Election 2020 live updates: Biden widens electoral vote lead over Trump

President-elect Joe Biden began seeing more support, if indirectly, from Republicans on Thursday as senior GOP lawmakers called for him to receive classified briefings even as the Trump administration continued to bar a formal transition.

Trump officials prolonged that blockade even though in private top campaign aides were candidly telling President Trump that his prospects of winning reelection were an uphill battle, according to people close to the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect private conversations. His campaign, meanwhile, was scrambling to form a coherent legal strategy.

The acknowledgments from Republicans came as Biden and his team continued to map out his transition, despite the lack of official certification from the General Services Administration that would unlock the resources and access to the federal government that Biden and his team will need to fully prepare for taking office on Jan. 20.