Posts circulating a few weeks into the start of President Joe Biden’s administration claim that under the 2019 Presidential Transition Enhancement Act, former President Donald Trump “retains control of the military until 60 days after the inauguration of a new president “and according to the US Constitution,” the full transition of power will only take place in March. ” This assertion is untrue.
Examples of postings that make this claim can be found here, here and here.
The two-party ‘Presidential Transition Enhancement Act’, adopted unanimously by the House of Representatives, signed by former President Trump on March 3, 2020, ‘amendments intended to facilitate the transfer of executive power during presidential transitions’ through the presidential transition to edit. Act of 1963 (here, here).
As outlined by the Congressional Budget Office (www.cbo.gov/publication/55008), the law “limits the period during which services and facilities are provided by the General Services Administration (GSA) to presidential transition teams,” proposes a timeline GSA to enter into memoranda of understanding with presidential campaigns to prepare for possible transitions, ”and authorizes the executive to pay legislative branch employees to work for the elected president or elected vice president during transition periods. ”
The claim of the posts that Donald Trump will retain control of the military until March 21, 2021, 60 days after Biden’s inauguration, is likely to be a misinterpretation of the provisions of the General Services Administration Support Act. (GSA) to the President. and elected vice president for up to 60 days after the inauguration ”.
The Presidential Transition Enhancement Act says nothing about the former president retaining control of the U.S. military, or control of any other federal departments or agencies, after the inauguration of the new president.
As outlined here by the Non-partisan Center for Presidential Transition of the Partnership for Public Service, the GSA, which supports the basic functioning of federal agencies (here), offers the elected president’s office space and support services up to 60 days after the inauguration. .
The idea that the transfer of presidential power will only officially take place in March may stem in part from allegations made by QAnon conspiracy theorists that Trump will swear in office again on March 4 (here).
QAnon experts report how March 4, according to his fans, is a new deadline for the group (here) who watch the inauguration come and go without the events they expected (here). More about the significance of March 4 for QAnon believers can be seen here .
The demands on March 4 may be related to the fact that until the 20th Amendment took effect in 1937, the official day for presidential inauguration was March 4, unless the fourth fell on a Sunday, in which case the ceremonies on 5 March was held (here).
However, the 20th Amendment of the Constitution provides that the “conditions of the President and the Vice-President shall end on the 20th day of noon, and the provisions of the senators and representatives at noon on the 3rd day of January years in which such terms would ended if this article is not ratified, and the conditions of their successors will then begin ”(here).
Further reading on the 20th amendment is available here.
On January 20, 2021, Joe Biden took his oath of office and was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States, officially completing the transition of presidential power from the old to the new government (here).
Finally, the posts falsely claim that the alleged transfer of power of March declares ‘the rush to accuse former President Trump’. The January 6 storm by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol called for some lawmakers to remove him from office before Biden’s inauguration on January 20 (here).
VERDICT
Untrue. Neither the US Constitution nor the Act on the Improvement of Presidential Provisions stipulates that the presidential transfer of power will only officially take place in March.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to actually check social media posts.