The United States President, Donald Trump has thrown the presidential transition process in tumult as he blocked government officials from cooperating with the president-elect Joe Biden’s team.
Earlier, Attorney General William Barr authorised the Justice Department to probe unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud which Biden’s campaign lawyer Bob Bauer considered will “will only fuel the ‘specious, speculative, fanciful or far-fetched claims’ he professes to guard against”.
Some Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have rallied behind Trump’s efforts to fight the election results and according to AP, few in the GOP acknowledged Biden’s victory or condemned Trump’s firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday.
The developments have cast doubt as to whether the nation would witness the same kind of smooth transition of power that has long anchored its democracy.
The Electoral College is slated to formally confirm Biden’s victory on December 14 and he will be sworn into office in late January 2021.
The Trump administration has not invited the President-elect to the White House as is the tradition showing a peaceful transfer of power.
CNN’s White House team has reported there are no signs that President Trump plans to invite Biden to the White House in the coming days.
This means Biden can’t access additional funds for his transition team, and he hasn’t been cleared to receive intelligence briefings, both, touchstones of the formal transition process.
