/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5fbc361b951d627d08debf53/0x0.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,800&ssl=1 "Democrats Demand Briefing Over Trump Administration Delay In Starting Presidential Transition")
Topline
House Democrats on Monday reiterated their demand that the Trump administration’s General Services Administration provide a briefing this week over its refusal to officially start the transition process for President-elect Joe Biden — a typically customary action following a presidential election that the GSA has not taken — which Democrats warn could lead to official Congressional hearings.
General Services Administration head Emily Murphy testifies before Senate on July 26, 2018.
Getty Images
Key Facts
The GSA on Monday offered Deputy Administrator Allison Brigati for a briefing next week, which Democrats quickly responded to Monday afternoon demanding a briefing from GSA Administrator Emily Murphy on Tuesday.
In their letter to Murphy, Democrats wrote that another week is too long to wait for answers, saying every “wasted” day is a day the “safety, health and well-being of the American people is imperiled” because the administration is blocked from access to information on the coronavirus response effort, the economic crisis and national security.
They wrote that, as the first letter requesting a briefing by Monday also indicated, the briefing will act as the first step in their efforts to determine whether to call Murphy and other GSA executives to testify on why the agency hasn’t started the transition process mandated by the Presidential Transition Act of 1963.
Murphy is required to start the process as soon as she has “ascertained” the apparent winner, and the lawmakers said there is “no valid legal basis” for not starting the process because Biden has won the popular vote and Electoral College by a significant margin.
As members of the House’s Oversight and Reform and Appropriations committees, they have the authority to investigate agencies, including the GSA, under House Rule X.
Forbes reached out to the GSA for comment.
Key Background
When Congress passed the Presidential Transition Act in 1964, they wrote the goal is to facilitate the “orderly” transfer of power to prevent any “disruption” which could be “detrimental to the safety and well-being of the United States and its people.” As the lawmakers noted in their letter, President Trump signed an amendment to the act into law in 2020. The amendment gives the GSA more leverage to support the new administration. Under the Presidential Transition Act, the GSA can provide resources including office space, compensation for select staff and for travel for the president-elect and vice president-elect.
Big Number
306. That’s how many Electoral College votes Biden has won, compared to President Trump’s 232, the lawmakers wrote.
/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5fbc361b951d627d08debf53/0x0.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1&description=Democrats+Demand+Briefing+Over+Trump+Administration+Delay+In+Starting+Presidential+Transition){kind=link}