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Biden wins transition access as Trump, GSA pledge to cooperate (See Letter)

United States President-elect Joe Biden

*The United States General Services Administration officially acknowledges that Joe Biden is the winner, grants the President-elect access to briefing materials, government resources, and fund in a letter

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Following weeks of high horse, carefree spewing of conspiracy theories, and ‘incredible irresponsibility’ on the part of incumbent US President Donald Trump, as the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hits hard the country, the General Services Administration (GSA) eventually, has informed President-elect Joe Biden that the Trump administration is ready to begin the formal transition process in the White House.

GSA Administrator Emily Murphy stated this in a letter Biden, a copy of which was obtained by CNN afternoon Monday, November 23, 2020.

It was gathered the GSA confirmed Joe Biden as the apparent winner of the US presidential election Monday, as President Trump called on his agencies to cooperate.

 

 

US General Services Administration (GSA) Letter to President-elect Biden  Photo: CNN

Trump said of GSA Emily Murphy: “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.”

The designation triggers a formal transition process, giving Biden and his team access to current agency officials, briefing books, and other government resources, including some $6 million in funding for the transition process.

The letter was sent after nine Republican Senators had called for the transition process to begin, and hours after Michigan’s Board of State Canvassers had voted to certify the election’s results, practically ensuring Biden’s victory in the key battleground state, report said.

Murphy in a letter to President-elect Biden, citing the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, said: “Because of recent developments involving legal challenges and certifications of election results, I have determined that you may access the post-election resources and services described in Section 3 of the Act upon request.”

President Trump and First Lady Melania bidding Americans goodbye….

Yohannes Abraham, Executive Director of the Biden-Harris transition, said in an e-mailed statement that the GSA announcement is a “needed step” to “getting the pandemic under control and our economy back on track.”

Abraham stated: “In the days ahead, transition officials will begin meeting with Federal officials to discuss the pandemic response, have a full accounting of our national security interests, and gain complete understanding of the Trump administration’s efforts to hollow out government agencies.”

Recall that for weeks, the Biden transition team was reported to have worked ‘informally’ in order to establish a new administration in the most powerful country on earth.

This includes assembling a Coronavirus task force and consulting with public health officials outside of the Federal Government, mimicking the approach former Vice- President Dick Cheney took during the disputed 2000 election.

Blocked from interacting with Federal agencies, Biden’s staff instead sought out other experts from academia, state governments and Capitol Hill.

Report noted that the biggest change now is that the transition team will be able to flood Federal agencies with officials focused on preparing the way for his administration. Now such officials will have access to agency staff and briefing books assembled earlier this year, as well as details on what administrative issues must be addressed right away.

Transition aides also will get details about which positions are most critical, as the incoming administration seeks to fill more than 7,000 jobs across the federal government.

David Marchick, Director of the Center for Presidential Transition, stated: “Fortunately, Federal career civil servants have done an outstanding job preparing for this year’s transition by producing fact-based information on critical agency issues and by designating acting officials who will lead agency operations until new political appointees are confirmed.

“They now need space to do their jobs.”

Meanwhile, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris may also swiftly begin receiving classified intelligence briefings, according to report.

Lawmakers and national security experts had warned that without the information, the incoming administration was being kept in the dark about threats to the US, regarded as a lapse that could make the country more vulnerable.

Biden’s team can now dig into work essential to running the federal government and bolstering the economy, from developing a budget plan to coordinating unemployment benefits guidance with the Labor Department.

Executive-branch departments working on the pandemic response can also brief the Biden team on the systems for distributing protective equipment and coronavirus vaccines.

Earlier, Trump commended the GSA administrator on Twitter, stating: “I want to thank Emily Murphy at GSA for her steadfast dedication and loyalty to our country.

“She has been harassed, threatened, and abused – and I do not want to see this happen to her, her family, or employees of GSA. Our case STRONGLY continues.”

Murphy, in the letter to Biden also disclosed that she had received “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.”

The GSA Chief stated that she was not “directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official” on the making or timing of a decision on the presidential transition.

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