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Joe Biden's Administration Has Been Officially Allowed To Start Transition Period

Joe Biden's Administration Has Been Officially Allowed To Start Transition Period

Donald Trump is still refusing to concede defeat however has greenlit the formal process to hand over power.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

The General Services Administration (GSA) has officially allowed Joe Biden and his team to begin the transition period following the US election.

This is a formality granted to all incoming US Presidents and is one of the biggest official steps towards a change of leader.

Donald Trump has still refused to concede defeat in the 2020 US Election, however he has tried to say the GSA's decision to begin the transition period was his idea.

He wrote on Twitter: "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, 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."

Joe Biden's team has complained that because the transition period didn't start sooner, they were left out of crucial meetings related to homeland security and the government's response to the coronavirus.

However, now that GSA has formally greenlit the process, the Biden-Harris team are hopeful they will be able to hit the ground running when the President-elect assumes the White House.

Emily Murphy.
PA

Yohannes Abraham, Biden-Harris Transition executive director, said in a statement: "This final [GSA] decision is a definitive administrative action to formally begin the transition process with federal agencies.

"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."

GSA's head, Emily Murphy, has been under intense public scrutiny over the past few weeks for not outlining where the government stood on the US Election.

Despite cries from the Biden camp, Murphy hit back saying the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 didn't have clear guidelines for what to do in an election where the loser is refusing to concede defeat and vote recounts and legal challenges had been launched.

She wrote a letter to Biden's team, saying: '"To be clear, I did not receive any direction to delay my determination.

"I did, however, 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."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: joe biden, News, US Election, Donald Trump, joe biden, News, US Election, Donald Trump