Over the last few weeks, President-elect Joe Biden has been busily naming cabinet members and planning for his upcoming administration. Meanwhile, lame duck President Donald Trump has continued vain efforts to overturn the election results, lied about his loss, and attempted to stymie Biden’s transition at every turn.
One of Trump’s petty means of frustrating the process has been refusing to release the millions of dollars earmarked for the transition. On Friday, Biden solicited donations to help cover these costs, which was met with significant blowback.
People called the solicitation “the biggest grift I’ve seen all year,” pointed out that taxpayers already paid for the transition, and told Biden to get the money from some of his wealthy donors. Some even suggested the incoming administration try to raise money on OnlyFans.
Last night, the Trump administration finally caved. General Services Administration Chief Emily Murphy, who has become the target of much ire over her refusal to do so, finally announced that Biden was being given access to the money. Minutes later, Trump tweeted that he’d approved the move.
So now the question becomes: What will Biden do with donations that were intended to cover transition costs? The president-elect’s transition team press office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
People online were also curious to know what they planned to do with the donated funds. According to Vox, they raised $10 million in a single day.
Inquiring minds may be disappointed to learn that the terms of the donation page are worded so that the incoming administration can pretty much do anything they want with the money.
“Your contribution to the Biden-Harris Transition will help us lay the foundation to lead a just and equitable recovery that builds an economy for the future,” it states.
Whether they will be open about where it is going though is doubtful.
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