Trump’s Administration Blinks, Begins Formal Transition Planning

President Donald Trump is still not conceding that he lost the election, but on Monday, the head of the federal agency responsible for overseeing the transition from one administration to another formally told President-elect Joe Biden they were ready to begin.

This morning, Pennsylvania certified that Biden had won the state. The media and observers called the election for Biden on November 7, and subsequent election tallies have validated that call. But Trump remains insistent that he has been cheated of a win, and his campaign has filed numerous lawsuits that have so far completely failed in an extremely embarrassing fashion. His administration, taking his lead, has been resistant to cooperate with Biden’s transition team.

Emily Murphy, the administrator for the General Services Administration, informed Biden yesterday via a letter that they were ready to assist with the transition. Half of Murphy’s letter clarifies she wasn’t dragging her feet because Trump ordered her to do so but rather because of the pending legal challenges:

Contrary to media reports and insinuations, my decision was not made out of fear or favoritism. Instead, I strongly believe that the statute requires that the GSA Administrator ascertain, not impose, the apparent president-elect. Unfortunately, the statute provides no procedures or standards for this process, so I looked to precedent from prior elections involving legal challenges and incomplete counts. GSA does not dictate the outcome of legal disputes and recounts, nor does it det