Trump Finally Signs Transition Docs But Shuns Major Details
The transfer of power has officially begun for Team Trump, but they aren’t exactly cooperative.
Illustration by Eric Faison/The Daily Beast/Reuters
President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team officially signed the necessary docs on Tuesday to commence the transfer of power with the Biden administration after more than a month, according to Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles.
However, the team is still refusing to sign at least two major agreements that will allow for the smooth transition of sensitive and classified information.
The New York Times reported that the transition team has rejected signing an agreement that would allow the FBI to conduct security clearances for transition members.
Additionally, the team has refused to sign an agreement to obtain secure office space, email accounts, and other security cleared assets from the General Services Administration. According to a statement from Wiles, the rejections were done in the name of government efficiency.
Wiles said Trump did not want his transition team to sign the agreement with the General Services Administration because he wants the team to “operate as a self-sufficient organization.”
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She added, “This organizational autonomy means a streamlined process that guarantees the Trump Administration is ready on Day 1.”
Wiles also claimed that FBI security checks and clearances for transition team members won’t be necessary because they already have existing security and information systems, “which means we will not require additional government and bureaucratic oversight,” she said. Yet none of this rebuke of protocol should be surprising to anyone following the rumblings of Trumpland.
The Project 2025 agenda called the FBI a “bloated, arrogant, increasingly lawless organization,” and there are rumors that Trump could shake up the organization by firing its current director and installing a MAGA loyalist, reported CNN.
Then there is the Department of Government Efficiency, peddled into fruition by Trump’s right-hand billionaire Elon Musk, whose purpose so far seems to be solely regulated to talking about government inefficiencies.
Trump was supposed to have signed the memorandum of understanding, with the GSA agreement for funding of secure office space and technology, by Oct. 1, a month before the election, reported NPR. The details of the transition are outlined in the Presidential Transition Act.
Wiles claimed that not signing the GSA agreement will save taxpayer money, and the team has pledged not to accept donations from foreign nations. However, the team’s shunning of protocol could complicate operations in other areas.
And yet without the proper documents signed, NYT reported that the Biden administration could be forced to provide security briefings only in person, in secure reading rooms, or submit documents to certify that nongovernment technology meets certain standards.
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