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WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal government recognizes President-elect Joe Biden as the “apparent winner” of the Nov. 3 election, officially beginning the transition of power after President Donald Trump spent weeks testing the limits of American democracy. Trump relented after suffering even more legal and procedural defeats in his seemingly futile effort to quash the election with baseless allegations of fraud.
Trump has consistently refused to concede and vowed to continue fighting in court after General Service Administrator Emily Murphy gave Biden the green light Monday to coordinate with federal agencies ahead of his inauguration on Jan.20. But Trump tweeted that he was ordering his team to cooperate with the transition.
The rapidly evolving series of events appeared to leave much of the air out of Trump’s frantic efforts to undermine the will of the people in what amounts to a week-long stress test for the nation’s confidence in the political system and the fairness of the American elections. These efforts are not over and are likely to linger long beyond his lame presidency.
Murphy, explaining his decision, cited “recent developments involving legal challenges and certifications of election results. ”
She acted after Michigan certified Biden’s victory in Battlefield State on Monday and a Pennsylvania federal judge on Saturday launched a Trump campaign lawsuit seeking to prevent certification in that state. Pennsylvania certified its results and 20 voters for Biden on Tuesday morning.
It also happened as a growing number of Republicans publicly acknowledged Biden’s victory, after weeks of condoning Trump’s baseless fraud claims. The Republican President had grown increasingly frustrated with the agitated tactics of his legal team.
In recent days, key Trump aides, including Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and White House attorney Pat Cipollone, had also encouraged Trump to allow the transition to begin, telling the president he had no need to give in but could no longer justify refusing to support the Biden. transition.
Meadows on Monday evening sent a note to White House staff saying their work was not yet complete and that the administration would “comply with all actions necessary to ensure the proper transfer of power”, according to a person who received it.
Yohannes Abraham, executive director of Biden Transition, said the move “is a necessary step to start addressing the challenges our country faces, including containing the pandemic and getting our economy back on its feet.
Murphy, a person named by Trump, had faced bipartisan criticism for not starting the transition process earlier, preventing Biden’s team from working with career agency officials on his plans. administration. The delay denied the Democratic President-elect access to highly confidential national security briefings and hampered his team’s ability to begin developing their own plans to respond to the raging coronavirus pandemic.
Murphy insisted she was acting alone.
“Please know that I made my decision independently, based on the law and the facts available. I have never experienced direct or indirect pressure from any executive branch official – including those who work in the White House or GSA – regarding the content or timing of my decision, ” she wrote in a letter to Biden.
Trump tweeted moments after Murphy’s decision: “We will keep up the good fight and I believe we will win!” Nonetheless, in the best interest of our country, I recommend that Emily and her team do what needs to be done regarding the initial protocols and have told my team to do the same.
Yet Trump continued to disseminate false information about the vote and has indicated he will not back down. He tweeted Tuesday morning, “The GSA does not determine who will be the next President of the United States.”
Max Stier, chairman and CEO of the Non-Partisan Partnership for the Public Service, criticized the delay, but said Biden’s team would be able to overcome it.
“Sadly, every day lost because of this delayed realization was a missed opportunity for the outgoing administration to help President-elect Joe Biden prepare for our country’s greatest challenges,” he said. “The good news is that the president-elect and his team are the best prepared and the best equipped of any incoming administration in recent memory.”
Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer said GSA action “is probably the closest thing to a concession President Trump could make.” for a smooth and peaceful transition.
Murphy’s action came just 90 minutes after Michigan election officials certified Biden’s 154,000-vote victory in the state. The State Solicitors Council, which has two Republicans and two Democrats, upheld the results in a 3-0 vote with one abstention from the GOP. Trump and his allies had hoped to block the vote to allow time for an audit of ballots in Wayne County, where Trump has claimed without evidence he was a victim of fraud. Biden crushed the president by more than 330,000 votes.
Some Trump allies had expressed hope that state lawmakers could intervene in the selection of Republican voters in states that do not certify. This distant offer is no longer possible in Michigan.
“The people of Michigan have spoken. President-elect Biden has won the state of Michigan by more than 154,000 votes, and he will be our next president on January 20, ”said Michigan governess, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer.
Trump was increasingly frustrated with his legal team, led by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose erratic public performances have drawn bipartisan mockery in recent weeks. Still, legal challenges were expected to continue as Trump seeks to keep his supporters on his side and keep his options open to opportunities after the presidency.
In Pennsylvania on Saturday, a conservative Republican judge shot down the Trump campaign’s biggest legal effort in the state with a scathing decision that questioned why he was supposed to deprive 7 million voters without any evidence to back their claims and an inept legal argument at best.
Biden won Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes.
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Associated Press writers Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia, Jonathan Lemire in New York, Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pa., Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta, and John Flesher in Traverse City, Michigan, contributed to this report.
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