US Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks while delivering an address to the nation during an election event in Wilmington, Delaware, US, on Nov 7, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

Joe Biden’s transition team called Monday on the General Services Administration to designate him the winner of the presidential election so that it can begin accessing federal resources needed to make a smooth transition into the White House.

A Biden transition official said that since the networks and other news organizations have declared Biden the winner, the GSA’s administrator should move quickly to “ascertain” the winner of the race, as federal law requires.

The Biden official said that with the exception of the 2000 election, when the race between George W. Bush and Al Gore remained undeclared for weeks because of ballot-counting problems in Florida, the administrator had ascertained the winner within 24 hours of the race being called.

“An ascertainment has not yet been made,” the GSA said in an emailed statement Monday. “GSA and its administrator will continue to abide by, and fulfill, all requirements under the law and adhere to prior precedent established by the Clinton administration in 2000.”

A decision by the Trump-appointed GSA administrator, Emily W. Murphy, to declare Biden the apparent winner of the presidential election would unlock millions of dollars in transition funding but undermine Trump’s assertion that he won.

“An ascertainment has not yet been made,” the agency said in an emailed statement Monday. “GSA and its administrator will continue to abide by, and fulfill, all requirements under the law and adhere to prior precedent established by the Clinton administration in 2000.”

The Biden official said the transition is considering its options, including legal action, to pressure the agency, but declined to detail the moves it is considering. The official shied away from discussing whether Murphy was holding off on her decision under the weight of political pressure.

READ MORE: Vaccine progress and Biden projected win power stocks to record peak

One of the resources the transition hasn’t been able to access is State Department operations, which has traditionally helped facilitate -- and translate -- calls between the president-elect and foreign leaders. Instead, Biden’s team is arranging leader calls on its own, as it did Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The transition will send readouts of additional calls as they occur.

Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney joined mounting calls for the GSA to ascertain Biden, warning that extended delays in the formal transition of power put the nation’s security at risk.

“There’s a very likely prospect that there will be a change in administration,” Romney, a senator from Utah, told reporters Monday. “For the purposes of smooth transition and national security, we have a national interest in the transition proceeding as rapidly as can be done.”

Rubio, a Florida Republican, said the GSA’s determination would not undermine Trump’s legal challenges to the election.

“We need to have that contingency in place,” Rubio said. “I don’t think allowing the GSA to move forward on some of the transition work prejudices in any way any of the legal claims the president intends to make.”

The GSA’s role is dictated by the 1963 Presidential Transition Act, which Congress has updated several times in a bid to promote peaceful, orderly handoffs and limit any national security vulnerabilities during the transfer of presidential power.

The ascertainment is usually routine, often happening without fanfare before dawn the morning after Election Day. This year, it’s anything but routine, as Trump insists “this election is far from over” and mounts legal battles and recounts in several states.

Joe Biden’s transition team called Monday on the General Services Administration to designate him the winner of the presidential election

The Biden team got some government support during the final months of the general-election campaign, including an office provided by the GSA, though it didn’t see much use because many staffers worked from home and met by videoconference as a precaution against the coronavirus.

Since May, career officials in every federal agency have, under federal law, been developing transition plans and assembling briefing books to hand over to an incoming administration.

ALSO READ: Biden focuses on pandemic as Trump challenges election results

A White House coordinating committee was established in September to facilitate similar work. The Justice Department also has been processing security clearances for key Biden officials -- an early start meant to ensure that critical staffers have access to intelligence and there are no gaps that could be exploited by adversaries.

Three House Democratic chairmen also pressed Murphy to make the decision immediately, arguing in a letter Monday that her office is “blocking the expedient and peaceful commencement of the presidential transition” despite Biden’s “overwhelming election victory.”

The delays “are undermining the urgent need for a prompt and effective transition of power in the midst of a global pandemic that must be focused on the safety and well-being of our citizens,” Representatives Bill Pascrell Jr. of New Jersey, Gerry Connolly of Virginia and Dina Titus of Nevada told Murphy.

Federal law doesn’t dictate how Murphy should make the decision, and it’s not clear what legal resource the Biden-Harris team would have to challenge protracted delays.