Trump’s team delays transition agreements. What does this mean for security and governance audits?

WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump The president’s team has yet to sign the agreements needed to formally begin the White House transition process. This means the government cannot provide security clearances and briefings to new administration officials, and the FBI cannot vet it rush for elections to the cabinet and other key positions.

The importance of thorough federal background checks — and the fact that Trump’s team has not subjected the president-elect to such checks — became clear Thursday when former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his candidacy as Trump’s choice for attorney general following an ongoing investigation into federal investigation into sex trafficking this casts doubt on the possibility of his confirmation by the Senate.

The ongoing delay in agreeing to begin a formal transition process could ultimately force senators to vote on Trump’s pick without the usual background checks.

This process is designed to identify personal problems, criminal history and other potential red flags that may raise questions about a candidate’s suitability for key positions.

In addition to the top staff picks Trump has already announced, good governance activists and other transition experts have been warning for weeks that failure to sign transition documents make it impossible for potentially hundreds of Trump’s national security appointees to obtain clearances. This means that the new administration will not be fully prepared to govern the country when Trump takes office on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2025.

Here’s a look at how things stand and what effect the delay might have:

What didn’t Trump’s team sign and why?

These are memorandums of understanding under which the incoming administration agrees to work with the outgoing administration and submit requests for name and background checks. The FBI then undertakes to report to the White House any adverse information discovered during the process.

Ethical disclosures and donor contribution limits mandated by Congress are part of the agreements needed to begin the transition process. Reluctance to comply with the terms was behind the Trump team’s hesitancy to sign them, according to a person familiar with the process who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions.

Is it too late?

No. There is still time to sign agreements.

A Justice Department spokesman said discussions with Trump’s transition team were ongoing, but they did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

But transition spokesman Brian Hughes said earlier this month that “team lawyers continue to engage constructively” with lawyers and officials from President Joe Biden the outgoing administration and promised updates “as soon as a decision is made.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s team is leaning on its campaign aides, allied groups and outside law firms to support its personnel efforts.

Trump has been suspicious of FBI leadership for years, in part because Investigation into Russian election interference this marred his first term, and more recently due to FBI investigations into him storage of secret documents and his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which led to his indictment last year.

What effect does this have?

During a normal transition period, the new administration will use the time before it takes office to begin working to fill 4,000 government jobs with political appointees, or people the Trump team specifically hired to fill their jobs.

This includes everyone from the Secretary of State and other heads of Cabinet departments to those chosen to serve part-time on boards and commissions. About 1,200 of these presidential appointments require Senate confirmation, which should be easier with Senate comes under Republican control in January.

Trump moved at record speed to announce your key preferencesSenate GOP leaders say they plan to begin confirmation hearings as soon as the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3, potentially allowing them to begin voting on nominees as early as Inauguration Day.

But legislators are complaining too about what they perceive as insufficient testing of the options they are asked to consider. Some Senate Republicans have expressed concern about alleged wrongdoing by some of Trump’s nominees, and two Democratic House members — Don Beyer of Virginia and Ted Lieu of California — have introduced a proposal aimed at codifying the FBI’s role in the background check process of the president’s political appointees.

And while Gaetz is no longer a problem, he is not the only Trump candidate with a surprising past.

The President-elect’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, was accused of sexual assault in 2017 after speaking at a Republican women’s event in Monterey, California, but was not charged after a police investigation. A police report released Thursday contains graphic details of allegations of sexual assault.

Choice former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard The position of the director of national intelligence has alarmed some US intelligence analysts. They point to her past criticism of Ukraine, comments in support of Russia and meetings with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a close ally of Russia and Iran.

What effect will this have?

New members of the Trump administration are not receiving briefings and other information from their departing Biden administration colleagues that could help them better prepare for their new jobs. And Trump appointees holding positions requiring security clearances will not be able to start working without the required background checks.

However, once the president-elect takes office, he could simply order officials to obtain security clearances, as he reportedly did for son-in-law Jared Kushner during his first term.

It is not yet possible to say whether this delay will have any long-term consequences.

The drawn-out process may not matter much given that Trump has already served as president and has a much better understanding of how to run an administration than he did in 2016, when he won his first term.

But there are precedents for problems. 9/11 Commission suggested that the disputed 2000 election, which delayed the start of the transition between outgoing President Bill Clinton and incoming President George W. Bush, until December — have raised questions about national security gaps from one administration to the next that may have contributed to the U.S.’s lack of preparation for the Sept. 11 attacks the following year.

“The 36-day delay halved the normal transition period,” which represented “a loss of time that prevented the new administration from identifying, hiring, clearing, and obtaining Senate confirmation of key appointees.” commission report stated in 2004.

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