This special post-election report is brought to you by Seyfarth's Policy Matters Newsletter. With so much at stake, we have collected the top-of-mind issues to watch as the election results take shape. Browse the topics below for more detail.
The Current State
Uncertainty abounds, but what do we know about the election to date?
While the nation hoped for a rapid resolution to this year’s election, it is, after all, 2020, and we should have known better. Indeed, as Charlie Sykes of the Bulwark put it: this election will be decided by the Big Ten, not the SEC. Millions of votes are still being counted in battleground states across the Country, but at this juncture, Joe Biden has a clearer path to the White House than the current President, but it is far from over. While it was understood relatively early Tuesday that the House of Representatives would remain in Democratic control — although apparently with a reduced majority — we learned today that in all likelihood the Senate will remain under Republican control. Thus, while final results will have to be certified and we will undoubtedly have to go through a thunderstorm of lawsuits, it appears that we face four more years of divided government, although now the administration will likely be under control of Mr. Biden and the Democrats. In light of Republican continued control of the Senate, we assume that policy changes will primarily be delivered by executive action, through regulation, or through Executive Order rather than legislation. Because of this, changes will be more nuanced and somewhat slower in occurring. Therefore, this piece will attempt to address some scenarios that may be relevant to employers in a Biden administration, with some discussion of what the Trump administration has done, or would likely do, in the somewhat unlikely case that he prevails.
[View source.]