President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday reached a requested agreement with President Joe Biden’s White House to allow his transition staff to coordinate with the existing federal workforce before he takes office on Jan. 20.
The agreement approved by Congress allows transition aides to work with federal agencies and access non-public information and gives government employees the green light to speak with the transition team.
But Trump has refused to sign a separate agreement with the General Services Administration that would give his team access to government offices and secure email accounts, in part because it would require the president-elect to cap contributions at $5,000 and disclose who is donating to the government. His transition efforts.
The White House agreement was supposed to be signed by October 1, according to the Presidential Transition Act, and the Biden White House issued public and private calls for the Trump team to sign it.
The agreement is a critical step in ensuring the orderly transfer of power at noon on Inauguration Day, and lays the foundation for the White House and government agencies to begin sharing details about ongoing programs, operations, and threats. It reduces the risk that Trump’s team will find itself taking control of the massive federal government without briefings and documents from the outgoing administration.
As part of the agreement with the White House, the Trump team will have to publicly disclose its ethics plan for the transition and commit to supporting it, the White House said. Transition aides must sign statements stating that they have no financial situations that could pose a conflict of interest before they can access nonpublic federal information.
Biden himself raised the agreement with Trump when they met in the Oval Office on November 13, according to the White House, and Trump indicated his team was working on signing it.
Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff-designate, met with Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients at the White House on November 19 and other senior officials, in part to discuss remaining filibusters, while lawyers spoke on both sides more than a half-dozen times. In the last days to finalize the agreement.
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White House spokeswoman Saloni Sharma said: “As President Biden told the American people from the Rose Garden and directly to President-elect Trump, he is committed to an orderly transition.” “President-elect Trump and his team will be in their seats on January 20 at 12 p.m. — and will be immediately accountable for an array of domestic and global challenges, both expected and unexpected. A smooth transition is critical to the safety and security of the American people who depend on their leaders to be accountable and prepared.
Without the signed agreement, Biden administration officials were limited in what they could share with the incoming team. Trump’s national security adviser-designate Rep. Mike Waltz recently met with Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan, but the outgoing team was limited in what it could discuss.
“We are doing everything we can to achieve a professional and orderly transition,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday. “We continue to urge the incoming team to take the necessary steps to be able to facilitate this on their end as well.”
“This engagement allows our intended Cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations, including deploying landing teams to every department and agency, and complete the orderly transition of power,” Wiles said in a statement.
Trump’s transition team says it will disclose donors to the public and will not accept foreign donations.
A separate agreement with the Justice Department to coordinate background checks and security clearances is still in the works, and could be signed quickly after the White House agreement is signed. The agency has teams of investigators on standby to process clearances for Trump aides and advisers once that document is signed.
This would pave the way for transition aides, appointees and nominees in a future administration to begin accessing classified information before Trump takes office. Some Trump aides may hold active clearances from his first term in office or from other government positions, but others will need new clearances to access classified data.
Trump’s team on Friday formally told GSA that they would not use government office blocks from the White House designated for their use, or government email accounts, phones and computers during the transition period.
The White House said it does not agree with Trump’s decision to abandon support from the GSA, but is working to find alternative ways to provide Trump appointees with the information they need without jeopardizing national security. Federal agencies receive guidance Tuesday on how to share sensitive information with Trump’s team without jeopardizing national security or non-public information.
For example, agencies may request in-person meetings and document reviews since Trump’s team has refused to switch to secure phones and computers. For unclassified information, agencies may ask Trump transition staff to certify that they are taking basic safeguards, such as using two-factor authentication on their accounts.
“The signing of this agreement is good news and a positive step toward the effective transfer of power,” said Max Steer, President and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. “This agreement opens direct access to information from federal agencies, which is vital for the incoming administration to be ready to govern on day one and is critical to the success of the transition.”
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
