| The GSA finally approves the presidential transition; many Americans will ignore the CDC's guidance on Thanksgiving. Tonight's Sentences was written by Benjamin Rosenberg.
Sentences will be on break for the rest of the week. We'll be back on Monday, November 30. | | | | | | | Federal agency acknowledges Biden win, officially starting the transition | | | | | | - President Donald Trump's baseless claims that he won the election have prevented an orderly transition for weeks. But the General Services Administration took a key step toward beginning the formal process on Monday. [CNN / Kristen Holmes and Jeremy Herb]
- GSA chief Emily Murphy, a Trump appointee, acknowledged that President-elect Joe Biden won the election in a letter. The move means more funding for the Biden-Kamala Harris transition, and will give Biden access to White House briefings. [Vox / Jen Kirby]
- The GSA approving a presidential transition process is a routine matter, but the Trump administration has rarely done things the routine way. Trump can continue to challenge the results after Murphy's approval. Still, Murphy said she wanted more certainty before declaring a Biden win herself. [Washington Post / Lisa Rein]
- Trump responded to the news on Twitter, thanking Murphy and saying that he authorized her to order that the transition begin while also still refusing to concede the election and saying he will continue to fight the results. [The Hill / Morgan Chalfant, Brett Samuels, and Maggie Miller]
- Murphy's statement to Biden, however, contradicts Trump — she told the president-elect that she was never pressured from anyone in the executive branch, including the White House and the GSA, regarding her decision to approve the transition. [NBC News / Dartunorro Clark, Geoff Bennett, Ali Vitali, and Kristen Welker]
- The Trump team's legal challenges have not gone well so far. Michigan certified its election results earlier Monday, securing Biden's win in that state by more than 150,000 votes. Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Nevada have all certified their counts as well. [USA Today / Deirdre Shesgreen]
- The GSA is a large agency, established in 1949 and now employing 12,000 people. Among its responsibilities is providing the incoming president's team with office space in Washington and coordinating between the outgoing administration and the incoming one. [CBS News / Grace Segers]
- Yohannes Abraham, the executive director for Biden's transition team, called Murphy's decision "a needed step to begin tackling the challenges facing our nation, including getting the pandemic under control and our economy back on track." [AP / Matthew Daly, Zeke Miller, and Mary Clare Jalonick]
- Before writing to the president-elect, Murphy said she and her family, staff, and even pets had received death threats for delaying on authorizing the transition. "Even in the face of thousands of threats, I always remained committed to upholding the law," she wrote. [Newsweek / Jeffery Martin]
| | | Many Americans are traveling this Thanksgiving, despite public health advice | | - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Americans not to travel for Thanksgiving this year, but millions of them are doing so anyway. The holiday comes as the US records all-time highs in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations nearly every day. [AP / Dee-Ann Durbin and David Koenig]
- Air travel is still down more than half compared to this time last year. But US airports are the busiest they've been since the start of the pandemic in March, with more than three million passing through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints last weekend. [ABC News / Gio Benitez, Sam Sweeney, and Mina Kaji]
- The country's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday that airport crowds could "get us into even more trouble than we're in right now." [NPR / David Schaper]
- Despite all the travel, the majority of Americans say they are staying home this year. The share of Americans who plan on gathering with those outside their households for Thanksgiving is highest in rural areas. [NYT / Josh Katz, Kevin Quealy, and Margot Sanger-Katz]
- Even a negative Covid-19 test does not necessarily make it safe to travel. Tests are a single snapshot in time, so testing negative one day does not mean one cannot be positive the next. [Vox / Brian Resnick]
| | | | | | | The United Kingdom's lockdown will end as scheduled on December 2, with shops, gyms, and hair salons all reopening. Covid-19 cases have declined in the UK over the past two weeks. | | | [AP / Jill Lawless] -
Scotland will become the first country to make feminine hygiene products free, as many people have struggled to afford such items during the pandemic. [USA Today / Wyatte Grantham-Phillips] -
Several Senate Republicans have signaled that they would confirm most of President-elect Biden's Cabinet appointees, but Marco Rubio of Florida suggested otherwise on Tuesday, saying, "I have no interest in returning to the 'normal' that left us dependent on China." [Politico / Nick Niedźwiadek] -
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have met with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — Israeli media reports said the meeting had taken place, but the Saudi foreign minister has denied it. [NYT / Ben Hubbard, David M. Halbfinger, and Ronen Bergman] -
Despite the pandemic and all the other ways 2020 has been an extraordinary year, the presidential tradition of pardoning a turkey went on as scheduled. Trump has still not answered questions from reporters since Election Day. [CBS News / Melissa Quinn] | | | | | "I have always strived to do what is right. I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official — including those who work at the White House or GSA — with regard to the substance or timing of my decision." | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | This email was sent to milburnkennedy@hotmail.com. Manage your email preferences, or unsubscribe to stop receiving all emails from Vox. If you value Vox's unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring contribution. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036.
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