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US President Donald Trump, who had refused to grant the election, now says he is leading his team to cooperate in President-elect Joe Biden’s transition to power, but vows to keep up the fight.
After days of delays, the General Services Administration determined that Biden was the “apparent winner” of the November 3 election.
Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post
President Trump has agreed to the formal transition process to a Biden administration.
The move cleared the way for the start of the transition from the Trump administration and allowed Biden to coordinate with federal agencies on plans to take over on January 20, 2021.
An official said Administrator Emily Murphy made the decision after Trump’s efforts to subvert the vote failed in the battle states, most recently Michigan, that certified Biden’s victory on Monday (local time).
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“Please know that I made my decision independently, based on the law and available facts. I was never pressured directly or indirectly by any Executive Branch official, including those working in the White House or GSA, regarding the substance or timing of my decision, ” Murphy wrote in a letter to Biden.
Susan Walsh / AP
General Services Administration Administrator Emily Murphy.
Trump tweeted shortly after his letter was released: “Our case continues FIRMLY, we will continue the good… fight, and I believe we will prevail! However, in the best interest of our country, I recommend that Emily and her team do whatever it takes regarding the initial protocols and I have told my team to do the same. ”
Yohannes Abraham, the executive director of Biden’s transition, said in a statement that the decision “is a necessary step to begin addressing the challenges facing our nation, including controlling the pandemic and recovering our economy.”
He added: “In the coming days, 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 Trump administration’s efforts to empty government agencies “.
Carolyn Kaster / AP
US President-elect Joe Biden and his team would now have access to millions of dollars of government money to begin the transition to the White House.
Michigan’s vote certification closed the doors to Trump’s moves
Michigan election officials on Monday certified Biden’s victory by 154,000 votes in the state, with the State Canvassing Board, which has two Republicans and two Democrats, confirming the state results with a 3-0 vote with one Republican abstention.
Trump and his allies had hoped to block the vote to allow time for a ballot audit in Wayne County, where Trump has claimed without evidence that he was a victim of fraud.
Biden crushed the president by more than 330,000 votes there.
Under Michigan law, Biden got all 16 electoral votes. Biden won the state by 2.8 percentage points, a higher margin than in other states where Trump was contesting the results such as Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
“The duty of the board today is very clear,” said Aaron Van Langevelde, Republican vice president.
“We have a duty to certify this election based on these results. That is very clear. “
Some Trump allies had expressed hope that state legislators could intervene in the selection of Republican voters in states that do not certify. That remote and legally dubious gamble was no longer possible in Michigan.
State Governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement after the vote that it was “time to put this election behind us.”
“President-elect Biden won the state of Michigan by more than 154,000 votes, and he will be our next president on January 20.”
Separately, more than 100 former Republican national security officials, including former Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, former CIA Director Michael Hayden and former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, had previously said in a statement that Trump’s refusal to concede and allowing an orderly transition “constitutes a serious threat” to the democratic process in the United States.
