After a lengthy delay, President-elect Donald Trump signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the White House, allowing officials to meet with their counterparts at various departments and agencies before the January transition of power.
Susie Wiles, who will serve as Trump's top staff member in the White House, stated that the president-elect directed his team to sign the traditional MOU to facilitate information sharing between the outgoing and incoming administrations.
“This engagement allows our intended cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations, including the deployment of landing teams to every department and agency, and complete the orderly transition of power,” Wiles said.
The White House agreement, due October 1, could facilitate Trump's team's access to classified information, though the process with the Biden administration remains unclear.
The Trump transition team mentioned that landing teams would “quickly integrate directly into federal agencies and departments with access to documents and policy sharing.” The members of these landing teams would be disclosed to the Biden administration.
The Trump transition team also stated that it would not use taxpayer funding for transition-related costs, nor would it use government buildings provided by the Government Services Administration.
However, the transition team has not disclosed its donors, making it unclear who is funding Trump’s preparations to take office in January. Tuesday’s announcement indicated that donors would be disclosed to the public and that foreign donations would not be accepted.
Wiles’s statement did not mention whether the transition had signed any similar document with the Justice Department to complete background checks of incoming officials, nor did it provide any indication about whether Trump’s team would release an ethics agreement to resolve conflicts of interest.
Instead, the transition team stated that it has an “existing Ethics Plan for those involved, which will meet the requirements for personnel to seamlessly move into the Trump Administration.” This plan will be posted on the General Services Administration website, according to the Trump team.
White House officials told The Hill that progress has been made toward an agreement on a memorandum of understanding with the Justice Department. If it is necessary to share classified information with a member of the transition, agencies will need to determine that the individual has the proper security clearance, officials said.
The signing of the memorandum with the White House comes three weeks after Trump’s victory on election night. By comparison, then-candidate Joe Biden and his team signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate a transition of power in early September 2020, before that year’s election took place.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and others have raised concerns about the lack of memorandums signed by the Trump team on both background checks and ethics agreements.
Trump, who has been sharply critical of the FBI since his first term, has sidestepped the bureau’s role in conducting background checks of his nominees and appointees for security clearances.
With the White House agreement in place, members of the Biden administration can now begin to prepare their incoming counterparts for a handoff on January 20.
The signed agreement “will allow for certain, authorized members of the Trump transition team to have access to agency and White House employees, facilities, and information,” according to Sharma. White House officials said that federal agencies will receive guidance on facilitating secure information sharing with Trump’s team.
“The fact is that on January 20 at 12 pm, President Trump and his team will be in seat. We have two options. Option one is no transition, potentially risking the security of the American people and our country. Option two is to conduct a smooth transition with safeguards in the White House MOU to protect non-public information and prevent conflicts of interest,” Sharma said. “Option two is the responsible course and in the best interest of the American people.”
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