GSA(GOVERNMENT SERVICES ADMINISTRATION) MUST ADHERE TO CONSTITUTION, PAST PRECEDENT IN DETERMINING PRESIDENT-ELECT

 

GSA(GOVERNMENT SERVICES ADMINISTRATION) MUST ADHERE TO CONSTITUTION, PAST PRECEDENT IN DETERMINING PRESIDENT-ELECT

https://republicans-oversight.house.gov/release/hice-gsa-administrator-must-adhere-to-constitution-past-precedent-in-determining-president-elect/

WASHINGTON—Subcommittee on Government Operations Ranking Member Jody Hice (R-Ga.) today wrote Emily Murphy, Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA), correcting Democrats’ misrepresentation of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 and calling on GSA to adhere to the Constitution when ascertaining a President-Elect.

“Contrary to complaints issued by House Oversight Democrats, the General Services Administration has followed the letter of the law. State governments certify election results; not the media, and not political parties. When the election is certified, we fully anticipate the GSA to take appropriate action as necessary. Until then, our priority must be on ensuring that this race was a fair and free election with an honest count,” said Government Operations Subcommittee Ranking Member Hice.

- According to federal law, the head of the General Services Administration must “ascertain” a candidate to be the “apparent president-elect” before the federal government releases funding, office space and access to federal officials.

- The GSA’s budget request to Congress in February requested $9.9 million to “provide for the orderly transfer of Executive leadership in connection with the expiration of the term of office of the President and the inauguration of a new President. That included "$8.9 million for the incoming administration and outgoing administration and $1 million for appointee orientation activities.” The request noted that the funds would be needed, in part, to help the GSA fulfill the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, which was passed “to promote the orderly transfer of the executive power in connection with the expiration of the term of office of a President and the inauguration of a new President.”

In the letter, Hice outlines the three situations where there is not an apparent President-Elect. All three situations apply to the 2020 election. The GSA Administrator should determine the President-Elect based on the Constitution and past precedent, which both indicate there is not an apparent President-Elect. Government-funded transition assistance can only be provided after GSA has made a determination.

The letter is available here and below.

November 13, 2020

The Honorable Emily Murphy
Administrator
General Services Administration
1800 F St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20405

1. The drafters of the Act anticipated three electoral situations where there would be an un-apparent President-Elect: (1) a tie, (2) a plurality winner, or (3) the presence of extensive voter fraud or intimidation. The third being applicable to 2020 since the Trump campaign has raised questions and filed legal challenges in several states;
2. The drafters concluded that “if there is any doubt in the Administrator’s mind” the Administrator does not have to release transition assistance. Since states have not yet certified an electoral winner and some states are still tabulating legal ballots, there remains doubt as to the winner; and
3. The precedent set by the Clinton Administration in the contested 2000 election is that to ascertain an apparent President-Elect there would need to be a concession—which has not yet occurred in 2020—or no more legitimate continuing legal challenges—which has not yet occurred in 2020.