Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Biden team considers suing over delay in recognition by federal agency — and hold-up of funds and intelligence

Government agency still considering Democrat’s election win amid legal threats from Donald Trump

Gino Spocchia
Tuesday 10 November 2020 05:21 EST
Comments
Fox news cuts away from McEnany press conference

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Joe Biden’s presidential transition team could take legal action against a federal government agency's failure to recognise his election win last week.

A Biden transition official argued on Monday that the General Services Administration’s (GSA) failure to officially recognise the Democrat’s election win was now delaying preperations on the changeover of power in the White House.

The GSA, an independent agency of the United States government, must formally recognises election winners to allows a president-elect to start work on the transition.

 Mr Biden has still not been recognised as president-elect by the GSA despite him being declared the winner of last week’s election. It comes as Donald Trump attempts to launch legal action in several states over baseless allegations of voter fraud.

 The absence of recognition means Mr Biden, who is due to take over as president in January, is unable to access federal funds that would pay for salaries, consultants and travel, as well as access to classified information, the official said.

The Biden team is also unable to meet with current government officials, including those in intelligence.

"Legal action is certainly a possibility, but there are other options as well that we're considering," the unnamed official told Reuters.

They added the transition team had no access to the State Department, which usually facilitates calls between foreign leaders and the president-elect.

While no law states when the GSA should act on an election outcome, Biden transition officials believe the current delay is without reason.

Despite president Donald Trump’s refusal to concede defeat to the Democrat, there is no indication of widespread “fraud”, as he has repeatedly alleged without basis.

Emily Murphy, who Mr Trump appointed as GSA administrator in 2017, is still be considering a decision, a spokesperson said.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in