November 19, 2020

The Honorable Emily Murphy

Administrator
General Services Administration
1800 F Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20405

Dear Administrator Murphy:

We request that you brief us immediately on your ongoing refusal to grant the Biden-
Harris Transition Team access to critical services and facilities specified in the Presidential
Transition Act of 1963 1 and millions of dollars in funding that Congress appropriated on October
1, 2020, for transition activities under the Act. 2 The results of your briefing will help inform
whether we bring you, your Deputy, your Chief of Staff, and your General Counsel to testify at a
public hearing.

Under the Presidential Transition Act, it is your responsibility as Administrator of the

General Services Administration (GSA) to begin transition activities as soon as you ascertain
“the apparent successful candidates for the office of President and Vice President.” 3 President-
elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris have clearly satisfied any good faith reading of this
standard.

President-elect Biden has now collected more votes than any other candidate for
President in history, and he defeated President Trump by a margin of nearly six million votes. 4
By November 7, 2020, virtually every major news organization had declared President-elect
Biden and Vice President-elect Harris as the clear winners when they obtained a majority of
Electoral College votes. In the weeks that followed, they won two additional states—Arizona
and Georgia—bringing their Electoral College tally to 306 compared to President Trump’s 232.
At this stage, there is no conceivable argument that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are not “the
apparent successful candidates for the office of President and Vice President.” 5

1
3 U.S.C. § 102 note.
2
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021, Pub. L. No. 116-159.
3
3 U.S.C. § 102 note.
4
Joe Biden Breaks Obama’s Record for Most Votes Ever Cast for a U.S. Presidential Candidate, CBS
News (Nov. 18, 2020) (online at www.cbsnews.com/news/joe-biden-popular-vote-record-barack-obama-us-
presidential-election-donald-trump/).
5
With Final States Called, Biden’s Projected Electoral College Victory Matches Trump’s in 2016, NBC
News (Nov. 13, 2020) (online at www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/final-states-called-biden-s-projected-
electoral-college-victory-matches-n1247766).
The Honorable Emily Murphy
Page 2

Unlike the dispute after the 2000 election in Bush v. Gore, there is no legitimate path
forward for President Trump—regardless of how many baseless lawsuits he files or his irrelevant
refusal to concede. He has now lost dozens of cases in multiple states as many of his own
attorneys abandon his efforts. 6 There is no valid legal basis to withhold the ascertainment
designation under the Presidential Transition Act. As the nonpartisan, independent Center for
Presidential Transition has concluded: “While there will be legal disputes requiring
adjudication, the outcome is sufficiently clear that the transition process must now begin.” 7

In 2016, by comparison, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton won the
popular vote by nearly three million votes, but Donald Trump prevailed in the Electoral College
by narrow margins, and there was far more doubt about the outcome of that election than there is
today. 8 Yet, the GSA Administrator at the time made the ascertainment determination
immediately—on November 9, 2016—the day after the election. 9

Your actions in blocking transition activities required under the law are having grave
effects, including undermining the orderly transfer of power, impairing the incoming
Administration’s ability to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, hampering its ability to address
our nation’s dire economic crisis, and endangering our national security.

In passing the Presidential Transition Act, Congress explicitly warned: “Any disruption
occasioned by the transfer of executive power could produce results detrimental to the safety and
well-being of the United States and its people.” 10 Congress reaffirmed the importance of a
timely and orderly transition by passing the Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2019
with overwhelming bipartisan support. President Trump signed this bill on March 3, 2020,
which expanded the transition resources available to an incoming presidential administration. 11

We also have questions about last-minute actions taken by the White House relating to
GSA leading up to the election. On September 2, 2020, President Trump issued an executive
order modifying the longstanding order of succession within GSA to place the General Counsel
as fourth-in-line to perform the duties of Administrator after you, your Deputy, and your Chief of

6
See, e.g., Trump is Not Doing Well with His Election Lawsuits. Here’s a Rundown., New York Times
(Nov. 13, 2020) (online at www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/us/politics/trump-election-lawsuits.html); Another Shake-
up on Trump Campaign Legal Team, Politico (Nov. 16, 2020) (online at www.politico.com/news/2020/11/16/trump-
campaign-legal-shake-up-436924).
7
Center for Presidential Transition, A Message from the Center for Presidential Transition Advisory Board
(Nov. 8, 2020) (online at https://presidentialtransition.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2020/11/Center-Advisory-
Board-Statement.pdf).
8
It’s Official: Clinton Swamps Trump in Popular Vote, CNN (Dec. 22, 2016) (online at
www.cnn.com/2016/12/21/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-popular-vote-final-count/index.html).
9
Obama’s GSA Administrator: Presidential Transition is Too Important to Politicize, CNN (Nov. 18,
2020) (online at www.cnn.com/2020/11/18/opinions/obama-gsa-administrator-transition-turner-roth/index.html)
(statement by former GSA Administrator Denise Turner Roth).
10
3 U.S.C. § 102 note.
11
Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2019, Pub. L. No. 116-121.
The Honorable Emily Murphy
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Staff. 12 Then, less than a week before the election, President Trump installed White House
lawyer Trent J. Benishek as GSA General Counsel. 13

We do not know why these actions were taken, but they raise questions about whether the
White House may be placing undue pressure on you to delay granting the Biden-Harris
Transition Team access to the post-election resources required by the Presidential Transition Act.
Our concerns are even more heightened in light of the President’s erratic decisions to fire other
department and agency heads. 14

We have been extremely patient, but we can wait no longer. As GSA Administrator, it is
your responsibility to follow the law and assure the safety and well-being of the United States
and its people—not to submit to political pressure to violate the law and risk the consequences.

White House officials claim they are not pressing you to block the ascertainment
determination and that you have made this determination entirely on your own. White House
Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany declared on national television yesterday, “It is up to the
GSA to, what we call, reach ascertainment for an election. They are independent of us and they
haven’t declared that just yet.” 15 If this is accurate, it is critical that you now follow the law and
make the ascertainment designation without any further delay.

For these reasons, we ask that you personally brief us and our Ranking Members by no
later than November 23, 2020. We will then determine whether to hold a hearing with you,
Deputy Administrator Allison Brigati, Chief of Staff Robert Borden, and General Counsel Trent
J. Benishek, regarding the ascertainment designation. 16

12
President Donald J. Trump, Memorandum on Providing an Order of Succession Within the General
Services Administration (Sept. 2, 2020) (online at www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-
providing-order-succession-within-general-services-administration/). Previously, the General Counsel of GSA did
not appear on the order of succession. See Executive Office of the President, Designation of Officers of the General
Services Administration to Act as Administrator of General Service (Sept. 26, 2013) (online at
www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/09/26/2013-23601/designation-of-officers-of-the-general-services-
administration-to-act-as-administrator-of-general).
13
General Services Administration, Trent J. Benishek Appointed GSA General Counsel (Oct. 29, 2020)
(online at www.gsa.gov/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/trent-j-benishek-appointed-gsa-general-counsel-
10292020).
14
See, e.g., Trump Fires Head of Election Cybersecurity Who Debunked Conspiracy Theories, NBC News
(Nov. 17, 2020) (online at www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/trump-fires-head-u-s-election-cybersecurity-after-he-
debunked-n1248063); Trump Fires Mark Esper as Defense Secretary, New York Times (Nov. 9, 2020) (online at
www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/us/politics/esper-defense-secretary.html); Trump Dumps 3 Agency Leaders in Wake
of Election, National Public Radio (Nov. 6, 2020) (online at www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-2020-election-
results/2020/11/06/932376507/trump-dumps-3-agency-leaders-in-wake-of-election).
15
Interview with Kayleigh McEnany, Fox & Friends (Nov. 18, 2020) (online at
http://video.foxnews.com/v/6210628183001/).
16
There is direct precedent for such a hearing, if it becomes necessary. The Oversight Committee, when it
was led by Republicans in 2000, called then-GSA Administrator David Barram to testify regarding the
ascertainment delay after the narrow election in 2000. The outcome of that election rested on a single state with a
razor-close margin, which bears no resemblance to the clear facts of the present election. As a result, your
testimony would be even more urgent given the lack of any legitimate legal foundation for your actions. See House
The Honorable Emily Murphy
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The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the principal oversight committee of the
House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under
House Rule X. The Committee on Appropriations has oversight of executive departments and
agencies to assist in the determination of appropriation of revenue for the support of the
Government under House Rule X.

Sincerely,

_________________________________ _________________________________
Carolyn B. Maloney Nita M. Lowey
Chairwoman Chairwoman
Committee on Oversight and Reform Committee on Appropriations

_________________________________ _________________________________
Gerald E. Connolly Mike Quigley
Chairman Chairman
Subcommittee on Government Operations Subcommittee on Financial Services and
Committee on Oversight and Reform General Government
Committee on Appropriations

cc: The Honorable James R. Comer, Ranking Member

Committee on Oversight and Reform

The Honorable Kay Granger, Ranking Member

Committee on Appropriations

The Honorable Jody B. Hice, Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Government Operations
Committee on Oversight and Reform

The Honorable Steve Womack, Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
Committee on Appropriations

Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology,

Transitioning to a New Administration: Can the Next President be Ready?, 106th Cong. (Dec. 4, 2000) (H. Rept.
106-279).