Only the Director General of the Administration of the United States is able to officially validate the victory of Joe Biden by December 14, date of the vote of the big voters.
A position currently held by Emily Murphy, a fervent Republican, unknown to the general public and appointed by ... Donald Trump.
DECRYPTION
The United States is beginning its transition.
While Joe Biden was recognized this weekend as the president-elect by the American media, a period of uncertainty is likely to open until the inauguration of January 20, Donald Trump has not yet acknowledged his defeat .
Joe Biden, however, has already set to work.
He must in particular set up a crisis unit against Covid-19, a sort of American-style scientific council.
However, the Democrat will not be officially recognized as president-elect until the Director General of the Administration of the United States has validated this election.
And that nasty little pebble in the bottom of her shoe is called Emily Murphy.
The keys to the castle
At first glance, Emily Murphy seems one of her somewhat lackluster civil servants in the Washington administrations.
She was completely unknown to the general public until Saturday, when her services issued a brief statement in which they explained that their boss still did not recognize the election of Joe Biden.
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A statement that is not incongruous, since Emily Murphy is today the only person who can legally validate the election of Joe Biden before the vote of the college of grand electors, which will only take place on the 14th next december.
His decision alone would allow the President-elect's transition team to have access to the administrative premises and secure means of communication of the State, to obtain official vehicles, or even to release the millions of dollars specifically planned for allow the functioning of this government in formation.
Its agreement is also essential to trigger the investigations of authorization of the new teams by the FBI, so that they can benefit from the classified briefings of the intelligence agencies.
Its power, although purely administrative, is therefore enormous, with heavy political consequences.
Which makes Emily Murphy, for the next few weeks, the most powerful woman in America.
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A protégé of Donald Trump?
However, we do not know much about her.
Her date of birth is not even in the public domain, but we know that she spent most of her career in the Republican Party, before being appointed to her post by Donald Trump in 2017.
She had to manage two very sensitive files for the president: the lease for the Trump Tower in New York, which is a government asset, and the sale of the FBI headquarters opposite her on Pennsylvania Avenue, which Donald Trump wanted to buy.
Suffice to say that she has her total confidence.
There is therefore little chance that she will be accommodating with Joe Biden until the outgoing president recognizes his defeat.