周二，总务管理局局长艾米丽·墨菲给当选总统乔·拜登团队批准开始正式的过渡过程，16天后他赢得总统职位。
这绿灯亮了正如唐纳德·特朗普总统所说，他建议采取这一行动，尽管墨菲坚持她独立行动，从未受到白宫的压力。
“我相信我们会胜利的!然而，为了我们国家的最大利益，我建议艾米丽和她的团队做一些关于初始协议需要做的事情，并告诉我的团队也这样做，”他在GSA发布给拜登团队的信后不久发推特说。
苏珊·沃尔什/美联社档案
总务管理局局长艾米丽·墨菲在剪彩仪式上讲话
墨菲给拜登的信承认他的胜利，为拜登的团队带来了700多万美元的资金，并允许他的高级顾问开始与准备权力移交的每个联邦机构的对应人员接触。拜登和他的助手警告说，这一延迟可能会危及美国人民的生命冠状病毒流行病。
在给拜登团队的信息中，墨菲为自己的立场进行了辩护，并表示她是独立做出决定的，尽管特朗普已经开始这么做了推特感谢她的立场，并对她推动这一进程的决定表示赞赏。
“我成年后的大部分时间都致力于公共服务，我一直努力做正确的事情。请知道，我是根据法律和现有事实独立做出决定的。她在给拜登的信中说:“我从来没有受到任何行政部门官员的直接或间接压力，包括那些在白宫或美国总务管理局工作的官员，他们对我的决定的实质或时间安排施加了压力。”。
墨菲受到国会民主党人、商业协会以及州和地方政府领导人的压力，要求他们承认选举结果，并允许拜登的团队开始与联邦政府内部的同行会面，并获得额外的资源来促进权力移交。
几个众议院委员会要求墨菲做简报，解释她拒绝承认拜登的胜利，并威胁要与她举行听证会，因为该机构拒绝在周一(立法者规定的最后期限)前让她出庭。
巴拉克·奥巴马总统最后一位参与奥巴马-特朗普过渡的幕僚长丹尼斯·麦克多诺(Denis McDonough)说，随着美国总务管理局的正式批准，拜登和他的团队可以开始访问机密信息，包括总统每日简报。
“这肯定符合过渡的精神、传统和实践，以确保即将上任的团队充分了解他们将面临的一系列问题，”他在周一下午美国总务管理局宣布之前告诉美国广播公司新闻。
昌丹·卡纳/法新社通过盖蒂图像
当选总统乔·拜登在抵达女王时接受媒体采访，实际上是与女王会面
他补充说，虽然拜登的过渡团队一直在与国会委员会和民主党领导人就政府资助谈判进行接触，并与主要州长、市长和疫苗生产商就冠状病毒应对措施进行接触，但机构官员对政府的洞察力是无法替代的。
“最好的方法是在过去几十年的转型中做到这一点，”麦克唐纳说，他是圣母大学转型研究的负责人。
拜登的过渡官员约翰尼斯·亚伯拉罕(Yohannes Abraham)也对这一消息作出了回应，称这一决定是“开始应对我们国家面临的挑战所需的一步，包括控制疫情，使我们的经济回到正轨。”
他说:“在未来几天，过渡官员将开始与联邦官员会面，讨论大流行的应对措施，全面阐述我们的国家安全利益，并全面了解特朗普政府掏空政府机构的努力。”
Joe Biden's presidential transition allowed to proceed after 16-day standoff
General Services Administration Administrator Emily Murphy on Tuesday gave President-electJoe Biden's team approval tobegin the formal transition process, 16 days after heclinched the presidency.
Thegreen light cameas President Donald Trump said he recommended the move,despite Murphy's insistencethat she acted independently and was never pressured by the White House.
"I believe we will prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same," he tweeted shortly after GSA released its letter to the Biden team.
Murphy's letter to Biden acknowledging his victory unlocks more than $7 million for Biden's team and allows his top advisers to begin outreach to counterparts with every federal agency preparing for the transfer of power. Biden and his aides had warned that the delay could endanger the lives of Americans amid thecoronaviruspandemic.
In her message to the Biden team, Murphy defended her position and said she made her decision independently, even as Trump took toTwitterto thank her for her stance and take credit for her decision to move the process forward.
"I have dedicated much of my adult life to public service, and I have always strived to do what is right. Please know that I came to my decision independently, based on the law and available facts. I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official -- including those who work at the White House or GSA -- with regard to the substance or timing of my decision," she said in the letter to Biden.
Murphy was under pressure from Democrats on Capitol Hill, business associations and state and local government leaders to recognize the results of the election and allow Biden's team to begin meeting with counterparts inside the federal government and access additional resources to facilitate the transfer of power.
Several House committees demanded a briefing from Murphy to explain her refusal to acknowledge Biden's victory and threatened to hold a hearing with her when the agency declined to make her available by Monday -- the deadline imposed by lawmakers.
With the GSA's official signoff, Biden and his team can begin accessing classified information, including the Presidential Daily Brief, said Denis McDonough, President Barack Obama's last chief of staff who participated in the Obama-Trump transition.
"It's surely consistent with the spirit and the tradition and the practice of transitions, to make sure that the incoming team is fully briefed on a range of things they're going to confront," he told ABC News ahead of the GSA's announcement Monday afternoon.
While Biden's transition team has been in contact with congressional committees and Democratic leaders about government funding negotiations, and key governors, mayors and vaccine producers on the coronavirus response, there's no substitute for insight into the government from agency officials, he added.
"Best available is the way this has been done in transitions over many decades," said McDonough, who is leading a study of the transition at the University of Notre Dame.
Biden transition official Yohannes Abraham also reacted to the news, calling the decision "a needed step to begin tackling the challenges facing our nation, including getting the pandemic under control and our economy back on track."
"In the days ahead, transition officials will begin meeting with federal officials to discuss the pandemic response, have a full accounting of our national security interests and gain complete understanding of the Trump administration's efforts to hollow out government agencies," he said.
