Bush Denied Access To Washington Transition Offices
WASHINGTON (IslamOnline) - The General Services Administration (GSA) denied George W. Bush on Sunday the keys to two floors of office space at 18th and G streets N.W. in Washington D.C., which are usually given to the presidential-elect to operate with his staff during the transition period.
Following the Florida state election certification signed and announced by Katherine Harris, Florida’s State Secretary, on Sunday, the certified tally gave Bush a slim victory of Al Gore by 537 votes. Afterwards, Bush announced himself the winner of the presidential election, stating that he hoped to start his transition period right away.
Besides the offices, the winner will also receive $5.3 million in transition funds.
But both the office keys and funds have been denied to Bush because the GSA did not think the outcome was clear enough to release them, reported the Washington Post.
“As long as both sides are still going to court, and both sides say they are, we believe that the outcome remains unclear,” said spokeswoman Beth Newburger.
Officials said their position was based on the 1963 Presidential Transition Effectiveness Act. One official said on Sunday that the congressional debates during passage of that law show that lawmakers were concerned that the head of GSA, with the authority to disburse transition money, could wield too much power in deciding who would be the president.
That led to language in the law stating, “When the election is in doubt, the administrator must wait until it is clear” who has won, that official said.
According to the Post, the Bush camp may resort to other measures in which to overcome such obstacles. One of the solutions is to raise private funds and locate a private headquarters where Bush and his running mate, Richard Cheney, may start working on forming their administration.
