AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Summary
- Presidential Elections in the US have caused quite a heated atmosphere as Mr Trump was claiming victory up until yesterday after some state results were made official.
- As the current US President had requested an investigation looking into all voting ballots, GSA chief Emily W. Murphy was forced to block government funds for Democrats coming in the White House.
- Ms Murphy has been publicly scrutinised for her decision, being accused of favouritism, etc. However, Ms Murphy, on Monday, finally gave the green light to Mr Biden to start with the transition.
- In a recent tweet, Mr Trump defended Ms Murphy, saying she did her job responsibly and according to the constitution. Ms Murphy has, however, has not given any public statements about the matter.
It has been almost three weeks since the US got a new president-elect – Democrat Joe Biden. The whole world has followed the elections closely, as a new American president means a big deal for everyone, on various fronts – stock markets, trade agreements, tackling global warming, you name it.
It was widely expected that the 2020 Presidential Elections would not go smoothly due to Mr Trump's history of spouting misleading information and not being able to admit defeat. As a matter of fact, Mr Trump tweeted yesterday that his administration will 'prevail' and that they will win the election.
Many viewed this dispute as a form of entertainment and were even wondering if Mr Trump would need to be forcibly removed from the White House on the Inauguration Day. However, Mr Trump's behaviour was not the only one that caused controversies surrounding the most high-profile election campaign in the world.
A name that has been resurfacing on quite a few occasions is that of Ms Emily W. Murphy, the General Services Administration (GSA) chief. At present, Miss Murphy is probably one of the most frowned upon people in America and is receiving a lot of bad reputation as she was the reason that had been holding the presidential transformation.
Who is Emily Murphy?
Ms Murphy is the leader of her administration at GSA and has the final call when it comes to confirming the presidential victor. Her acknowledgement of the winner allows the president's administration to begin the transition of power and placement of new people into federal agencies.
Essentially, Ms Murphy and all her team need to verify the president to release the funds required for the whole process. As Ms Murphy had delayed this year's election, many Democrats had urged the GSA to make up their mind and send the final letter acknowledging Mr Biden.
Why did Ms Murphy delay the process?
After a very harsh defeat, Mr Trump has been in denial and does not want to accept the loss in recent elections, so he insisted for a thorough investigation into all voting ballots state-wide. Mr President had a feeling that the whole process was somehow fraudulent, and that he must remain the US President for the following four years.
After Mr Biden clearly crossed the threshold of 270 electoral votes required for the victory, he delivered a winning speech along with the new Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. At the same time, Mr Trump was seen playing golf with his friends, not in any mood to accept his defeat.
One would have thought that the whole story would finalise quickly. As Mr Trump did not accept defeat (he still has not conceded), Ms Murphy thought she should allow some time until the final examination results kick in. After all, people in similar positions are not allowed to act against the American Constitution, so Ms Murphy decided to use her powers and seek the truth behind the 2020 elections.
Ms Murphy was publicly scrutinised and slammed by the media for her decision, even though she was, technically, just doing her job.
ALSO READ: Trump attempts to reverse the US election result
What did Ms Murphy say to these allegations?
This story seems to have met its end, since Ms Murphy has finally sent the administrative letter addressed to Mr Biden, saying his transition of power can begin with the funds secured by the law.
In the letter to the newly elected president, Ms Murphy meticulously explained her decision, detailing why she delayed the whole process of the confirmation, formally known as ascertainment. The GSA chief informed Mr Biden about her utter independence in the decision. She also disregarded alleged claims she had blocked the government funds due to personal preferences, also mentioning threats she had received in recent weeks.
It is worth mentioning that Ms Murphy was appointed by the Trump administration and hence, sought to brush off all speculations hinting that she was under some sort of pressure from the current president.
What now?
As Ms Murphy has made up her mind and given the final decision, Democrats can finally start preparing their transition as the future leaders of the US for at least another four years. Yet, Ms Murphy has not pronounced Mr Biden a winner but instead said that the electoral process would determine a genuine victor.
Moreover, Mr Trump made a recent tweet about thanking Ms Murphy for following the American law and respecting all protocols that needed to be checked before allowing resources to Mr Biden. However, he is still not admitting to the loss, accusing these elections to be the ‘most corrupt in American political history’.
No matter how Mr Trump decides to accept the inevitable power transition starting from January, more and more Republicans have accepted how the elections played out and are requesting an immediate start of the transition process.
