GSA/handout via Reuters
- A former director of the US Office of Government Ethics accused Emily Murphy, head of the GSA, of being a “partisan loyalist” determined to help President Donald Trump.
- The GSA is the part of the US government which authorizes the start of a presidential transition. Murphy has not yet done so in the wake of Joe Biden’s election victory.
- Walter Schaub Jr made his charge against Murphy in the New York Review of Books, highlighting her apparent partisanship.
- This is not an outlier, he wrote, describing two other episodes of Murphy’s work at the GSA which he said appear to have been hand-in-glove with Trump.
- Neither Murphy nor the GSA immediately responded to Business Insider’s request for comment.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
The General Services Administration (GSA) official who is holding up the transition of President-elect Joe Biden has a long history of pro-Trump partisanship, a former government ethics director has said.
Walter Shaub, who was Director of the US Office of Government Ethics between 2013-17, accused GSA head Emily Murphy of seemingly “putting her loyalty to Trump over her duty to the American people” in a scathing article for The New York Review of Books.
Murphy, an appointee of President Donald Trump, is the GSA official charged with formally recognizing the victor in a US presidential election, which allows a formal transition process to begin.
This nod from the GSA releases resources to ensure a smooth transition for the President-elect, including, according to Schaub, $6.3 million in funds, office space, and key briefings.
But Murphy, who as a political appointee Schaub alleges is held on a “tight leash” by Trump, has not budged while the president continues to baselessly dispute the outcome of the election.
Biden has continued to press ahead with without access to the briefings and resources the GSA can offer.
Biden's chief of staff has criticized the decision, which he says harms the President-elect's ability to handle challenges like the coronavirus pandemic.
Schaub alleged that Murphy's stance is not an outlier, but part of a pattern of partisan behavior that has worked the system apparently in Trump's favor.
Schaub gave two examples:
- He accused Murphy of being part of a Trump administration power grab to weaken the civil service.
The Trump administration has been pushing to abolish the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and put it under the GSA's control.
Schaub characterized the move as a power grab that would put government employees under added political pressure.
The Trump administration abandoned plans to abolish the OPM the day before Election Day, according to Federal Times.
- He said Murphy axed plans to move FBI's Washington headquarters in a way that protected Trump's outside business interests
The FBI's move from an ageing building in central DC could have harmed the Trump International Hotel, Schaub wrote.
His logic was that, once vacated, the FBI building could have been turned into a rival business and hurt Trump's bottom line.
Murphy met with Trump not long before the decision, but refused to discuss it when asked about it by the GSA's inspector general, Schaub wrote.
Neither Murphy nor the GSA immediately responded to Business Insider's request for comment.
Schaub has also encouraged the general public on Twitter to call the GSA and ask why Murphy has not released transition resources.
—Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) November 15, 2020
Schaub noted the contrast in Trump's approach compared to 2008, when he was told by a George W. Bush administration official that they wanted to create the "nicest transition in history" for then-President-elect Obama.
"At this point, it is difficult to imagine Republican leaders repeating the words," he wrote.