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A White House administrative official appointed by still President Donald Trump is refusing to sign a letter allowing President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team to begin work, at least formally, this week. The news is advanced by the Washington Post, which points to the occurrence as one more sign that Trump will not recognize the electoral defeat and may interrupt the transfer of power.
The General Services Administration (GSA) is responsible for federal buildings and managing the bureaucracies that give official access to the team of new presidents after the elections. This process is seen as a formal declaration of the Federal Government to acknowledge the electoral results. This time, however, 36 hours after the press featured Biden as the next president, Emily Murphy, the head of the GSA, had yet to write the letter, and the Trump administration has no immediate plans to do so.
“No determination has been made yet [quanto à declaração]”The GSA press officer, Pamela Pennington, responded by email, guaranteeing that the employee will continue to comply with all the requirements established by law.
To the Washington Post, a senior White House official said that “no director of an agency [pública] he will clash with the president on matters related to the transition at this time. The official, who wanted to guarantee anonymity because he was unable to speak in public, predicts that directors will be instructed not to speak to the transition team.
Gerry Connolly, a Democratic congresswoman from Virginia, has already stated that “Emily Murphy’s action must be condemned.” Connolly leads a panel in Congress that analyzes the operations of the Federal Government and declares that the attitude of the GSA official “is consistent with the submission” that she has towards President Trump and his wishes. What is happening “is clearly detrimental to an orderly transition of power,” he concludes.
“The transition process is critical to safely ensuring that the next team is ready to go to work on day one,” says Max Stier, president and CEO of Partnership Public Service, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that prepare a transition center and advise the Trump and Biden teams. “It is essential to have access to agencies before new people are placed,” he reinforces.
With this delay, the elements necessary for daily work in the White House are at stake: access to computer systems, money for workers’ salaries and other expenses, creation of new institutional post offices and assignment of offices, among others.
“Now that the election victory has been independently attributed to Joe Biden, we expect the GSA administrator to quickly formalize Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president-elect and vice-president-elect,” said a Biden transition team adviser. , recalling that the federal government has to state “clearly” that it will “respect the will of the Americans and commit to a smooth and peaceful transition of power.”
