Emily Murphy, the administrator of the General Services Administration, on Monday formally designated President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the apparent winner of the presidential election, providing federal funds and resources to begin a transition and authorizing his advisers to begin coordinating with Trump administration officials.
The decision came after several more senior Republican lawmakers denounced Ms. Murphy’s delay in allowing the peaceful transfer of power to begin, a delay that Mr. Biden and his top aides said was threatening national security and the ability of the incoming administration to effectively plan for combating the ongoing pandemic.
In her letter, Ms. Murphy said she was “never directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official — including those who work at the White House or the G.S.A.” She defended her delay by saying that she did not want to get ahead of the constitutional process of counting votes and picking a president.
President Biden and former President Trump are tied in the latest national polling average of a...
