Spanish – A week after the presidential elections in the United States, a transition of power has not begun because there is no officially elected president. While the tradition has been to consider the media-projected candidate the winner, it has also been necessary for his rival to acknowledge defeat. And this has not happened. That is why Emily Murphy, director of the government’s General Services Administration, has not signed the protocol letter necessary to initiate a transfer.
The eyes of the press are now on Emily Murphy. She is responsible for issuing and signing the letter of verification, a protocol document needed to initiate the transfer of power. The New York Times reports that transition officials from Joe Biden, projected by the media as the virtual winner, contacted the top government official Monday to ask her to stop her “unwarranted obstruction.”
Murphy has the legal authority to initiate the transition with the release of 6.6 million USD. This amount corresponds to federal funds budgeted for the transfer of power. In this process, office space is provided, and members of the President-Elect’s team are allowed to visit government offices and request information.
Biden Officials Call for Transfer
The New York Times notes that officials on Biden’s team who spoke to the press on Monday night and asked not to be identified said Murphy’s “inaction” prevented them from moving into government offices, including secure facilities for discussing classified information.
The Democrat’s transition officials claim they have been unable to meet to initiate background checks on Biden’s top Cabinet nominees because they need access to top-secret information.
The problem is that given the complexity of the process that has yet to be completed, there is no president-elect in the United States, but rather a candidate projected as a potential winner. It must be taken into account that in the United States, there is not one electoral body, but rather 50 state bodies with different regulations.
Therefore, a winner cannot be officially declared until all 538 state voters cast their votes. And this will not happen until December 14. Moreover, President Donald Trump has not acknowledged the results projected by the media. And the Republican’s campaign team challenged the election in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.
Precedents and the Constitution
But this situation is not unprecedented. After the 2000 presidential election, the start of the transition was delayed for several weeks due to the legal battle between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore. The Republican finally retained the Presidency. A White House official quoted by the New York Times said that it would be strange if President Trump would send any signal related to the beginning of a transition while the legal battle in the Supreme Court is ongoing.
Pamela D. Pennington, a spokeswoman for the General Services Administration, said in a statement Monday that “a finding has not yet been made” and that this office “will continue to abide by and comply with all requirements of the law and adhere to the precedent set by the Clinton administration in 2000.
The New York Times recalls that in a previous statement, Pennington stressed that the General Services Administration “does not pick the winner of the presidential election.” He added that this office “verifies the apparent winning candidate, once the winner is clear according to the process established by the Constitution.”
Pompeo: “There will be a transition to a second Trump administration.”
When asked about the transfer of power on Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assured the Republican leader that he would remain in office. “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” he said.
Amidst laughter, Pompeo explained how the U.S. Constitution is clear about this. There is a process to be followed that continues, and the votes will continue to be counted. He also recalled how in the year 2000, it took 37 days to get the election result.
Ongoing battles
The mainstream media and news agencies declared victory for the Democrat Joe Biden with a projection of 279 electoral votes against 214 for President Donald Trump. On Tuesday, the Republican added the states of North Carolina and Alaska, reaching 232 electoral votes.
Georgia and Arizona, where the Democrat leads the count with a narrow margin of 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively, remain in dispute. If Trump manages to win in both states, he will reach 259 electoral votes. He would still have to fight a hard battle in the Supreme Court to take Pennsylvania from Biden, where the difference in favor of the Democrat is only 0.6% points.