1/ The General Services Administration formally recognized Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election – more than two weeks after securing the electoral votes necessary to win the White House. Emily Murphy, the Trump appointee who runs the GSA, faced weeks of criticism from Democrats, national security, and health experts, who argued that delaying the formal transition was hampering the incoming Biden administration from receiving classified briefings and preparing for the distribution of a coronavirus vaccine. In a letter to Biden, Murphy said she was “never directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official — including those who work at the White House or the G.S.A.” Biden is now able to access millions of dollars in federal funds and resources to begin his transition to power. Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that he had recommended that the GSA begin “initial protocols” for the transition. Trump also said he was not conceding. (Washington Post / New York Times / Politico / NPR / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)

2/ A group of Republican national security experts demanded that Trump concede the election. The statement’s signers – including former homeland security secretary Tom Ridge – urged Republican leaders to “strongly oppose” Trump’s “dangerous and extra-legal efforts to threaten and intimidate state officials in order to prevent a vote by the Electoral College,” adding that “Trump’s refusal to permit the presidential transition poses significant risks to our national security.” Meanwhile, more than 160 top American executives asked the Trump administration to acknowledge Biden as the president-elect and begin the transition, writing that “Every day that an orderly presidential transition process is delayed, our democracy grows weaker in the eyes of our own citizens and the nation’s stature on the global stage is diminished.” Some of the executives who signed on to the letter have also discussed withholding campaign donations from the two Republican Senate candidates in Georgia until party leaders push for a presidential transition. (Washington Post / New York Times / NPR)

3/ A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by Trump’s campaign seeking to block the certification of Pennsylvania’s election results. Judge Matthew Brann wrote that Trump’s campaign, which had asked him to disenfranchise nearly seven million voters, should have come to court “armed with compelling legal arguments and factual proof of rampant corruption” in its efforts to essentially nullify the results. The Trump campaign had claimed there were widespread improprieties with mail-in ballots in the state. In his 37-page ruling, Brann said he expected a compelling legal argument “and factual proof of rampant corruption” from the Trump campaign, but i...