Pressure mounting to accelerate Biden transition
WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - As President Donald Trump continues to falsely claim the election was rigged and refuses to concede, pressure is mounting on government officials to allow the transfer of power to proceed.
Nearly a week after the race was called for Joe Biden, U.S. General Services Administration hasn’t certified election results, a necessary step to allow Biden’s transition team government funding and increased access.
On Thursday, a group of more than 150 former U.S. national security officials, military officials and elected leaders sent a letter to GSA warning of the national security risk.
Some congressional Republicans are also joining Democrats saying President-elect Biden‘s team needs to get up to speed and Biden needs to start receiving intelligence briefings.
President-elect Joe Biden addresses the media about the Trump Administration’s lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act on Nov. 10, 2020 at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
“Presidential transitions are gray areas in the dangerous world in which we live,” said Rep. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA). “Adversaries may very well seek to test us while we’re transiting from one administration for another.”
Connolly sent his own letter to GSA Administrator Emily Murphy on Monday demanding she account for the delay, but he said he’s received no reply.
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“We can cajole and exhort,” said Connolly when asked about next steps in Congress. “We can obviously try to compel testimony, we can subpoena records, we can continue to put pressure. I think right now we want to respect some space so that President Trump can come down his artificial mountain of denial and free his appointees like Ms. Murphy at the General Services Administration to do the right thing.”
Typically GSA certifies election results quickly. In 2008, it happened for President Obama’s transition team within hours of the race being called.
Chris Edelson, American University assistant professor of government, said what’s happening is unprecedented.
“The fact that they were even talking about this is sad,” said Edelson.
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He points out the president’s effort to stay in power by claiming the election was tainted has been rejected in the courts thus far.
“Because there’s no evidence,” he said. “Conspiracy theories may work well when you’re speaking to devoted followers, it doesn’t work well with judges.”
FOX 5 reached out to GSA Thursday for a statement but got no response. Earlier this week, a spokesperson said the agency is following the law and still has not determined the winning candidate.