Trump relents, will allow transition to Biden to begin
WASHINGTON — The federal government recognized Presidentelect Joe Biden as the “apparent winner” of the Nov. 3 election on Monday, formally starting the transition of power after President Trump spent weeks testing the boundaries of American democracy.
He relented after suffering yet more legal and procedural
defeats in his seemingly futile effort to overturn the election with baseless claims of fraud.
Trump still refused to concede and vowed to continue to fight in court after General Services Administrator Emily Murphy gave the green light for Biden to coordinate with federal agencies ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration. But Trump did tweet that he was directing his team to cooperate on the transition.
Monday’s fastmoving series of events seemed to let much of the air out of Trump’s frantic efforts to undermine the will of the people in what has amounted to a weekslong stress test for American democracy. But Trump’s attempts to foment a crisis of confidence in the political system and the fairness of U. S. elections haven’t ended and are likely to persist well beyond his lameduck presidency.
Murphy, explaining her decision, cited “recent developments involving legal challenges and certifications of election results.”
She acted after Michigan on Monday certified Biden’s victory in the battleground state, and a federal judge in Pennsylvania tossed a Trump campaign lawsuit on Saturday seeking to prevent certification in that state.
The declaration came as an increasing number of Republicans were publicly acknowledging Biden’s victory, after weeks of tolerating Trump’s baseless claims of fraud.
“With Michigan’s certifying ( its) results, Joe Biden has over 270 electoral college votes,” tweeted Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy. “President Trump’s legal team has not presented evidence of the massive fraud which would have had to be present to overturn the election. I voted for President Trump but Joe Biden won.”
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who is retiring, issued his second call in recent days for a prompt transition.
“Since it seems apparent that Joe Biden will be the presidentelect, my hope is that President Trump will take pride in his considerable accomplishments, put the country first and have a prompt and orderly transition to help the new administration succeed,” said Alexander, a close friend of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Senate majority leader. “When you are in public life, people remember the last thing you do.”
Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, both Republicans, issued statements Monday breaking from Trump and calling for Biden to begin receiving coronavirus and national security briefings.
“At some point, the 2020 election must end,” Capito said.
The pressure on Trump extended beyond the political sphere. More than 100 business leaders sent a letter to the administration on Monday asking it to facilitate a transition, and a group of Republican national security experts implored Republican members of Congress to demand that Trump concede.
Yohannes Abraham, executive director of the Biden transition, said Murphy’s decision “is a needed step to begin tackling the challenges facing our nation, including getting the pandemic under control and our economy back on track.”
Murphy, a Trump appointee, has faced bipartisan criticism for failing to begin the transition process sooner, preventing Biden’s team from working with career agency officials on plans for his administration. The delay denied Biden access to highly classified national security briefings and hindered his team’s ability to begin drawing up its own plans to respond to the raging coronavirus pandemic.
Murphy insisted she acted on her own. “Please know that I came to my decision independently, based on the law and available facts. I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official — including those who work at the White House or GSA — with regard to the substance 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 prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.”
Max Stier, president and CEO of the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, criticized the delay but said Biden’s team would be able to overcome it.
“Unfortunately, every day lost to the delayed ascertainment was a missed opportunity for the outgoing administration to help Presidentelect Joe Biden prepare to meet our country’s greatest challenges,” he said. “The good news is that the presidentelect and his team are the most prepared and best equipped of any incoming administration in recent memory.”
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the GSA action “is probably the closest thing to a concession that President Trump could issue.” Noting that the nation “faces multiple crises that demand an orderly transition,” Schumer urged Democrats and Republicans to “unite together for a smooth and peaceful transition that will benefit America.”
Murphy’s action came just 90 minutes after Michigan election officials certified Biden’s victory in the state. The Board of State Canvassers, which has two Republicans and two Democrats, confirmed the results on a 30 vote with one GOP abstention. 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 that he was the victim of fraud. Biden crushed the president by more than 330,000 votes there.
“The people of Michigan have spoken. Presidentelect Biden won the State of Michigan by more than 154,000 votes, and he will be our next president on January 20th,” said Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, adding it’s “time to put this election behind us.”
Trump has grown increasingly frustrated by his legal team, led by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose erratic public performances drew bipartisan mockery in recent weeks. Still, the legal challenges are expected to continue as Trump seeks to keep his supporters on his side and keep his options open for opportunities postpresidency.