After weeks of delay as the Trump campaign conducted a pointless effort to overturn the results, the General Services Administration (GSA) has finally acknowledged Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election and will begin the presidential transition.
Well, tacitly acknowledged anyway. In a memo to Biden released to the public on Monday afternoon, GSA head Emily Murphy said she has authorized her department to make $6,300,000 available to Biden to facilitate his transition. However, she did not even once refer to Biden as the president-elect or the apparent winner — in fact she addresses him only with a passive-aggressive “Mr. Biden” — and even when explaining that the funds have been turned over, Murphy went out of her way to note “the actual winner of the presidential election will be determined by the electoral process detailed in the constitution.”
Instead the memo seemed to exist primarily so Murphy could defend her harshly criticized refusal prior to Monday to do her job and begin the transition in compliance with the law. Among other things, Murphy complained about the criticism she received, claimed without any evidence that she has received threats, and falsely stated that had she acknowledged the outcome of the election prior to Monday, it would have meant she worked to “impose” the results.
Murphy, for unknown reasons, also made a point of informing Biden that the law “imposes reporting requirements on you as a condition for receiving services and funds from GSA.” At no point has Biden been accused of failure to comply with reporting rules.
Even so, after weeks of turmoil and uncertainty caused by Donald Trump’s refusal to accept that he lost the election, which included a constantly defeated and embarrassing legal campaign that trafficked in outright lies and baseless conspiracy theories, the end of the 2020 election is, theoretically, in sight.
The GSA’s decision to acknowledge Trump’s lost comes after the Trump campaign’s latest attempt to overturn the election failed, as Michigan election officials voted to certify Biden’s victory in the state, and the Michigan Supreme Court denied a flimsy Trump lawsuit attempting to overturn that certification.
With that certification, Biden’s electoral college total indisputably passes 270, mathematically eliminating Trump. In addition, Joe Biden leads Donald Trump in the popular vote by more than 6 million.
Read the statement below:
CNN first reported the news.
#Breaking: GSA’s Emily Murphy signs off and says the transition can begin, per @KristenhCNN pic.twitter.com/S6YKKQBrQR
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 23, 2020
In her letter, Murphy stated that she “came to my decision independently,” an assertion directly contradicted by Trump in a statement released just minutes after the news broke that appears to be the closest thing he’ll give to a concession speech.
“I want to thank Emily Murphy at GSA for her steadfast dedication and loyalty to our Country. She has been harassed, threatened, and abused – and I do not want to see this happen to her, her family, or employees of GSA. Our case STRONGLY continues, 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,” says Trump.
I want to thank Emily Murphy at GSA for her steadfast dedication and loyalty to our Country. She has been harassed, threatened, and abused – and I do not want to see this happen to her, her family, or employees of GSA. Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 23, 2020
…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.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 23, 2020
Since his lawyers keep quitting and his election lawsuits are getting smacked down by the handful, the sitting president decided to get crafty with his next strategy. This week, he called Republican lawmakers in the swing state of Michigan, which he lost to Joe Biden, and invited them to the White House in an apparent effort to stop them from certifying the electoral results in Biden’s favor.