Nov 23, 2020 - Politics & Policy

GSA agrees to brief Congress on transition delay next week

Fadel Allassan

General Services Administrator Emily Murphy has declined House Democrats' request to testify about delays to the presidential transition by Monday, instead telling members she will have a deputy attend a hearing next week.

The backdrop: Murphy, a Trump political appointee, has not made the declaration — a so-called "ascertainment" — that would allow officials from Biden’s agency review teams access to the information typically given to transition teams. House committee chairs in a series of letters on Monday urged Murphy to end the delay.

GSA Deputy Administrator Allison Brigati will provide a 30-minute briefing to the leaders of Congressional committees on Nov. 30, a spokesperson for the agency told The Hill.
The GSA did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

What they're saying: “We cannot wait yet another week to obtain basic information about your refusal to make the ascertainment determination,” House committee leaders wrote in a letter to Murphy on Monday.

“Every additional day that is wasted is a day that the safety, health, and well-being of the American people is imperiled as the incoming Biden-Harris Administration is blocked from fully preparing for the coronavirus pandemic, our nation’s dire economic crisis, and our national security.”

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GSA agrees to brief Congress on transition delay next week

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