NOVEMBER 23, 2020
President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks at The Queen in Wilmington, Delaware, on November 9, 2020. President Donald Trump was still refusing to concede his election loss November 9, 2020, but Democrat Joe Biden plowed ahead anyway with the first meeting of a parallel coronavirus task force, initiating an awkward and potentially volatile transition period. – ANGELA WEISS, AFP via Getty Images
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A key Trump administration appointee said Monday she would allow President-elect Joe Biden to begin his official transition – paving the way for his team to get access to briefings, office space, secure computers and other government services needed for the transfer of power.
It marked a formal recognition by the Trump administration that Biden won the Nov. 3 election, even though the president has refused to concede and continues to make false allegations of voter fraud.
Emily Murphy, the Trump appointee who holds the keys to transition funds and tools, had delayed issuing an official determination that Biden won election as the Trump campaign filed a flurry of lawsuits challenging the results that show Biden with a clear electoral college victory.
Murphy said she was not pressured by President Donald Trump, who appointed her to head the GSA in 2017, to hold back the formal ascertainment.
“Please know that I came to my decision independently, based on the law and available facts,” Murphy wrote in a letter to Biden. “I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official—including those who work at the White House or GSA—with regard to the substance or timing of my decision.”
But Murphy said she did receive threats “online, by phone, and by mail directed at my safety, my family, my staff, and even my pets in an effort to coerce me into making this determination prematurely. Even in the face of thousands of threats, I always remained committed to upholding the law.”
Murphy’s written determination undermines Trump’s protests that the election was unfair and that Biden’s win is not legitimate.
Her formal declaration will release more than $6 million to the Biden transition team, which it can use to hire staff, pay for travel, and cover other expenses.
Perhaps more importantly, Biden’s team will now automatically have access to briefings from key federal agencies, including information on the COVID response and the plans for a vaccine rollout.
The General Services Administration, which manages federal buildings and leases, plays a key role in ensuring a smooth transition from one president to the next.
Biden earned 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232; 270 electoral votes are needed to clinch the presidency.
Trump’s assertions about election malfeasance was at odds with a finding from a national coalition of election security officials, which concluded that the Nov. 3 general election was “the most secure in American history.”
“There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,” said a statement from the security group, which included the cybersecurity agency within Trump’s own Department of Homeland Security, along with the National Association of State Election Directors.
The amount of work involved in a typical hand-over is monumental and will be even greater now, as the country grapples with the COVID pandemic and the economic crisis. Biden and his team need get up to speed on national security threats, prepare a $4-plus trillion budget, and fill more than 4,000 political positions across dozens of federal agencies.
Other key steps that will take place in the coming weeks to pave the way for Biden’s incoming presidency:
• The Electoral College is scheduled to meet on Dec. 14, with each delegation meeting separately in their respective states and voting by paper ballot for president and vice president.
• Congress will hold a joint session on Jan. 6, 2021 to count the electoral votes and declare the results.
• Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2021, a in a ceremony likely to be held outside the Capitol. The vice president takes the oath first, followed at noon by the new president.
Courtesy/Source: This article originally appeared on USA TODAY
