After a long delay, President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has signed a memorandum of understanding with the White House, allowing the next administration to coordinate with federal agencies.
Susie Wiles, Trump’s incoming White House chief of staff, said in a statement that the signing of the memo allows “significant preparations” to begin.
“Having completed the process of selecting his incoming Cabinet, President-elect Trump entered into the next phase of his administration’s transition by executing a memorandum of understanding with President Joe Biden’s White House,” Wiles said in a statement. happening.”
The agreement allows the incoming administration to initiate a presidential transition, giving it access to resources provided by the federal government, such as personnel and documents belonging to federal agencies.
During the campaign, Trump’s team blew an Oct. 1 deadline to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the White House. It also missed a Sept. 1 deadline to reach a similar deal with the General Services Administration.
Trump’s missing the deadline drew sharp criticism from former officials, ethics experts and lawmakers.
The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, sounded the alarm in October over Trump’s refusal to enter into agreements. NBC News Reported earlier That Raskin sent a letter to Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, warned that failure to reach an agreement could jeopardize a smooth and peaceful transition of power.
Raskin has written that Trump’s team has done every other presidential candidate since 2010 by refusing to accept resources provided by the federal government. Breaking the precedent.
Trump’s team said it had not signed an agreement with the General Services Administration, which would have allowed it to operate as a “self-sustaining organization” to help with the transition, including funding and office space. Additional resources will be provided for
White House spokeswoman Saloni Sharma said the White House and the GSA had repeatedly asked Trump’s team to sign both memos since September, following tradition. Sharma said the White House disagreed with Trump’s failure to sign the GSA memo, but would facilitate a smooth transition as “the responsible course and in the best interest of the American people.”
“While we do not agree with the Trump transition team’s decision to forgo signing the GSA MOU, we will continue to follow the intent of the Presidential Transition Act, which clearly states that ‘the transfer of executive power will result in Any disruption could have detrimental consequences to the security and well-being of the United States and its people,” Sharma said.
The agreement with the White House stated that Trump must publicly post his ethics plan for the transition team on the GSA website.
That was the document. Upload Tuesday evening and followed the standard pattern of such agreements, including pledging to avoid conflicts of interest and pledging to protect confidential and nonpublic information.
White House officials also said Trump’s team had not signed an agreement with the Justice Department that would have allowed the FBI to conduct background checks on Cabinet nominees. Flash point among lawmakers since Trump began making his picks to lead federal agencies.
Trump’s transition team and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday evening.