Trump blows through transition deadlines, sparking security concerns

Source: Axios

4 hours ago


With 67 days until President-elect Trump is sworn in, his administration-in-waiting is still bypassing the official process designed to facilitate the transfer of control over the vast federal bureaucracy.

Why it matters: Trump's transition team tells Axios they're still discussing the agreements needed to kickstart the transition. For now, future Trump administration officials won't have access to the agencies they'll soon lead, to secure communications systems, or potentially to security briefings and clearances.

Trump's team has so far declined to sign agreements which would force them to disclose donors and pledge to avoid conflicts of interest.

The transition process is designed such that the winner quickly gets access to office space, federal funding, and government personnel and systems, and other recent presidential transitions — including Trump's in 2016 — began it well before Election Day.

Trump told President Biden when they met Wednesday that the transition will be "as smooth as it can get." Without the agreements in place, experts are doubtful.

What are the agreements?

The Trump transition team has missed deadlines on two key agreements required by law: one memorandum of understanding with the General Services Administration and another with the White House.

1. The GSA agreement, due Sept. 1, outlines the terms on which a transition team can take up office space, IT services and other equipment and facilities.

2. The White House agreement, due Oct. 1, is more critical, as it grants the transition team with conditions of access to employees, facilities and documents of federal agencies.

"Everything rests on this White House MOU," Valerie Smith Boyd, the director of the Center for Presidential Transition, told Axios.

"Any access to any information from any agency is opened up by this agreement," she said.

Neither of those agreements have so far been signed.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2024/11/14/trump-transition-delays-national-security-risks

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The same happened the last time and they don't care. They eventually put someone in to overrule the civil service employees.