People For Member, Nearly a week after Joe Biden was declared president-elect, the GSA is STILL refusing to acknowledge Biden as the winner and continues to deprive the new Biden/Harris administration access to transition-related resources vital to ensuring a peaceful and secure transition occurs. Thank you, Zach ---- [previous message] ---- People For Member, Not only are Republican leaders refusing to acknowledge Joe Biden’s win against President Trump, but now one of Trump’s political appointees at the General Services Administration (GSA) is refusing to sign off on the paperwork required to begin a transition between administrations, stating that “an ascertainment [as to who has won] has not been made.” A political appointee making the political decision to not recognize Biden’s win would mark one of the first times in modern history a transition has been delayed and may have serious negative consequences for our national security and Biden’s COVID-19 response plan. The refusal to issue a formal acknowledgment of Biden’s victory, is depriving the new Biden/Harris administration of necessary resources to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible as required by law under the Presidential Transitions Act. Resources like access to senior government officials, government office space and equipment, government email addresses, preliminary security clearances, transition-related funding and more. Normally, the GSA will acknowledge the winner of a presidential election within a day following the national consensus after the winner is called in the elections in each state – not waiting days or even weeks later and wasting precious time to begin implementing transition plans to address the urgent needs of the country. Not only is the GSA refusing to acknowledge Biden as the winner of the election, but now the White House is instructing federal agency officials to ignore the Biden team when contacted by them! This presents a serious threat to the peaceful transfer of power and recklessly endangers our nation. We can’t let Trump’s refusal to acknowledge his loss undermine a smooth transition between administrations. Thanks for all that you do, – Zach, People For the American Way
Sources: [1] "A little-known Trump appointee is in charge of handing transition resources to Biden — and she isn’t budging" The Washington Post, 11/8/20 [2] "White House, escalating tensions, orders agencies to rebuff Biden transition team" The Washington Post, 11/9/20
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