Donald Trump leads team to cooperate on Biden’s transition

US President Donald Trump has instructed his team to cooperate with incoming President Joe Biden at the first sign that he has accepted the results of the presidential election.

In a tweet, he said he had instructed his team to “do whatever it takes” regarding the initial protocols, officially allowing the presidential transition to begin. But he said his case “continues strongly” and “I firmly believe that we will prevail.”

The president’s intervention follows confirmation by the General Services Administration, the federal agency responsible for overseeing the presidential transition, that it had determined that Biden was the winner of the election. While this is usually a procedural matter, Trump-appointed GSA Director Emily Murphy had declined to designate Biden as the apparent winner, a check that allows the incoming president access to necessary resources and information. to prepare for the presidency.

But in a letter sent to Biden’s transition team on Monday, Ms Murphy said that due to recent developments involving legal challenges and certification of results, she had determined that the Biden team could access established resources and services. in the Presidential Transition Law. .

Ms Murphy said she reached the decision “independently, based on the law and available facts” and was not pressured by the executive branch. This conflicts with Trump’s claim in his tweet that he had instructed the head of the GSA to begin the process.

Decision

Ms. Murphy also defended her decision to delay verification. “I do not believe that an agency charged with improving federal procurement and property management should be placed above the constitutional election process,” she said, noting that she had received threats to herself, her family, her staff, and her pets for the process.

Formal GSA approval means that Biden’s team will gain access to classified information, resources and information related to the country’s Covid-19 strategy and $ 6.3 million in government funding as the president-elect prepares to take office on 20 December January.

Ms. Murphy’s decision was announced after a tense exchange between her office and Congress throughout Monday. While the GSA first announced that Ms. Murphy’s deputy would report to Congressional committees on the situation on November 30, Democrats in a letter demanded that Ms. Murphy appear this week to answer questions. Biden’s team received a letter informing them of the verification decision shortly after.

Trump’s decision to allow his team to cooperate with Biden comes after further defeats by the president in his efforts to challenge the outcome of the election, which was declared for the Democratic nominee more than two weeks ago.

Michigan’s board of voters voted to certify the results of the state elections on Monday. The decision was a blow to Trump, who hoped to convince Republican members of the board to declare him the winner in Michigan, despite Biden winning the state by about 155,000 votes. In the end, three of the four board members voted in favor of certification.

Electors College

Pennsylvania was expected to become the last state to certify its results. All states must formally announce or “certify” the results of their elections before December 14, when the electors’ college meets.

In a statement, Biden’s team welcomed the GSA’s decision as “a necessary step to begin addressing the challenges facing our nation, including controlling the pandemic and recovering our economy.”

Biden Transition CEO Yohannes Abraham also noted that transition officials will begin meeting with federal officials to “discuss the response to the pandemic, have a full accounting of our national security interests, and gain a full understanding of the efforts. of the Trump administration to empty government agencies. “

The development comes as Biden unveiled his foreign policy and national security team, intensifying plans to assume the presidency.

Antony Blinken, former undersecretary of state and deputy national security adviser, will replace Mike Pompeo as secretary of state. Jake Sullivan, a former Hillary Clinton aide who also served as Biden’s national security adviser in the Obama administration, will serve as national security adviser, while career diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield has been nominated as the new U.S. ambassador. before the United Nations.

April haines

In addition, the former vice president nominated the first candidate to lead the intelligence services of the United States: Avril Haines, 51. Long-term attorney and government official Alejandro Mayorkas will be the first Latino to lead the department of homeland security, the agency responsible for immigration matters.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry has been named the administration’s climate envoy, an indication of the priority Biden will give to climate change during his presidency. This will be the first time that a climate change envoy will sit on the National Security Council.

In a tweet Monday, Kerry said the United States “will soon have a government that treats the climate crisis as the urgent threat to national security that it is.” Biden is expected to rejoin the Paris climate accord in the first days of his presidency.

Though unconfirmed, it has been widely reported that Janet Yellen, former head of the Federal Reserve, will be the new Treasury secretary, the first woman to head the agency in its 231-year history.