more firings and defiance -- though nothing from official channels that makes it any more likely that Trump will retain the presidency.

-ABC News’ Political Director Rick Klein

Minutes after Trump applauded the decision by the Wayne County board of canvassers to temporarily block the certification of results, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced that the same bipartisan board -- made up of two Republican and two Democrats -- reversed course and decided to unanimously certify the results in a revote.

"The Wayne County Board of canvassers actually reversed their past decision and voted 4-0 to certify the full results, including the city of Detroit, for Wayne County," Benson said on CNN. 

"It appears that the truth won in this scenario, basically the evidence is clear there were no irregularities, there was no evidence of widespread fraud and in fact there were simply minor clerical errors," she said. "That really isn't a valid reason in my view, and apparently ultimately the board, to invalidate and silence the voices of voters in the state's largest county. So I think they did the right thing, they performed their duty and they certified the election for the voters in Wayne County."

The board is also calling on the chief elections official to do a comprehensive audit of the out of balance precincts, but Benson hedged on committing to the undertaking, adding that the county board has not provided any evidence yet to require an audit. 

"We're certainly going to look into that. I mean look, we want everything to be valid, we want everything to be clear and we want voters to have confidence in the process and we're going to continue to do everything we can within my authority to ensure that always," she said. 

-ABC News' Olivia Rubin and Kendall Karson

The Wayne County Board of Canvassers in Michigan Tuesday night failed to certify the election results in the county.

The board is deadlocked 2-2 on the vote to certify, with the two Republican members voting "no" and the two Democrats voting "yes." The two Republican members of the board said their decision came after some poll books were found to be “out of balance,” which according to the Detroit News, also happened during the certification process in the August primary and the November 2016 election, but they did not take the same step.

The deadline for counties to certify election results in Michigan was Tuesday. Now, the state board will have to step in.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in a statement assured that this hurdle does not mean that there was fraud in the election.

"It is common for some precincts in Michigan and across the county to be out of balance by a small number of votes, especially when turnout is high," she said in a statement. "Importantly, this is not an indication that any votes were improperly cast or counted."

-ABC News' Olivia Rubin and Kendall Karson

At his weekly press conference on Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon, newly reelected House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy seemed to acknowledge that Biden could be the next president. 

Asked what he thinks of Biden suggesting that he has the unique ability to work with a divided Congress given his decades of experience as a senator, McCarthy told reporters, "If the election gets called in the manner in the way it's driving, we'll have to have that question answered."

McCarthy deflected answering if Trump should concede and instead said the election is over when all the results are in and after the legal challenges are settled.

"I think every legal vote needs to be counted. I think every recall needs to be finished. And every legal challenge needs to be heard. When those are all done, yeah, that's the appropriate time that you'll know the outcome of the election," he said. 

Questioned on how Republicans plan to move on from Trump, McCarthy said Trump isn't going anywhere.

"Well, you're assuming President Trump is moving on. I think the president, regardless of whether he's president again, or he's citizen Trump, I think he will continue to play a part in this nation," McCarthy said. 

-ABC News' Mariam Khan