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美国总统特朗普还不愿意认输，但却表示该做的还是要做，在继续司法挑战的同时，可以开始权力过渡交接的工作。
美国联邦政府总务管理局（General Services Administration）去函民主党的拜登，通知他可以正式展开过渡工作。拜登团队开始紧锣密鼓地筹备明年1月20日的就职典礼。美国总统的权力交接究竟涉及哪些工作？为什么过渡期非常重要？
美国总统换届的过渡交接工作，主要是一个执政团队将重要信息和职责交接给下一个执政团队，确保总统当选人及其执政团队在进入白宫时立即上手。美国联邦政府总务管理局负责协助下一个执政团队接手工作，协助的内容包括提供资金，办公室空间，设备和技术。
过渡交接的过程通常需要11个星期，从总统当选人胜出开始，一直到隔年的1月20日新总统就职为止。并不是只有总统一个人的工作需要交接，据总统过渡中心（Center for Presidential Transition）表示，新总统上台带来大大小小约4000名政务官和幕僚人员需要接手工作。
但今年一直到11月23日，大选投票大约3个星期之后，总务局才致函给拜登承认他大选获胜。一直要到总务局发函之后，过渡交接工作所需的资金和其他资源才会到位。关于过渡交接什么时候必须开始并没有清楚的法律规定，这给特朗普政府提供了拖延的机会，对选举结果提出异议。
按照美国法律，只要出现“明显的胜选者”，美国总务局就必须开始过渡交接工作，但法律没有规定具体日期。以前也曾经发生过推迟的情况，2000年美国总统大选之后，因为需要由法院来确认选举结果，因此过渡交接工作也耽误了，只有平常一半的时间。
相比之下，2016年美国总统大选，总务局在第二天就发函确认特朗普胜选，远比官方结果更早，而特朗普隔天就前往白宫拜访奥巴马。
Why the US waits so long 
to swear in the new president
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Two weeks after the 2008 election, George W. Bush’s family gave Barack Obama’s family a tour of their new home, the White House.
It was part of a long American tradition, of the outgoing president’s family meeting with the incoming family, just as the Clintons had done for the Bushes eight years before, and the Bushes had done for the Clintons eight years before that.
It’s a symbolic start to the beginning of the presidential transition, where the current president meets with the president-elect, and, importantly, helps the new administration into their new positions, ensuring a smooth transfer of power.
"President Trump refuses to concede." "Refusing to begin the transition process." "Blocking President-elect Joe Biden from receiving critical Covid-19 data." The presidential transition usually starts right after Election Day, in November, and it ends when the new president is inaugurated, in late January.
But this year, President Trump didn’t allow it to start until three weeks after the election.
So... does that actually matter? And why does America take so long to switch presidents? Trump is not the first outgoing president to be uncooperative.
In 1932, President Herbert Hoover lost to Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a landslide.
It was the middle of the Great Depression, and Roosevelt had campaigned on his "New Deal" ideas.
But Hoover didn’t like those ideas.
And he used the transition period to keep FDR from getting started on them.
At the time, this gap was even longer.
The Constitution, written in the 1700s, had set it at around four months.
After FDR’s election, it was shortened, to the current two and a half months.
That’s still pretty long.
But the modern US, with its expansive federal government, has found that time period useful.
The federal government is kind of like this huge, massive, big ship, that takes a lot of direction to steer.
When the US changes presidents, thousands of federal jobs have to be changed, too.
And that changeover takes time.
Those new hires need offices, government emails, and they need to get fully briefed on the ins and outs of how these departments run.
And, most importantly, the president needs to get caught up on national security and intelligence.
On January 20th at noon, one administration is going to take over, and the threats that America faces are not necessarily going to respect that gap.
In 2000, the election between George W. Bush and Al Gore was so close that the winner wasn’t actually decided until mid-December.
Which meant Bush’s transition had to happen pretty rapidly.
Later, after the September 11th attacks, a government report said, “this loss of time hampered the new administration” in its readiness to deal with national security threats.
They suggested that in the future, the transition should start as soon as possible.
But, unlike in 2000, the delay in transition in 2020 wasn’t because we didn’t know who won the election.
"NBC News now projects..." "CBS News projects..." "CNN projects Joseph R. Biden Jr. is elected." When the media declares a winner on election night, it feels like a big moment.
But it doesn’t actually carry any formal weight.
It’s a projection.
The election isn’t officially over until each state certifies their results, and the Electoral College votes, in mid-December.
But usually, by that point both presidential candidates have already acknowledged what the outcome will be.
The loser usually concedes, and that sets off this presidential transition process where the outgoing administration helps to usher in the incoming administration.
In 2020, we found out what happens when the outcome is widely agreed upon, but the loser doesn’t concede.
Before the transition can start, an office of the federal government has to give the go-ahead.
The problem is, that relies on everyone agreeing who the president-elect is.
Eventually, after several key states certified their results, Trump didn’t concede, but he did allow the transition to begin.
Without actually referring to Biden as the president-elect.
"Nearly three weeks after the election...
"The Trump administration backed down." "President-elect Biden getting daily intelligence briefings..." "...on everything from vaccine distribution, testing, and PPE supply chains." This gap between presidents feels long.
But it’s necessary to keep America’s government running.
And for the incoming Biden administration, it’s going to be a lot shorter.
And it shows that our tradition of a smooth transfer of power is just that — a tradition.
Not a rule.
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