Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski believes President Trump has exhausted all of his legal options and that it’s time for the White House transition to fully commence.
The Alaskan senator said it’s “time to begin the full and former transition process” on Sunday. While it is nearly three weeks after Election Day, Trump has refused to concede the race.
“As states wrap up the 2020 election and certify the results, it is incumbent upon all of us to ensure that we respect the integrity of the election process and uphold Americans’ faith in our electoral system. Each state has worked to ensure a free and fair elections process,” she stated. “President Trump has had the opportunity to litigate his claims, and the courts have thus far found them without merit. A pressure campaign on state legislators to influence the electoral outcome is not only unprecedented but inconsistent with our democratic process.”
The president’s campaign has filed a number of lawsuits in battleground states that President-elect Joe Biden won, alleging widespread voter fraud and irregularities. The campaign has had limited success in court and has brought forth minor amounts of evidence to substantiate their claims.
Murkowski is one of the few Republican senators who have acknowledged that Biden will be the next president of the United States come Jan. 20, 2021. Many of them have stood by the president, reiterating his stance that all “legal” votes should be counted and that if the “illegal” were removed from the count, he could emerge victorious.
To date, only a handful have publicly congratulated Biden on his victory. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Marco Rubio of Florida, and Mitt Romney of Utah, have congratulated the former vice president.
Emily Murphy, head of the General Services Administration, is responsible for making the declaration that Biden won so that the transition can begin. Until she makes that call, Biden’s team does not have access to funds to the incoming president, and his team doesn’t have access to federal agencies and briefings to prepare for the transfer of power.
Despite being a member of the Republican Party, Murkowski has often found herself on the outside looking in. She was against Trump nominating a Supreme Court justice to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in September. However, she ultimately voted to confirm Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Previously, Murkowski did not vote for Trump’s controversial Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after his confirmation hearings. She was the only Republican senator not to do so.
