More Republican lawmakers said on Thursday the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump should allow Joe Biden to receive intelligence briefings, in a tacit acknowledgement the Democrat may soon occupy the White House despite the president's refusal to concede.

Most Republican officials and lawmakers have publicly supported Trump's effort to overturn the election results via a series of lawsuits filed in individual states, following the president's unfounded claims of widespread voting fraud.

Biden, meanwhile, has been moving ahead with the work of preparing to govern, and spoke with Pope Francis as his fellow Democrats in Congress blasted Republican election "shenanigans" and urged action on the coronavirus pandemic.