GSA Holding Back Biden-Transition Funds as Trump Disputes Election Results

President Trump has not yet been convinced the the 2020 election slipped away from him, and his administration is largely working under the assumption that No. 45 will still be sitting atop the Executive Branch come January 21st.  This, despite the fact that the Associated Press on Saturday called the election in favor of Joe Biden, and Biden himself has already given a victory speech.

But there is an official process still to play out, as Trump and his surrogates out in the field continue to monitor recounts and investigate claims of voter fraud and irregularities.

During this time of pseudo-limbo, the Trump administration is also holding off on transferring funds to the Biden team that are normally a part of the transition process. 

The administrator of the General Services Administration, the low-profile agency in charge of federal buildings, has a little-known role when a new president is elected: to sign paperwork officially turning over millions of dollars, as well as giving access to government officials, office space and equipment authorized for the taxpayer-funded transition teams of the winner.

But by Sunday evening, almost 36 hours after media outlets projected Biden as the winner, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy had written no such letter. And the Trump administration, in keeping with the president’s failure to concede the election, has no immediate plans to sign one. This could lead to the first transition delay in modern history, except in 2000, when the Supreme Court decided a recount dispute between Al Gore and George W. Bush in December.

“An ascertainment has not yet been made,” Pamela Pennington, a spokeswoman for GSA, said in an email, “and its Administrator will continue to abide by, and fulfill, all requirements under the law.”

Joe Biden said on Monday at a coronavirus-focused press conference that “the election is over”, signaling that it is time to move forward with his transition to power.