The formerly obscure Trump appointee who is blocking President-elect Joe Biden’s official transition to power has become one of the best-known officials in Washington.

Best known, and most harshly criticized.

Emily Murphy, head of the General Services Administration (GSA), refuses to certify that Biden won the Nov. 3 election — which is required before he gets federal money set aside to pave the way to a smooth transition.

Biden and his team say the worst result of that is to hamper their preparations to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, which has killed nearly a quarter-million Americans, with another 1,000 now dying every day.

That alone has Trump opponents up in arms.

 

Murphy, 47, has spent much of her professional life in Republican circles in Washington, working her way up “through partisan politics to a position that isn’t in the spotlight but is undeniably a powerful cog of governance,” the Associated Press reports.

Murphy’s refusal puts her on the bullseye for barbs from Biden supporters.

Murphy “has a long history of pro-Trump partisanship,” reports Business Insider, citing former government ethics director Walter Shaub Jr.

In an article for the New York Review of Books, Shaub accuses Murphy of “putting her loyalty to Trump over her duty to the American people,” adding that she is held on a “tight leash” by the president as he continues to dispute the election results.

One observer tweeted that she’s “struggling with the weight of the election on her shoulders.”

“On social media and cable television, she is being castigated by those on the left who say she is thwarting the democratic transfer of power,” the AP says.

“For their part, some Trump backers say she’s doing right by [Trump], who has filed a barrage of lawsuits making baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.”

Murphy was aware even before the election that her job might become a serious challenge if she wound up in the very position she finds herself now. She gets no sympathy from Democrats.

One responsibility of all GSA administrators is to sign a formal letter allowing the transition process from one presidency to the next to begin. The letter releases millions of dollars of resources to the incoming president’s transition team.

But so far — two weeks after the election and more than a week after Biden was certified as president-elect —  Murphy still won’t sign the letter.