US1 min(s) read
Published 16:27 24 Nov 2020 GMT
On Tuesday (November 23), president-elect Joe Biden and his team were given permission by the General Services Administration Administrator Emily Murphy to begin the transition into power.
This came after a 16-day standoff with the incumbent president Donald Trump and his team after the Republicans refused to concede the election citing unfounded claims of mass voter fraud, per the Washington Post.
In the video below, Hillary Clinton appears to predict Donald Trump's reaction to the 2020 election:
[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/1W89HrzU-Q0L14jDU.mp4||1W89HrzU]]
President Trump said that he recommended the move toward the transition, despite Murphy's insisting that she was never pressured into granting Biden's team permission, ABC News reports.
"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 tweeted shortly after GSA released its letter to the Biden team.
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1331013908971261953]]
However, on Tuesday, November 24, Trump tweeted to say that despite the transfer of power beginning, he "will never concede to fake ballots & 'Dominion'."
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1331086969183621120]]
The letter acknowledging Biden's projected victory grants his team more than $7 million in funding and allows them to outreach to counterparts with every federal agency to begin preparing for the transfer of power in January.
In a letter to Biden's team, Murphy insisted that she made the decision "independently", despite Trump claiming to have made the "recommendation" for her to move forward with the transition.
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1331013907859845121]]
"I have dedicated much of my adult life to public service, and I have always strived to do what is right," Murphy said in the letter to Biden, adding:
"Please know that I came to my decision independently, based on the law and available facts. 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."
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/BeschlossDC/status/1331013111004925957]]
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Angry_Staffer/status/1331035897610035200]]
Prior to allowing the handover, pressure had been placed on Murphy to do so by Democrats on Capitol Hill, business associations, and state and local government leaders.
When the agency refused to make Murphy available on Monday, which was the deadline, Several House committees demanded that she explain why she was refusing to acknowledge the Democratic victory.
Denis McDonough, President Barack Obama's last Chief of Staff, said that in light of the sign-off, Biden's team can now access not only the funding and contacts they need but classified information, which includes the Presidential Daily Brief.
Ahead of the GSA's announcement Monday afternoon, he told ABC News: "It's surely consistent with the spirit and the tradition and the practice of transitions, to make sure that the incoming team is fully briefed on a range of things they're going to confront."
