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.”
