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Joe Biden
Photo: Andrew Harnik / AP
Possible delay for the change of power in the White House: In order to organize the transfer of power, the team of US President-elect Joe Biden primarily needs public funding.
But according to a media report, the responsible body has so far refused to release the funds.
The management of the agency responsible for the US government buildings has not yet signed the required letter with which the Biden team can formally start work this week, reported the Washington Post on Monday in its online edition.
The AP news agency also refers to the case.
With the official letter from the General Services Administration (GSA), the transition team would get access to US authorities, buildings, officials, information - and money.
It is said that building a new government this year will cost $ 9.9 million (about 8.3 million euros).
Formal declaration of the winner
Several US media had declared Biden to be the winner of the presidential election on Saturday based on the counts.
Individual Republicans also congratulated the Democrat.
The responsible authority chief Emily Murphy did not make the necessary statement on Sunday evening (local time) and thus almost 36 hours after the election winner was proclaimed by the media, writes the Washington Post.
The Trump administration also seems to have no immediate plans for such a letter.
A spokeswoman for the GSA stated in an email with a view to the winner of the election that no "determination" had yet been made.
The authority will continue to adhere to and meet all legal requirements.
The Washington Post now sees the authorities' hesitation as a further sign that incumbent Donald Trump does not recognize Biden's election victory and could disrupt the transfer of power.
The said letter would amount to a formal statement by the US government about the winner of the presidential election.
The incumbent US President Trump still claims the election victory for himself and tries to win the election by legal means.
However, there is no evidence of Trump's alleged electoral fraud.
First steps to take office
Regardless of this, Biden has taken the first steps to prepare for his assumption of office.
He and his future Vice President Kamala Harris announced a joint briefing in Wilmington by a team of Corona experts for Monday.
Biden wants to put together a crisis team of scientists and other experts on Monday.
The committee is supposed to work out a plan that can come into effect upon taking office.
Biden is due to be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on January 20.
In addition, it is planned that Biden will speak today at his residence in the US state of Delaware about the corona crisis and measures to stimulate the US economy.
Biden and Harris started the website BuildBackBetter.com and the Twitter account @ Transition46 for the transition period until the planned takeover in January.
The website lists four priorities for the new presidency: the fight against Covid-19, economic recovery, the fight against racism and the fight against climate change.
Pressure on Trump is growing
Meanwhile, US media reports that Trump's environment is trying to get the president to give up.
According to CNN, First Lady Melania advised her husband to accept his defeat.
Trump's adviser Jason Miller dismissed the report as "fake news" on Twitter.
A little later, Melania Trump wrote on Twitter: "The American people deserve fair elections. Every legal - not illegal - vote should be counted. We must protect our democracy with complete transparency."
Trump had meanwhile called for the count to be stopped.
Son-in-law Jared Kushner is also said to have talked to his father-in-law about the subject.
According to the news portal "Axios", he advised him to pursue the legal process.
Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump are officially advisors to the President.
"Axios" quoted an anonymous source as saying that "unpleasant conversations" were taking place in the orbit of Trump and that his closest circle had written off the election victory.
But Trump continues to insist on having won.
Influential conservatives, on the other hand, publicly backed Trump.
"President Trump should not give up," said Senator Lindsey Graham in an interview with Fox News on Sunday.
"This is a controversial choice. The media doesn't decide who becomes president. If they did, there would never be a Republican president," Graham said.
Trump must go to court.
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