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President Trump is yet to concede the election, along with many others in the Republican party.
Former Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel joined dozens of ex-officials in signing the letter Image caption: Former Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel joined dozens of ex-officials in signing the letter

More than 150 former national security officials in the US have joined the prominent voices urging the Trump administration to recognise Joe Biden as the next president.

In a letter to the General Services Administration, which was sent on Thursday and obtained by news website Politico, they said that "delaying the transition further poses a serious risk to our national security".

Under the Presidential Transition Act, the General Services Administration is tasked with co-ordinating funding and access to federal agencies for incoming administrations.

But the body has so far declined to formally recognise Biden as president-elect, meaning that he is unable to access information such as the president's daily brief or obtain security clearances for key members of his transition team, as is usually the case after an election.

The former officials noted that the 9/11 Commission had found that delays in transition after the 2000 election had led to key national security bodies not being fully staffed for six months, leaving "our country more vulnerable to foreign adversaries".

"In this moment of uncertainty, we must put politics aside," the letter concluded, warning that further delays would compromise "the continuity and readiness of our national leadership, with potentially immense consequences for our national security".

The letter was signed by dozens of former officials, including former Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, former CIA and NSA Director Gen Michael Hayden and former U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power.

Other key former officials in the US and abroad have warned over the delay in transition, including former heads of the Department for Homeland Security and the Elders, a group of former heads of state founded by Nelson Mandela.