‘This is a terrible situation’: inside a rushed decision by a government bureaucrat to delay the transition

“She really feels like she’s in a tough spot. She’s scared on so many levels. It’s a terrible situation,” a friend and former colleague of Murphy’s told CNN. “Emily is an accomplished professional, a deeply moral person, but also a very scrupulous lawyer who finds herself in a very difficult position with vague law and precedence behind her position.

“She is doing what she believes is her honest duty as someone who has sworn allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America and the laws that govern her position,” the friend added.

Murphy declined an interview request for this story, and GSA declined to comment.

A technocrat with a long career

Sources close to Murphy describe her as a technocrat and politician, with a long career as an assistant in Congress and in the GSA. It’s unclear what specific actions Murphy expects before granting a check. Sources told CNN she is basing her decision on what she sees as the precedent set by the 2000 election, where there was no clear winner for more than a month.

Two sources close to the transition told CNN that Trump’s disastrous day in court last Friday pushed the dial forward, but days later there was still no confirmation letter from Murphy.

The impending recount results of Georgia, which are expected to be certified on Friday without a dramatic change in results, as well as other states starting to certify the election are also factors in Murphy’s decision, these sources said. But Murphy hasn’t said publicly what the final line would be.

“My experiences with Emily have led me to believe that she is an ethical and moral person, but I strongly disagree with her current decision not to confirm the election,” said a former official at Murphy’s administration and colleague who had spoken to him over the past few days. . “I think she’s making the absolutely wrong decision. President-elect Biden clearly won. And there really is no question about it … It is wrong to delay even a minute’s signing. the constatation.”

It’s been over a week since CNN and other news outlets called Biden’s presidential election, and Trump campaign lawsuits challenging the result have been repeatedly dismissed out of court, without challenging enough votes. that would change the outcome.

But Trump continued to make repeated false claims that he did not lose the election, and Murphy’s decision not to verify the result denied Biden and his team access to contacts with federal agencies, funding to help expedite government recruitment for the new administration and access to classified briefings.

The Biden team also does not have access to the federal government’s coronavirus vaccine distribution efforts. “More people are at risk of dying if we don’t coordinate,” Biden said Monday. National security experts also fear that a delayed transition will leave the government vulnerable to security risks, both at home and abroad.

Talk to your predecessor

Democrats are furious with Murphy for playing into Trump’s false fantasies that the election was stolen from him. At the same time, Republicans are pressuring her to stand firm and not sign the finding.

Murphy’s previous colleagues told CNN that despite being a political appointee, she was not a strong supporter or loyalist of Trump.

“She’s really going to think about both the letter of the law, the guidelines, the explicit guidelines, all precedence, as well as the general intent. She gets out of contracts, where that’s the whole nature of the job. “, the friend and former colleague said.

In a sign that she sensed the post-election issues that lay ahead, Murphy held a call before November 3 with one of her predecessors, David Barram, who was in charge of the GSA in the 2000 election, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the call. . Barram, a political member appointed by Bill Clinton, finally confirmed that Bush was then the winner of the 2000 election after the Supreme Court ended the Florida recount. The appeal was made by mutual associates to allow Barram to discuss his experience and the difficult position he has been placed in, the sources said.

From the hill to GSA

Murphy has been in charge of the GSA since 2017, making him one of Trump’s longest-serving appointees. Prior to her appointment, she served as a Senior Advisor to her predecessor at the GSA, Assistant to the House Armed Services and Small Business Committees, as a lawyer in private practice and as Chief Procurement Officer of the GSA under the George W administration. Bush.

Several sources described Murphy as a politician, but not a Trump person and “not a partisan hack.”

A native of Missouri, Murphy was presented to his confirmation hearing by former Democratic Senator from Missouri, Claire McCaskill, who hailed her long career in government. It was confirmed in the Senate by voice vote.

Suzette Kent, the chief federal information officer appointed by Trump in 2018, co-chaired a board of directors with Murphy and described her as a professional who “has demonstrated a high degree of integrity” and ” extremely competent “.

Since the election was called, Capitol Hill Democrats have asked Murphy to explain why she hadn’t granted confirmation, sending her a letter last week to which she had yet to respond. But Biden’s team is arguing to Congressional Democrats that it makes most sense at this point to let public pressure lean on Trump to prevent the transition, rather than trying to subpoena Murphy.

“I stepped in, spoke to them on Friday,” Lankford said, although he did not say if he had spoken to Murphy.

“There is no way to verify it,” Lankford added. “GSA, it’s not the voters.”

Controversy over the FBI headquarters

This is not Murphy’s first contact with the controversy as a person named by Trump. In 2018, she was part of a controversial decision to drop plans for a new FBI headquarters outside of Washington, DC, and rebuild it in the same location – across from the Trump International Hotel. At a 2018 congressional hearing, she was asked whether the White House was involved in the decision, which critics accused of influencing Trump to prevent a competitor from gaining space in front of his hotel.

Murphy had spoken to Trump about the project in the Oval Office, which she did not disclose to lawmakers. The GSA Inspector General said her testimony “left the misleading impression that she had not had any discussions with the President or senior White House officials in the decision-making process regarding the project.” . Murphy said the Inspector General’s finding was “baseless and unfair”.

“Despite a difficult start, we have developed a constructive, productive and ongoing relationship,” Illinois Representative Mike Quigley, the top Democrat on the House appropriations subcommittee that oversees the GSA, told CNN. “It is my fervent hope that she will do the right thing here.”

Alan Chvotkin, a senior executive with a Washington, DC trade association who has worked with Murphy for more than 20 years, said he was a strong supporter of his appointment because of his deep understanding of how the agency works and her commitment to understanding the nature of the problems she faces.

He said when Murphy faced with a decision she would consult widely, ask others to research and make sure she knew the scope and ramifications of a decision before making it.

“In a heightened political atmosphere, a lot of people don’t know her and certainly don’t know about the work for which she is responsible,” Chvotkin said. “If you just isolate one or two subjects, it’s easy to draw the wrong conclusion.”

Former Missouri Republican Senator Jim Talent told CNN he had known Murphy for 25 years and worked for him when he chaired the House Small Business Committee during the Clinton administration. Talent praised Murphy’s integrity, accusing the law of imposing liability on the GSA.

“Something is wrong with the system where the onus of declaring the winner of a presidential election seems to lie with the General Service Administration – it’s the owner of the government. They buy furniture,” Talent said. “I understand people’s frustration, but the problem is an electoral system that cannot work. It’s not Emily or the GSA.”