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November 25, 2020

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Biden gets go-ahead for transition

US President-elect Joe Biden yesterday began a new phase in his transition to the White House after the Trump administration gave the Democrat access to critical resources that will enable him to take the reins of power in January.

The General Services Administration’s announcement on Monday that it would formally recognize Biden’s transition came after weeks of the incumbent president falsely claiming that the November 3 election had been marred by widespread voter fraud.

Critics have said the president’s refusal to accept the results undermined US democracy and undercut the next administration’s ability to fight the coronavirus.

While Trump stopped short of conceding, it was the closest he has come to acknowledging that it is time to hand over power to Biden who will take office on January 20.

The GSA announcement will allow the President-elect to access millions of dollars in funds and focus on putting together a leadership team.

It also paves the way for Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to receive regular national security briefings that Trump also gets.

The Biden transition team said meetings would begin with federal officials on Washington’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, along with discussions of national security issues.

Biden on Monday tapped trusted aide Antony Blinken to head the State Department and John Kerry, a former US Senator, Secretary of State and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, to serve as his special climate envoy.

He also named Jake Sullivan as his national security adviser and Linda Thomas-Greenfield as US ambassador to the United Nations.

Both have high-level government experience.

While Trump on Monday said he backed GSA Administrator Emily Murphy’s decision, he and his advisers vowed to continue fighting the election results.

“Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good ... fight. and I believe we will prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same,” Trump said on Twitter.

Trump later said on Twitter that his campaign team would move “full speed ahead” with challenging “what will go down as the most corrupt election in American political history,” adding that he would “never concede.”

Biden won 306 state-by-state electoral college votes to Trump’s 232. He also holds a lead of more than 6 million in the national popular vote.

Murphy’s decision to allow the formal transition followed weeks of failed legal efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the election in key battleground states.

Murphy, who was appointed to the GSA job by Trump, said she faced threats for not starting the transition earlier and told GSA employees in a letter that the decision to do so was hers alone.

The letter came after Michigan officials certified Biden as the winner of presidential election in their state.

Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, was due to meet with state supreme court justices yesterday to certify that state’s vote. Biden won Nevada by more than 33,000 votes.

Representative Don Beyer, who led the Obama administration’s transition at the Commerce Department in 2008, said on Monday Murphy’s delay was “costly and unnecessary” and warned Trump could still do great harm in his remaining time in office.




 

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