The Trump administration has done “everything that is required by law” in the event of a transition, the White House said, stating that a constitutional process is underway to determine the winner of the November 3 presidential election.
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Current US President Donald Trump, a Republican, has refused to grant the election to Joe Biden, a 78-year-old Democrat, and has filed multiple lawsuits against the poll results in various states. Trump, 74, has made accusations of widespread voter fraud, without providing any proof.
Former US Vice President Biden was declared the winner of the hard-fought US presidential election on November 7. Biden now has 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232 votes. To win the race for the White House, the selected candidate must have at least 270 electoral votes out of 538 members of the Electoral College. His lead in the general public vote is more than 5.9 million.
Backing up President Trump’s stance, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany refused to acknowledge President-elect Biden’s victory at a press conference on Friday, his first press conference since Oct. 1 and since President Trump lost the election.
“The president has been very clear, he wants all legal votes to be counted,” McEnany said. He didn’t say when Trump would back down, but said there were “very real claims” of voter fraud without identifying any evidence. “There is a Presidential Transition Law that determines exactly what an administration must do before the elections. And we have done everything the law requires and we will continue to do so, “said McEnany. Biden will take office on January 20 as the 46th president of the United States.
Meanwhile, after a series of judicial defeats in his efforts to challenge the election results, Trump’s team hopes to convince legislatures controlled by his fellow Republicans in key states to ignore the result and declare him the winner, according to several American media.
In the absence of certification of the election and the award by President Trump, the General Services Administration (GSA) has refrained from taking the necessary steps to ensure a smooth transition of power to the incoming Biden administration, including the release of more than USD 9 million for the Transition Team by mandate of Congress.
Emily Murphy, the Trump-appointed GSA administrator, has yet to formally acknowledge Biden’s victory, denying him access to contacts with federal agencies and access to classified intelligence reports. The delayed transition has raised concerns about national security and the impacts it could have on the Covid-19 response from the incoming Biden administration, especially the distribution of a vaccine.
“The GSA will make the verification determination at the appropriate time. At this time, there is a constitutional process that is developing. There are questions that are asked in court. But the GSA will determine when verification is achieved, ”McEnany said in response to a question.
Litigation is ongoing, he stressed.
“What we know, 74 million Americans voted for this president, that is, more votes than any president has obtained in history. It is truly extraordinary. There are very real claims the campaign pursues: 234 pages of publicly available affidavits in a single county; that’s Wayne County. And two people on the canvassing board who have refused to certify, ”he said, referring to the most populous county in the US state of Michigan.
Democrats accuse Trump of abusing his office by trying to pressure lawmakers to subvert the will of voters and appoint their own constituents to the Electoral College, which meets on December 14. Amid the dispute with Trump, President-elect Biden has tried to move on. with the transition, this week announcing appointments and meeting with national security experts.
On Friday, Biden met with two top Democratic lawmakers, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, to discuss how to help “struggling working families and small businesses” during the worsening of the coronavirus outbreak. PTI LKJ SRY AKJ AKJ
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