The US federal government led by President Donald Trump appears to have tacitly accepted the inevitability of Joe Biden becoming the next American president.

After weeks of stonewalling and refusing to formally  kick-start a transition process as required by law, the administration appears to be slowly coming to recognize President-elect Joe Biden as the “apparent winner” of the November 3 election.

 General Services Administrator Emily Murphy gave the green light Monday for Biden to coordinate with federal agencies ahead of his January 20 inauguration.

President Trump said on Twitter Monday night that he was authorizing his staff to begin “initial protocols” for the transition process but he did not concede the election and vowed to persist with efforts to undermine the vote that have so far proved fruitless.

In her letter, Ms. 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.”  She also defended her delay by saying that she did not want to get ahead of the constitutional process of counting votes and picking a president.

“I do not think that an agency charged with improving federal procurement and property management should place itself above the constitutionally-based election process,” she wrote in a letter to Mr. Biden’s transition.

President trump on his part tweeted: “Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail!

“Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.”

Ms. Murphy refuted Trump’s assertion that he directed her to make the decision, saying in her letter that “I came to my decision independently, based on the law and available facts.”