Thread by @Reuters

The U.S. has a long history of peaceful transfers of power that is likely to continue despite Donald Trump’s attacks on the legitimacy of the #Election2020 result, national security experts say. Here is what to expect in the weeks and months to come: reut.rs/3peuM9l 1/7

Does Trump face a deadline to leave office?
Yes. The presidential election is not formally over. Electors - party loyalists who typically pledge to support the candidate who gets the most votes in their state - will convene on December 14 to formally cast their votes 2/7

The newly seated Congress accepts the results from the Electoral College on Jan. 6. If Biden wins the Electoral College vote as expected, he will be sworn in at noon on January 20 — a date set in the Constitution 3/7

Can Biden transition into power despite Trump’s objections?
Yes. Trump has only so much power to slow Biden’s transition. A law called the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 makes career civil servants vital to the transfer of power 4/7

Under the law, the transition process will shift into high gear once a federal agency called the U.S. General Services Administration, which manages federal buildings, names an apparent winner of the election 5/7

Would the military kick Trump out if he refuses to leave? Two U.S. army veterans raised the possibility of the military forcefully removing Trump in an 'open letter' to the top U.S. general, Mark Milley, last August 6/7

But others have said such a move would be better left to the Secret Service, citing a bedrock U.S. legal principle that military personnel should stay out of domestic law enforcement matters. For more insights: reut.rs/3peuM9l 7/7