Our Reporter
A KEY United States (U.S.) body that authorised the transition process after a presidential election, General Services Administration (GSA), has not yet established contact with president-elect Joe Biden’s team, according to a U.S newspaper report.
The GSA, which is in charge of Federal Government buildings, is refusing to send a letter giving Biden’s team the correct access, the Washington Post reported on Monday.
Such a step would be tantamount to accepting a victory for Biden. Republican President Donald Trump has vowed to keep pursuing legal avenues to challenge the U.S election result, which handed the White House to his Democratic opponent.
The GSA has the power to give the “apparent winner’’ of the presidential election access to official buildings, emails, officials and computer systems, as well as providing money for the transition process and space for the incoming team to work.
It is expected to cost some $9.9 million for Biden to set up his new administration.
Some 36 hours after the election was called, GSA boss Emily Murphy had still not sent the letter giving Biden’s team the authority to do this, the Washington Post reported.
If there is a delay in the transition, it would be the only time this had happened apart from 2000, when the election was only decided by a Supreme Court judgment weeks after the election.
An email from the GSA indicated that it was waiting for a final result from the U.S. election.
Read Also: Why we are yet to formally recognise Biden – China
But, the Kremlin announced on Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t Biden until legal challenges to the election are resolved and the result is official
Putin is one of a handful of world leaders who have not commented on Biden’s victory, which was called by major news organisations on Saturday.
But Trump’s team has promised legal action in the coming days and refused to concede his loss while alleging large-scale voter fraud, so far without proof.
When Trump won in 2016, Putin was prompt in offering congratulations — but Trump’s challenger in that election, Hillary Clinton, also conceded the day after the vote.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters yesterday that this year is different.
“Obviously, you can see that certain legal procedures are coming there, which were announced by the incumbent president — therefore, this situation is different, so we consider it correct to wait for the official announcement,” he said.
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