President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday began a new phase in his transition to the White House after the Trump administration gave the Democrat access to critical resources that will enable him to take the reins of power in January.
The General Services Administration’s announcement on Monday that it would formally recognize Biden’s transition came after weeks of the president falsely claiming that the Nov. 3 election had been marred by widespread voter fraud.
Trump, in a post on Twitter, offered support for the move.
Critics have said the president’s refusal to accept the results undermined U.S. democracy and undercut the next administration’s ability to fight the novel coronavirus.
While Trump stopped short of conceding, it was the closest he has come to acknowledging that it is time to hand over power to Biden, who will take office on Jan. 20.
The GSA announcement will allow the president-elect to access millions of dollars in funds and focus on putting together a leadership team.
It also paves the way for Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to receive regular national security briefings that Trump also gets.
On Tuesday, Biden and Harris are expected to formally introduce their appointments to critical national security and foreign policy positions in Wilmington, Delaware.
Two Trump administration officials said the Biden agency review teams could begin interacting with Trump agency officials as soon as Tuesday.
The Biden transition team said meetings would begin with federal officials on Washington’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, along with discussions of national security issues.
Biden on Monday tapped trusted aide Antony Blinken to head the State Department and John Kerry, a former U.S. senator, secretary of state and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, to serve as his special climate envoy.
Biden won 306 state-by-state electoral votes to Trump’s 232. Biden also holds a lead of more than 6 million in the national popular vote.