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The administration of the current president of the United States, Donald Trump (74), refuses to provide the winner of the election, Joe Biden (77), the legally required support to assume official functions. The lockdown is likely to make it difficult for Biden to get started, and that’s in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic and economic crisis. Most experts agree: For Biden and his team, every day counts.
The orderly handover of official business (“transition”) after a presidential election has been enshrined in law for nearly 60 years. In doing so, Congress wanted to ensure that Americans could always count on a functioning government. “Any disruption caused by the handover of government affairs could result in outcomes that are detrimental to the safety and well-being of the United States and its citizens,” he said in 1963 to justify the law.
Why is “transition” so important?
The president of the United States is the most powerful man in the Western world. It must be fully operational from day one: it will be the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, it will have responsibility for a good 1.3 million soldiers, and it will have the codes to authorize the use of nuclear weapons in an emergency. He and his government will be responsible for a budget of almost five trillion US dollars (5.4 trillion Swiss francs). The pandemic and economic crisis will also give the president little time to familiarize himself with the situation.
Newly elected presidents vigorously use the two and a half months between the vote and the inauguration to rally their government team. It is not just about the cabinet, the secretaries of state and the heads of authorities. The president must also quickly fill thousands of positions in the White House, ministries and authorities. About 1,200 of the personal data still need to be approved by the Senate. Therefore, an elected president must begin hiring as soon as possible to implement his policy.
Why is that a problem with Trump?
The Transfer Law gives an important role to the little-known GSA, which serves the government as a provider of real estate and equipment services. The director of the Trump-appointed agency, Emily Murphy, has to determine after the election who are the “obviously successful candidates” for the presidential and vice president positions. The transfer of office can only be formally started with your letter, which is normally considered a formality. Murphy refuses, however, to recognize Biden and his vice president Kamala Harris (56) as winners of the election.
Why is the head of authority blocking?
Murphy follows Trump’s argument that the election has not yet been finalized in light of the fraud allegations and ongoing lawsuits. In theory, this could keep Biden and Harris away for weeks. The final certified results of the all-state elections will not be available until December 8, just under a week before the electorate casts their votes for the next president. The result of the vote will only be announced in Congress on January 6, only then will there be absolute legal certainty.
Has there ever been something like this?
In 2000, the head of the relatively apolitical service authority GSA (General Services Administration) refused for the first time to determine who had “apparently” won the election. At that time, the race between George W. Bush (74) and Al Gore (72) depended on the extremely even result in the state of Florida.
There were trials and, in some cases, stories. The entire United States held its breath at the time because it was unclear who the next president would be, until Gore admitted defeat after a Supreme Court decision. In the remaining years, the GSA letter was generally issued immediately after the election.
What exactly is Biden missing without the formal handover?
The GSA letter would give Biden millions of dollars in salaries and other expenses, as well as government office space and email addresses. But it’s even more important that your teams have official access to all government offices. Hundreds of Biden employees will be dispatched to the ministries and authorities to gather all the important information and initiate the transfer. For example, Biden has appointed 23 members to his transition team for the Defense Ministry alone.
In accordance with the law, all authorities have already prepared documents for delivery, some of which are hundreds of pages long. Without the GSA letter, Biden’s team can hardly tell which government agency is doing what. Therefore, Biden’s team will not receive the government’s confidential status reports on the status of the corona pandemic at this time. In addition, the most important employees of the new president already have to go through the sometimes time-consuming controls in the transition phase to obtain permission to inspect secret information (security clearance).
How difficult will it be without a proper handover?
Democrats and even individual Republicans have condemned Murphy’s refusal, especially since time for the complex handover is tight, even at best. So far, Biden has kept a low profile and emphasizes that he will replace the president on January 20 in any case. “To be honest, we don’t see anything holding us back,” he said Tuesday. Despite Murphy’s refusal, he sees no need for legal action. At the same time, his team urges the head of authority to issue the necessary letter.
Democrat David Axelrod (65), who participated in the handover to Barack Obama (59) in 2008, described the blocking attitude as “subversive” and dangerous for the country’s security. Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton, 71, said a “sensible” president should initiate the handover even if there is still a dispute over the final election result.
A commissioner of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Ellen Weintraub (63), condemned Murphy’s blockade on Tuesday. In view of the pandemic, the Biden government must “be fully operational from day one like few before,” the Democrat wrote to Murphy. The situation regarding the election results was the same as in 2016, when the letter to Trump was quickly issued. The only difference was Trump’s refusal to admit defeat, “unprecedented in American history.” But this has no legal effect. Delaying “every day, every hour” reduces Biden’s chances of success
How can it be that it is not certain who won?
There is no federal elections office or scrutineer at the federal level in the US that collects and bindingly announces results in a timely manner. Therefore, the main American media have the function of announcing the winner of the election based on the initial results and their own calculations.
The “AP” news agency, for example, has reported the winner in the presidential elections since 1848. The established system works. The media declared Biden the winner on Saturday. Trump refuses to admit defeat and is now taking legal action. (SDA)
