Can Harris Inherit Biden’s Campaign Cash? Most Likely, Yes.

It’s the $96 million question: Can Vice President Kamala Harris seamlessly inherit the huge sum of money that President Biden amassed in his war chest for the Biden-Harris ticket?

The answer is likely to be legally straightforward but politically charged.

Within minutes of Mr. Biden’s dropout announcement on Sunday, Republicans appeared poised to challenge any change to the account. The Republican National Committee is leaving open the possibility of lawsuits related to the potential transfer and use of Biden campaign money, according to one official with knowledge of the matter, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

But Dara Lindenbaum, a commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, said that because Ms. Harris was already on the Biden-Harris campaign committee’s registration statement, the money was hers.

“In my view, this is not an open question,” Ms. Lindenbaum, a Democratic appointee, said in an interview. The F.E.C., a six-member, bipartisan board, would most likely field any legal challenges to the campaign’s moves.

“It’s very clear,” Ms. Lindenbaum said, adding, for emphasis: “If Kamala Harris is the Democratic presidential nominee, she gets to use all the money in the account.”

Mr. Biden himself appeared to leave no doubt as to the legal ownership of that money. After he endorsed her, he followed that post with another on X, writing, “And if you’re with us, donate to her campaign here.”

He linked to the Biden-Harris campaign’s ActBlue site, where the donation page read: “Donate to Elect Kamala Harris.”

And on Sunday afternoon, the “Biden for President” campaign committee officially filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to rename itself “Harris for President.” The paperwork was submitted at 4:51