WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has officially signed a memorandum of understanding with the White House, allowing him to begin a formal transition of power. The deal was finalized Tuesday after weeks of delays, according to his incoming chief of staff.
The move would give Trump’s team direct access to federal agencies and access to documents. The unusual delay in signing the agreement after the November 5 election had raised concerns among some critics about possible obstruction of government operations or conflicts of interest.
“This engagement allows our intended Cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations, including the deployment of landing teams in each department and agency, and complete an orderly transition of power,” Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, said in a statement. “
Trump, a Republican, will take office on January 20. His team rejected requests from Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration to quickly sign the memorandum of understanding and objected to some elements of the traditional transition agreement, according to the White House.
Under the agreement signed Tuesday, Trump’s team avoided signing a government ethics pledge, saying it has its own ethics plan that “requires a seamless transition for officials into the Trump administration.” will fulfill.”
A separate ethics pledge was later posted on the General Services Administration website. It included pledges that members of the transition team would avoid conflicts of interest, protect confidential information and disqualify themselves from involvement in any matter if they had lobbied on the matter in the previous 12 months. Will declare.
However, it did not include a pledge that Trump would avoid conflicts of interest or that he would only hold “non-conflicting assets,” promises in a more standard agreement signed by Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump owns a $3.76 billion stake in the Trump Media and Technology Group, which runs his Truth social platform, as well as stakes in cryptocurrency businesses, real estate properties and several foreign deals.
The family real estate company, now largely run by Trump’s son Eric, owns hotels, golf courses, resorts and a portfolio of New York City office space, retail operations and condominiums.
Trump’s pledge also did not include his transition team’s pledge to protect whistleblowers, a promise in Harris’ pledge.
Security Clearance
Separately, Trump’s transition team has not entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Justice to allow the FBI to conduct background checks on nominees, and it has not allowed the FBI to conduct national security investigations. has also not sent the names of potential officials who will have access to the classification. Information
A White House official said that while the Justice Department agreement has not been signed, progress has been made toward one.
Ending background checks would uphold a long-established norm in Washington, but the president has the ultimate authority over who he nominates and chooses to conduct background checks.
The transition on Tuesday said it already has existing security and information protections in place, “which means we won’t need additional government and bureaucratic oversight.”
Trump’s team also broke with tradition and did not sign an agreement with the General Services Administration that would provide use of the office space. The team said it did not want to waste taxpayers’ money by using government offices.
White House spokeswoman Saloni Sharma said the Biden administration disagreed with the Trump team’s decision to sign some of the routine agreements, but the White House would move forward with the transition process to avoid further delays.
Trump’s team said his transition would use private funding rather than government money to pay for the transition costs. The team said transplant donors will be revealed to the public.