WASHINGTON — The Trump administration yielded to the reality Monday that the presidential election will not be overturned, finally authorizing the start of formal transition proceedings as President-elect Joe Biden moved to make good his vow to appoint a historically diverse Cabinet.
Soon after Michigan certified its vote for Biden, a major blow to Trump’s efforts to contest the vote, the General Services Administration official who has blocked the start of the formal transition for three weeks formally recognized Biden as winner of the election and said she would provide office space, access to government officials and other logistical resources to assist his team.
In a two-page letter to Biden, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy wrote that she decided “independently” to withhold the official nod until now and was not pressured “directly or indirectly” by the White House as Trump unsuccessfully fought the election in court with false claims of fraud. She denied that she had withheld the aid “out of fear or favoritism.”
