As Trump keeps blocking Biden's transition, warnings of the damage it will do to the US are getting louder and more dire

• Steadily more people are warning of the dangers of President Donald Trump's refusal to allow President-elect Joe Biden's transition to proceed.
• Biden initially brushed off the risks of a delayed transition, but on Monday he said bluntly that "people may die" if it is delayed further.
• Republicans, once silent on the matter, have also started to warn of the damage Trump is causing.
• Barack and Michelle Obama, who gave a smooth transfer to the Trump administration, have said US democracy is on the line.
• Some Senate Republicans have said that briefings should still happen while Trump legally challenges the outcome of the election.

President Donald Trump's refusal to let President-elect Joe Biden start his transition is prompting a growing chorus of alarm, including from Trump's own allies.

Since most news networks called the election for Biden on November 7, Trump has refused to concede and has filed multiple lawsuits contesting the results.

He has also refused to allow the General Services Administration to authorize a presidential transition process that releases funds, briefings, and resources.

Biden initially downplayed the significance of being denied a full transition. "We don't see anything that's slowing us down," he told reporters on November 10.

While Trump's intransigence is embarrassing for the nation, Biden said, it is "not of much consequence."

One week later, Biden's tone changed dramatically. "People may die," he said on Monday, arguing that a smooth handover was vital to helping him battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden is not the only one. What began as a chorus of mostly Democrats and government ethics experts now includes:

• John Kelly, a former Trump chief of staff, who told Politico on Friday that the delay "hurts our national security."
• Several Republican senators who urged Trump to let Biden receive classified briefings. James Lankford, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, said he would intervene to help make it happen.
• Four Bush- and Obama-era Department of Homeland Security chiefs who said that "we do not have a single day to spare to begin the transition."
• Andy Card, once President George W. Bush's chief of staff, who told CNBC that a shaky transition from the Clinton to the Bush administration might have hurt the response to 9/11.
• Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious-disease expert, who is averse to partisan politics but has pushed for a transition. "It's like passing the baton in a race," he said. "You don't want to stop and then give it to somebody. You want to just essentially keep going."
• Trump's national security advisor, Robert O'Brien, who appeared to break rank with others in the White House and speak of "a very professional transition" to Biden's team — though that was predicated on "if" the victory was confirmed.
• Barack and Michelle Obama, who have only occasionally spoken out against Trump but called for him to concede and urged him to "think beyond your own ego."

As time passes, the warnings are likely to become more urgent still.