25 November,2020 08:09 AM IST | Washington | Agencies
US President-elect Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. File Pic/AFP
The federal government recognised President-elect Joe Biden as the "apparent winner" of the Nov. 3 election, formally starting the transition of power after President Donald Trump spent weeks testing the boundaries of American democracy. Trump 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 (GSA) Emily Murphy gave the green light on Monday 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. She acted after Michigan on Monday certified Biden's victory in the state and a judge in Pennsylvania tossed a Trump campaign lawsuit on Saturday.
It also came as an increasing number of Republicans were publicly acknowledging Biden's victory. The ascertainment process gives the incoming president and his team access to officials at federal agencies and directs the Justice Department to work on security clearances for transition team members and Biden political appointees. It even gives his team access to official government website domains.
With the ascertainment, GSA will now release $6.3 million in congressionally appropriated funds to Biden's transition team and 1,75,000 square feet of federal office space, including secure areas where Biden and his team can receive sensitive intelligence briefings.
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