Within hours of Biden announcing his decision, the committee tried to make the handoff to Harris official — submitting an amended filing to the FEC changing its name to “Harris for President.”
Several campaign finance lawyers aligned with Republicans argue that the campaign does not have legal authority to do that — and that the maneuver is all but certain to be challenged before the FEC or in a court of law.

Charlie Spies, a prominent GOP campaign finance lawyer, said that both Biden and Harris would have to have been officially nominated by the Democratic Party at its convention next month before any kind of handoff could occur. In that situation, he noted, a provision in campaign finance law allows a vice-presidential nominee to take control of the campaign’s depository if the presidential nominee withdraws.

“Biden can’t transfer his money to Harris because it was raised under his own name, and there is no legal mechanism for it to have been raised jointly with Harris before they were their party’s nominees,” said Spies, who advised the Republican National Committee before stepping down from that role earlier this year.